Thursday, June 17, 2010

Grammatically Speaking

Are you a grammar stickler? Have grammatical pet peeves? I'm not the biggest stickler around (those who live in glass houses...), but it's true that years and years ago, I used to write a column in my local RWA chapter's newsletter about commonly misused words. The kind of words that make grammar sticklers pause, frown, groan. Words like trooper when you mean trouper. Father/further. Then/than. That sort of thing. The misuse that drives my daughter crazy: breath/breathe.

As I age I'm not as picky. People make mistakes. The most common ones: your/you're, whose/who's, they're/there/their. However, misplaced apostrophes drive me nuts. At a hotel in Pittsburgh, there was a sign that announced on Wednesdays they served "Omelet's and Turkey Sausage." I wanted to take white-out to it.


And look at this For Sale sign. There is No Way I could leave that sign as-is if that was my house! I'd be at home depot buying some white and red paint. :)

~Heather

Update: Of course eagle-eyed Theo would catch that I put father and not farther/further. Darn it. See what I mean about glass houses? LOL.

11 comments:

  1. yikes. I'd be doing the same. I cannot stand misspellings from my professors (in power points, on tests). drives me up a wall. I correct them after I'm done with my test.

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  2. LOL, Katie. I'd correct them after I was done with the course.

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  3. LOL, that is pretty bad. I go red people use double negatives when speaking. I also have a thing with commas.

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  4. Time to call Remax for a new sign! My pet peeve is affect/effect.

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  5. I always get "Father" and "further" confused. That's why I just call him "Dad".

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  6. LOL, Theo. Maybe you should become a copy editor.

    Elie, the thing with commas is that it's very subjective. What I think is right may not be what you think is right and sometimes there is no clear answer, especially when it comes to narrative writing. I've had copy editors that don't agree on commas. It can get frustrating.

    LisaD, I always have to stop and think about affect/effect. It's a tough one.

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  7. There are some great rants about apostrophes (not apostrophe's) in the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss. It's (not its) quite a hilarious book! :) There's also a really funny site called The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks that makes fun of signs with misused marks. You have to wonder if people don't know what's correct or if they're just lazy sometimes.

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  8. I'm a stickler as well and the ones that are blatant drives me crazy.

    LisaD: effect/affect is one that I struggle with, but will eventually get it right.

    The comma thing is now driving me crazy. My write analysis and now the comma is before the "and" when you didn't need it.

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  9. Lisa, I'll have to check out that blog. Sounds funny. There was a group on FB --wonder if I can find it--about how important commas are for things to make sense. Anyone know which one I'm talking about?

    Dru, the comma before "and" in a series is preferred in publishing (at least at my publisher). Also, before the word "too" at the end of a sentence. As in, I like that, too.

    The bible for publishing is the Chicago Manual of Style. I own a copy but it's so overwhelming to look for info in that thing!

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  10. Oh, cringe! I'd be having a few words with that real estate agent. As for beign a stickler, let me put it this way - I correct typos and errors in books I'm reading. It's a sickness, I know. LOL

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  11. I'm not sure if I saw it on Facebook or somewhere else, but I remember comma importance being stressed with the phrase "It's time to eat, Grandpa!" versus "It's time to eat Grandpa!"

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