# Most common typo/bad spelling/grammar on the web? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 31, 2001, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319 "2001-07-31T08:42:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pennylane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pennylane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pennylane)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/61 "2001-10-11T11:28:41Z")
YES!!! That lay/lie thing is the most horrible mistake ever, and it is on the verge of becoming accepted usage!! If it ever makes it to the dictionaries I’m going to kill myself! And as for those who say, “I could care less”, have they even thought about it for a second? What does that even mean? ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/62 "2001-10-11T13:00:10Z")
they’re there your you’re its it’s apostrophe’s anywhere I could care less. ect… ect… one day Im going to make a list of the one’s i get in emale. its scary. ---
**Author:** ![Another\_Primate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Another\_Primate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Primate)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/63 "2001-10-11T13:25:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pennylane \* > \*\*And as for those who say, “I could care less”, have they even thought about it for a second? What does that even mean? \*\* Well, they intend “I could **n’t** care less”, but they get lost somewhere along the line. ---
**Author:** ![pennylane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pennylane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pennylane)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/64 "2001-10-11T13:30:06Z")
Yes, I know that’s what they intend, but I wonder if they are aware that they are saying the exact opposite. I just think that people can make spelling mistakes because they really don’t know how to spell the word, and are too lazy or don’t have enough time to look it up, but some grammatical mistakes are just completely meaningless. I once read this on a websites: “There was a one and a thousand chance that my baby would be born with this”. A **one and a thousand** chance?? As in, 1001 chances? ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/65 "2001-10-11T13:48:10Z")
Contender for the most common typo has to be: **You** car needs washing. I also see no need in most cases, for the longer version of words like orientated/oriented and inflammable/flammable. **utilized/used** are two different words, and it bugs me when “utilize” is used for “use”. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/66 "2001-10-11T17:05:41Z")
**Dalmation** **Succede/Succession** (where secede/secession is the word they’re looking for) **Ghandi** **Marshall** (where Marshal is correct, as in Fire Marshal) ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/67 "2001-10-11T22:52:29Z")
precedent / precident / president ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/68 "2001-10-12T00:02:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Another Primate \* > \*\*“Lay”, when “lie” is intended. \*\* I have such a hard time with this one!! Is it “I need to lie down for a bit”? God, I hope so, because that is the one I usually choose. My vote goes to cite/site. [sub]hope no one did this one. I broke my steadfast rule of reading the whole thread before posting.[/sub] **cite** : a source, short for citation. “Got a cite for that?” **site** : a website. Could be used as a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/69 "2001-10-12T01:10:21Z")
To almost everything, I’ll agree. I think the ones I see most often that bug me are you’re/your, they’re/there/their, and to/too/two. But I have more than just a ‘me, too!’ On the subject of the way that spellcheckers tend to make the world lazy in their usage, I have an anecdote. I used to do tech support for a desktop publishing application. About once a month, someone would call asking us to take a word out of the spelling dictionary that came with the software. Often, they would be incensed that removing words from the dictionary wasn’t a feature of the software or angry because a word was in our dictionary at all. All the techs could say was that the word was spelled correctly, and the checker said so, therefore the software was working. As far as wether the word was the appropriate one for their document, we couldn’t do anything about that. It was hard to feel much sympathy for publishers that couldn’t proofread. The word they had written wrong was, in almost every case, ‘public’. Of course, the users most angry that our program hadn’t alerted them to a missing letter were the ones that had printed their publication with the error and had it pointed out by their client after the document was distributed far and wide. Some of these were church newsletters. ---
**Author:** ![Another\_Primate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Another\_Primate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Primate)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/70 "2001-10-12T01:40:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brynda \* > [I have such a hard time with this one!! Is it “I need to lie down for a bit”? God, I hope so, because that is the one I usually choose. \*\* **Brynda** , it depends. I would say “lie”, but if the “myself” is implied, then it would be “lay”. You probably have little problem with “sit” and “set”. Well, “lie” and “lay” (as present tense) are similar. You lie down. You lay something down. You sit down. You set something down. The prayer “now I lay me down to sleep…” uses “lay” correctly, because there is an object, “me” there. -Another ---
**Author:** ![Another\_Primate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Another\_Primate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Primate)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/71 "2001-10-12T01:44:42Z")
I tried to teach my dog to lie down only when someone says “Lie down!” and to ignore them if they say “Lay down”. But it made him confused. Now he won’t obey either request. -Another ---
**Author:** ![pennylane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pennylane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pennylane)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/72 "2001-10-12T08:22:51Z")
Good for you, **Another Primate**. You deserve a medal. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/73 "2001-10-12T09:07:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Another Primate \* > \*\*I tried to teach my dog to lie down only when someone says “Lie down!” and to ignore them if they say “Lay down”. But it made him confused. Now he won’t obey either request. > -Another \*\* Don’t try that one with the police: “Drop your weapon and lay down on the ground” “Well, actually, it’s supposed to be **lie** down” “Drop your weapon!, lay down” “Nonono, you don’t understand, listen…” \ ---
**Author:** ![rpinrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@rpinrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rpinrd)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/74 "2001-10-12T13:45:48Z")
Dipping my toe into somewhere it really doesn’t belong . . . breathe/breath - One’s a verb one’s a noun - don’t interchange them advise/advice - Same deal. This is the only board I frequent and I see this error ALL the time. :check spelling, preview, check spelling again, cross fingers, prepare for ridicule: ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/75 "2001-10-12T16:11:20Z")
I like it when folks screw up common saying and such. For example “all itensnsive purposes”, let’s get down to “brass tax”, etc. I also want to throw my vote behind “loser-looser”, because it is usually involves some delicious form of irony when the person using it is generally trying to degrade someone else. ---
**Author:** ![nerv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85e7bf/32.png) [@nerv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nerv)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/76 "2001-10-12T16:15:53Z")
By far the most common spelling errors on the internet are “amatuer” and “lesbain”. Erm… at least that’s what a friend of mine tells me. ---
**Author:** ![ChordedZither](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9c0ed/32.png) [@ChordedZither](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChordedZither)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/77 "2001-10-12T17:29:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*originally posted by \ ***pennylane** > And as for those who say, “I could care less”, have they even thought about it for a second? What does that even mean? I do use that phrase on occasion, and I’ve never understood why so many grammar purists object to it. Just say it, out loud. What tone of voice do you adopt when you say it? For me, the only way I can say that phrase is in a tone of obvious sarcasm. I could care less… (but not _much_ less). I could care less… (but it would be hard to do so). In fact, I’ve even heard people say the entire phrase: I could care less…if I cared at all. ---
**Author:** ![AuntPam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@AuntPam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntPam)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/78 "2001-10-12T17:54:04Z")
“Hone in on.” You HONE something by making it sharper. Hone a razor, a knife, or an argument. You HOME in on something by targeting it; pigeons home in on the loft, smart bombs home in on the target, GPS helps you home in on your destination. I used to work for the ABC Radio Network in 1975 (76? anyway…) and we had a female newscaster whose writing was pretty atrocious. One day she announced that there had just been a small “tremblor” in California. After she got off the air, I pointed out gently and even deferentially, that people sometimes confused the Spanish word “temblor” with the English word “tremor” when speaking of small earthquakes, but that there was no such words as “tremblor.” “Yes, there is,” she snapped. “No, really there isn’t,” I said, perhaps a trifle tartly. “I just made it up!” she answered and stormed out. So THAT’S where these things come from: idiots in high places with big egos. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/79 "2001-10-12T18:25:24Z")
I been thining about doing my first Pit rant on the **your / you’re** thing. In the meantime, I also often see **coming down the _pipe_** instead of the correct phrase **coming down the _pike_**. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-common-typo-bad-spelling-grammar-on-the-web/74319/80 "2001-10-12T18:29:48Z")
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