Without naming any names or linking any posts or threads, I seem to be encountering a lot of incoherent sentences lately, the shortfall in clarity stemming from the use of the word “and” in places where, in retrospect, the reader figures the shorter word “an” was intended.
Here’s an example, drawn from off-board sources (it’s unfortunately not a trend limited to our own environs):
My dear colleagues–
I must proffer the gentle suggestion that you avoid this malapropism, for two reasons:
• On first read, your audience will not have the vaguest goat-felching idea what the fuck you’re talking about; and
Sometimes typos occur because the person is used to putting certain letters together. For example, I can hardly type “star” without first typing “start” and deleting the last “t”. “an” to “and” is probably a similar thing. You should probably not assume a person is a “fucking idiot” from making a typo,.
Sometimes typos occur because the person is used to putting certain letters together. For example, I can hardly type “star” without first typing “start” and deleting the last “t”. “an” to “and” is probably a similar thing. You should probably not assume a person is a “fucking idiot” from making a typo,.
I have mixed feelings about grammar nitpicks.
Some folks post online and mutilate the language in horrible ways. The misuse of words like their, there, and they’re is enough to drive me bonkers. This is particularly true when the same individual makes the same mistake over and over.
There are other sins of equal magnitude, but some of us, like me, are less than perfect. I attempt to post using good grammar and clear sentences, but occasionally, I think, I err. I figure that if a person is generally good with words, I can forgive them. Little errors do not make someone seem like, “a fucking idiot” to me.
I think perhaps you’re raving over a typo, and as such, you would be best to ignore it. I also have the view that he who is without sin should cast the first stone. Garble on the other hand, must be stopped!
When I do that is is almost always a typo. What annoys me is people who are too lazy to type out the word “and” when they really should. I see this a lot in emails: “I want a blue one an a black one an a green one.” I don’t know if it is laziness, or if these people really think “an” is the same as “and”.
If you’re a native speaker and you can’t figure out that an “and” is supposed to be an “an” then you have no business claiming you speak or understand English. Quit acting like a parser. Use your human brain.
Some should study how the brain is wired with respect to the keyboard. Of the typos I make, sometimes I hit a key next to the one I intended. Well, that’s easy to explain: bad aim. But then others are not so easy to explain. I often hit another vowel instead of “a”, often “e”. What is at work here? Other times I transpose certain letters. Some words invariably come out with the same letters transposed. “certain” almost always comes out as “ceratin”. What’s wrong with my brain? Is it expecting a vowel after a consonant?
But I agree, anyone who uses “there” for “they’re” should be shot.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by lissener *
**I hate it when people use the word “proffer” instead of the word “offer” as an attempt to sound more edumacated.
Likewise:[ul][li]comprise:compose[/li][li]utilize:use[/li][li]differentiate:distinguish[/ul]. . . etc. **[/li][/QUOTE]
Ugh! Because I am the recognized linguistic expert in my office, people often ask me to proofread their work before it is sent off and errors make them look like idiots. This kind of thing drives me NUTS (as does the use of “myself” and “yourself” rather than “me” and “you”).
