It really grinds my gears when people use apostrophes in plural words.
It really grinds my gears when people use apostrophes in plural words.
Tanya Skagle wrote:
Not using a comma after the second last item in a list (e.g. This, that, and those... Not using a comma before the 'and').A serial comma is most often unnecessary. If I have the task of editing something, I go to great lengths to remove serial commas. To avoid ambiguity in the rare instances it arises, I'll actually reorder the items in a list rather than add a serial comma.
Many style manuals advise against the use of these commas simply because they are superfluous. Some writers prefer using them to avoid the appearance that the last two items in a list have a greater association than they actually have.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with using them, but I do not like them one bit. There is no hard-and-fast rule on this subject. Therefore, I'll do it my way and you can do it yours.
As a grad student/former tutor/editor, I actually feel the opposite way. The oxford comma, in my opinion, SHOULD be used whenever appropriate. It makes the series look cleaner, gives it a simpler visual flow, and alleviates a mistake I used to see all the time (when a list would include an item that was actually two connected things with an "and"...
for instance: boobs, frank and beans, and clorox. The oxford comma makes it much easier as a reader because you know where the list is separated when extra ands appear
Obviously either way is considered correct--many professors have their own preference. Similarly, various style guides prefer one or the other. the AP style guide (used by most newspapers) calls for NO oxford comma. Personally, I prefer its usage, as I find it helpful for the reader, but I won't be taking points off either way once I'm teaching.
refudiate
People use walla? Wow!
Your/You're
Roberts/Roberts'
then/than
I could care less about this thread. ;)
Starting a sentence with a numeral (in a non-scientific paper/publication).
How about - It's a mute point.
It is a moot point.
I know that I suck at grammar and vocabulary but please get the basics.
Palin`s Failin` wrote:
refudiate
Well, that was the Word of the Year. Don't you consider the English language to be changeable?
I can't stand it when people use "welp," as in "welp, it looks like my grammar has gone to crap."
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, "WELP" IS NOT A WORD! IT'S "WELL!!!"
Chairman Wow wrote:
I don't know if this counts, but I hate writing manuals that suggest that one should not use the passive voice. If the passive voice had no legitimate use, it would not have been invented.
Dang, you hit on both of my pet peeves:
I friggin' HATE it when my students use passive voice. (I rarely see it anywhere else, except in Thomas Sowell's columns. I can't stand Thomas Sowell's columns, either.)
And I friggin' HATE the "objective" pronoun "one."
johnny rotten wrote:
Chairman Wow wrote:I don't know if this counts, but I hate writing manuals that suggest that one should not use the passive voice. If the passive voice had no legitimate use, it would not have been invented.
Dang, you hit on both of my pet peeves:
I friggin' HATE it when my students use passive voice. (I rarely see it anywhere else, except in Thomas Sowell's columns. I can't stand Thomas Sowell's columns, either.)
And I friggin' HATE the "objective" pronoun "one."
I don't like it when people say "friggin," "frickin," etc. If you want to drop an f-bomb, do it right or don't do it at all.
Misuse of the apostrophe when naming decades annoys me (ex "in the 80's" instead of "in the '80s"). Mostly, this one bothers me because it is a mistake that is often made by people who should know better in situations where more care should be taken. I have seen this mistake in a number of academic papers and in a number of articles on well regarded professional websites. I don't much care about your apostrophe use when you are posting something on Facebook, but take the time to get things right if you are going to call yourself an expert and provide your thoughts or findings in a professional or academic setting.
Chairman Wow wrote:I don't like it when people say "friggin," "frickin," etc. If you want to drop an f-bomb, do it right or don't do it at all.
"F-bomb"?
Chicken.
I know of a message board that exhibits horrible grammar - worse than is found here. I know, it's hard to believe.
innit
Placing an s at the end of words like beside.
Towards?
"I am seeing way too much illiteracy these days.
My current pet peeves:
1) More then this (WTF is so hard about More THAN?)
2) Supposively (yes, really)
3) Walla (I kid you not - I have seen multiple instances of people writing and saying Walla when they mean Voila)
4) Could of (It's an old chestnut, but remains a favourite)
5) it's / its (used when the other version is correct)
Maybe I should just abandon the English language and run more."
"My current pet peeves:"- This is IMPROPER sentence formulation. "My current pet peeves are as follows:" or "my current pet peeves are the following" are more widely accepted.
"I kid you not - I have seen multiple instances of people writing and..." This is mproper use of a hyphen.
"...but remains a favourite". Unless you are from England, your spelling of "favourite" is a FAIL.
"...hard about More THAN" You have a word randomly capitalized in the middle of a sentence.
"Maybe I should just abandon the English language and run more." Is this a question? This is poor sentence structure.
You might look in the mirror a bit more next time, smart guy.
When people mix up:
You're/your
their/there/they're
then/than
it's/its
These are the most common ones I see on the internet.
Sometimes I see to/too
When people mix these up, I automatically think, "what an idiot". It's forgivable if you're not a native speaker.
1980's
CD's
I like dessert's.
Runner's are a fun bunch.