Posted on 04/11/2012 12:22:30 PM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
For no reason in particular, I thought it would be helpful (or irritating, depending upon your point of view) to post a list of words that are commonly misspelled or improperly used on FreeRepublic.
Feel free to add any of your own.
I realize that this will open me up to greater scrutiny of the orthographic composition of my own future posts, but alas; so be it.
Aid = help vs. Aide=assistant (as in “an aide to Congressman Frank”)
Anointed (NOT “annointed”)
Border (as in the line between U.S. and Mexico) (NOT “boarder” as in the guy who gets a bedroom in your house and dinner for a fee)
Gauge (NOT “gage”)
Huge (NOT “hugh”—yes, I know it’s a running joke, but FReepers still misspell it accidentally.)
Loose = opposite of tight. Most of the time, FReepers mean to type “lose.”
Martial Law (NOT “Marshall Law”)
Tenet (as in “principle”) (NOT “tenant”)
Existence (NOT “existence”)
Existent (NOT “existant”) Remember: “The ‘a’ in existent is nonexistent.”
Poll (as in “survey”) (NOT “pole” as in a stripper's primary accessory)
Principal vs. Principle: Principal = 1) First, or highest in rank; 2) Head guy (or gal) in a school; 3) Main portion of money in finance, e.g. principal of a loan.
Principle = Moral rule
Your vs. You’re:
Your = possessive. "Your mother doesn’t approve of your spelling skills."
You’re = Contraction of “you are” "You’re not likely to pass English."
I have no problem when the average person slips up on one of these. I led a school board at one time and an applicant for a teachers position stated on her app. “I where glasses”. She did not get the job. I do see, here on FR, so called educators, professionals, government people, etc. make those silly errors.
It's helpful but it won't protect you from the "dreaded homonyms," words that sound the same but have different meanings. "Rein, reign and rain" for instance. If it's a real word spell check will OK it even it it's used improperly, as in "to reign in government" instead of "to rein in government."
I won't even start on the topic of misused apostrophes. Their proper use seems lost forever. The "rule" these days seems to be to toss them in randomly and as often as possible.
I’m stuned.
I’m stuned.
haha, so many misuse advice and advise, that I focused there rather on the “ea” problem.
¿seriesly?
“Existence (NOT “existence”)”
Perhaps you met “existance”?
[Heil Salamander!]
;D
CC, I give you the lowly comma:
“The comma is a very small punctuation mark. It somewhat resembles a period with a dash attached to the center right and then turned underneath into a hook shape. Despite its small size, it holds incredible importance. There is an old story of Czarina Maria Fyodorovna who once saved a man’s life simply by misplacing a comma in a notice written by her husband Alexander III. The note was supposed to read “Pardon impossible, to be sent to Siberia.” The man was set free after the Czarina misplaced the comma to read “Pardon, impossible to be sent to Siberia.” His life was saved, simply due to a thoughtlessly misplaced mark of punctuation.”
Read more: What Is a Comma? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_4572294_what-comma.html#ixzz1rlZ2NsMz
Eat, shoot, and leave. ;>
I’ll leave that to the politicians and the presstitutes!
I'll never figure out the mysterious behavior of the Preview Pane here on FR. Even with the fine spell check feature (which, of course, won't catch the "its/it's" misuse), I have a tendency to not see mistakes until after the Post button is pressed and my botches are then published to the whole wide, wide, wide world of sports and webocracy. Strange that. :-)
As for the problem with FR sluggishness, I presume that you're using Windows and possibly Internet Explorer. As a Linux geek, my knowledge of Microsoft products is close to nil (or more apt, NULL, as in the pointer of that name). In the immortal words of Brian Kernighan and the late Dennis Ritchie: check with a local expert.
LOLOL
[petard hoist]
Yep, you got number two.
But I lied — there were actually *three* grammar errors in my post (intentional ones, anyhow).
One more! :-)
rein in spending....NOT reign, which means to rule.”
This is Obama’s problem - he thinks we’re saying reign when we are saying rein...
Love that!
[stole it]
;]
Who aksed you?
8:}
‘nekkid’ not ‘naked’.”
Only when preceded by the word “buck” or “butt”
Hay...nobody requested you’re presance, hear.
Go aweigh.
:-P
>> If it’s a real word spell check will OK it even it it’s used improperly, as in “to reign in government” instead of “to rein in government.”
What do you mean “instead of”?
“Newt Gingrich intends to rein in government.”
“Barack Obama intends to reign in government.”
BOTH OF THOSE ARE CORRECT USAGES! :-)
Using “then” for “than.” Drives me nutty.
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