# Mixed up words and people who don't know the difference **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 1999, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157 "1999-12-14T04:40:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrsBWayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MrsBWayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsBWayne)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/1 "1999-12-14T04:40:00Z")
This is kind of silly, but I have to edit stuff and every once in a while I come across something somebody typed that make me laugh. Like: Woman recoils in horror at snake in tree. Man says “Don’t be afraid! That’s just a gofer snake.” I pictured them sending the snake out for coffee, you know? Then later: “He organaized a bat cannon tournament…” It was supposed to be backgammon. Anybody else run across stuff like this in daily life or wherever? SW ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/2 "1999-12-14T04:48:00Z")
Yeah My local paper, The Boulder Daily Camera, sucks ass. It’s a Knight-Ridder pub and is typically full of errors. Occasionally, it’s been so bad a friend and I have red-penned it and mailed the corrected version to their office. Terrible! No excuse. * * * She wasn’t sure what to do, so she looked at how the government did things and decided to run her life that way. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/3 "1999-12-14T05:00:00Z")
That’s pretty bad for a town that caters to college students…sheesh, the Boulder Daily Camara should be harshly repremanded. As for general grammatical errors, I see them all the time. I myself committ grammar errors however when a news organization (our local news people are notorious for this) there is no excuse. My mother was an English professor at UCCS in Colorado Springs, she’d be rolling in her grave over the crap in the news and newspapers. Thank goodness she was cremated and ashes were spread between here and her home town in Kansas or there would be earthquakes in town from her disgust. (sorry Mom, my spelling sucks and I still have problems with my grammar) ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/4 "1999-12-14T05:16:00Z")
If you know the first thing about math or science, the Austin American-Statesman business section is always good for a laugh. Thanks to them, it only took me a month to find out that DRAMs are a type of microprocessor (My PC has DRAM memory; can I get rid of my microprocessor now?), and that a micron is one-millionth the thickness of a human hair (yep, just one forty-inch wide hair, just growing out of his forehead!) C’mon guys, if they can’t do a tech beat, reassign them and get someone who can! ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/5 "1999-12-14T08:17:00Z")
People who say _for all intensive purposes_ when they mean _for all intents and purposes._ Peas. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleCrackwhore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc348/32.png) [@PurpleCrackwhore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleCrackwhore)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/6 "1999-12-14T14:43:00Z")
I am forever getting desert and dessert confused. I know the differece, but for some reasons, that extra s has a mind of its owm. If I am designing or writing something professional I pay close attention, but if it’s only casual, like this message board post, I don’t run it through the spell and grammar check and proof it forward and backwards. I force myself to repress those anal perfectionist tendencies and just enjoy the fun. * * * I really try to be good but it just isn’t in my nature! ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/7 "1999-12-14T15:01:00Z")
When I was a paperboy, there was a picture of some kid on the front page with his unusual pet (forget what, though). The caption discussed his opting for a pet other than a “dog or a atc”. **They misspelled “cat”, one of the first words many people learn!** I noticed it so readily because it was right on the fold, where I saw it over and over as I rubber-banded 100 papers. ---
**Author:** ![rubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@rubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rubes)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/8 "1999-12-14T15:08:00Z")
What hurts me, is to see or hear the word Irregardless. I also can’t stand it when someone says, “I seen you yesterday.” Now the kicker, as this was pounded into me from a grade school teacher: Alot is not a word. Allot is, which means to allocate, but I think people mean to use two words, and should type a lot, or not use that word at all. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/9 "1999-12-14T15:34:00Z")
I’m now laughing my ass off, Commander Fortune. SO and I have a morning ritual where we read the Daily Camera and pick out the most ridiculous mistake. There’s almost always at least one hilarious one. And if not spelling mistakes, there’s always just plain ol’ bad journalism… prairie dogs always make the front page, but national and international news may or may not make it to the Camera. And don’t even get me started on the letters to the editor! ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/10 "1999-12-14T15:35:00Z")
My biggest pet peeve is people who either write or say _all the sudden_. It’s all _of a_ sudden. Other ones that drive me nuts: [list] [li]Mixing up there, they’re and their.[/li][li]alot (as previously stated, that’s _not_ a word).[/li][li]Should of, could of, etc.[/li][li]Mixing up then and than. (I never knew people didn’t know the difference between these words until I started posting on the internet. And I see it a _lot_.)[/li]------------------ “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” – Lily Tomlin ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/11 "1999-12-14T15:38:00Z")
My absolute, all-time favorite (from a transcript of a malpractice trial involving inflatable penile implants): “Would this medical procedure be appropriate for a patient who had a weekend spot in his scrotum?” * * * \\| |/ === '\> ---
**Author:** ![Catrandom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Catrandom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catrandom)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/12 "1999-12-14T15:47:00Z")
I edit for a living, so I see this stuff all the time. You do it for a while and only the worst stuff even really registers (“Unlike most mergers, this one was festive for the gobbled”). The rest you just sigh and fix. Catrandom ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/13 "1999-12-14T15:52:00Z")
My current favorite is ect., instead of etc. Short for ectoplasm? Ectomorph? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/14 "1999-12-14T15:59:00Z")
This actually made its way into the classified ads in the local paper. It was a legitimate ad, and the heading for it: F\*\*\* YOUR WAY TO THE TOP Only “F\*\*\*” was spelled out. It was supposed to say “WORK YOUR WAY TO THE TOP.” The people actually formatting the ads were playing around and changed the word–and forgot to change it back. The person placing the ad later sued the paper, and received a couple-score thousand or so as a settlement, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![missdavis102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@missdavis102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missdavis102)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/15 "1999-12-14T16:21:00Z")
A similar topic came up a few weeks ago, entitled “That makes you sound dumb”. Here’s a link, I hope. [www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/002881.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/002881.html) My hometown newspaper is also pretty lax on the spelling and general journalistic integrity. One glaring example I recall from a few years ago is an acquaintence’s brother who died under mysterious circumstances when he was in his late teens or very early 20s. The paper ran a front page story before the autopsy stating the police and coroners suspected his death was caused by the ingestion of some food or liquor. A few days later, and after much wringing of hands by the family, they ran a correction on page 12 or something stating that what they meant was “the ingestion of some food or LIQUID”. Maybe the family sued, and the paper lost its budget for hiring editors, which is why it’s so bad now. * * * Insert Random Witticism Here. ---
**Author:** ![Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diver)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/16 "1999-12-14T16:26:00Z")
My pet peeve is people that use bring when they mean take. As in “Jump in, I will bring you to town.” No you won’t, you will take me to town. Bring is from there to here. Take is from here to there. I first noticed this about 15 years ago and it’s becoming so prevalent that I suspect a word meaning change is taking place. I guess I will have to become reconciled to being peeved. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/17 "1999-12-14T16:44:00Z")
In the South, it’s “carry.” ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/18 "1999-12-14T19:21:00Z")
I have many verbal pet peeves, but I have to say the numero uno one is: “Your change is ten _cent_” To which I usually reply, " Hope you like working drive thru, with atrocious english like that, it’s where you are going to be for a long while." Ain’t I a bitch? ---
**Author:** ![saraam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@saraam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saraam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/19 "1999-12-14T19:25:00Z")
I once had a college course in Research Psychology where the professor put the class into groups to come up with an experiment. I never went back to the class (flunked) after that day, as it irritated me to no end when the first thing one group member said was “So…what do you all think we should do our Spearmint on?” I could not take an entire semester of that. Of course, that guy passed the class. ---
**Author:** ![Twin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@Twin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157/20 "1999-12-14T20:02:00Z")
This has irritated me for as long as I can remember. Using the word “ideal” instead of “idea”. Example: Somebody suggests an intelligent course of action, and in response someone else says “That’s a good ideal”. No. That is completely wrong. Stop it! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-up-words-and-people-who-dont-know-the-difference/12157.md?page=2)