If you’re a “speling notsee” like me, you can’t help noticing misspelled words everyplace online these days. Message boards, e-mail, web pages, blogs, newsgroups, etc. Before I got online, I was used to reading mainly printed text that an editor had already cleaned up. Once online, you see the unmediated semiliteracy of our nation full force. So let’s list here the most frequent spelling errors we see all the time, in hopes that the misspellers will read the list and wise up. (Yes—you! You know who you are!)
[ul]**
[li]it’s** (used as a possessive)[/li][li]Ghandi[/li][li]tounge[/li][li]definately[/li][li]rediculous[/li][li]anti-Semetic[/li][/ul]
I don’t know why, but there’s just something about these words especially that is impervious to corrections, no matter how many times they’re corrected by well-meaning “speling notsees.”
Jomo (wondering if this thread will turn into a big Gaudere-fest).
The two that immediately jump to my mind are “loose” instead of “lose” and “your” instead of “you’re.”
I make my share of mistakes, but those two irritate me to no end.
Oh yeah, “loose” replacing “lose”. I forgot that one. Thanks, Kat and thi6. That has got to be the second worst offender of all, after “it’s”! Also, “you’re” has got to be near the top of the list.
I am alway’s astounded that normaly rational people get so bent outta shape by the english used in a vernaculer sense. I don’t think poster’s need to get to worked up over this sort of thing…
'rabbit, you stole my thunder…there is a sign on a business near me that says “Ballons” for “Rent” ! Not only are the quotation marks unnecessary, but one doesn’t rent these ballons, the person whose job it is to deliver the ballons I suppose was rented, but not the balloons. I pointed this out to the proprietors of the business, but they were strangely disinterested in what I had to say.
The most amusing mistake I’ve seen may not count as a spelling error, but it is worth mentioning nonetheless.
In a real estate ad, a house advertised with “all immunities”. Yeah, I like my dwelling to be vaccinated before I move in. I know “amenities” is a tough word, but OMG, have a clue.
I was just thinking about this topic last night. The part that bothers me most about frequent misspellings isn’t the actual misspelling, but that as a result, I start questioning my own spelling on words I never would have in the past.
The loose/lose is a great example. I now find myself double checking and had never felt the need to do this before. The last time I posted in one of these threads, my top vote went to ect./etc. I make my share of mistakes so I can’t say this drives me ballistic, but I do flinch on that one occasionally.