Internet Spelling Errors
Having been hanging around the internet since it was two pocket calculators joined together with coaxial cable, I have seen something of a sea change in the standard of grammar and spelling used in online forums. The proliferation of acronyms and initialisms (OMG, WTF, LOL), leet speak (1337 5P34K) and the splling used n mble fonez seem to have served a double purpose – to increase speed of communication and to kill the art of spelling stone dead. Here are a few examples of common misspellings and incorrect usage – hopefully at least one person will read them and learn how 2 spel rite.
By the way, this is not a rant against people spelling badly but hopefully a chance for them to improve. The descriptions I have given have been simplified in the hope of making them more accessible. I don’t believe an in-depth deconstruction of the English language syntax is going to help anyone in this case. This is also not an opportunity to deride people. Many people have English as a second language and I can respect that they are at least trying to communicate. I say to them: stick with it and I hope you find this helpful.
Their/there/they’re: OK, let’s try to nail this once and for all. I see this so often it’s frightening:
Their: Possessive, belonging to two or more people, or an organization – “It was their ball”, “I was at their house”, “Their choice was limited”. Easy, no?
There: Positional (generally speaking), tells where someone or something is. “It’s over there”, “It was there he built the house”, “Paris was lovely when I was last there”.
They’re: Contracted form of “they are”. This is never used any other way. “They’re all having a ball”, “They’re all in the bar”, “So far they’re doing well”.
Its/it’s: Another classic error. “Its” is possessive, like “his”, “hers”, “theirs”. If you can’t see the difference, imagine writing “hi’s”, “her’s” or “their’s” – looks wrong, doesn’t it? “It’s” is a contracted version of “it is”, so nearly anywhere you would use “it is” you could use “it’s”: “It’s a lovely day”, “It’s a pity”, “I have tried but it’s of no use”.
Definitely: This seems to have so many different (incorrect) spellings it’s bordering on madness. The letter in bold at the beginning of this paragraph show the correct spelling. This is the only way to spell it! In case you’re in any doubt, click here.
Affect/Effect: To affect is to cause something to happen to, or to influence someone or something else: “If the clock mechanism were touched, it would affect the movement”, “Don’t misread the data, it’ll affect the results”. Effect is the result of an action taken against someone or something: “The girl ran away – I have that effect on women”, “If I mixed chemical X with chemical Y, what would the effect be?”
Lose/Loose: How? How does anyone get this wrong? The two words could not be more different. Loose simply means “not tight” or insecure (OK, it has other meanings, but you get the gist). Lose means to misplace, mislay or not be able to find something. I have seen this in marketing emails (there’s no chance I’ll be buying whatever they’re selling) and even from upper management in major corporations – which makes it very difficult to go to their office and slap the back of their heads.
There may well be a part two to this as I discover more. I hope it was useful to you, as correct use of spelling and grammar makes a positive first impression on a reader.
I wouldn’t blame this on the internet or mobile phones. For one thing, in a good proportion of cases, people are making slightly more keystrokes for the wrong version than they are for the right.
Another common one is principle/principal. I’ve found that on an official application form (pedantically, I wrote a proof-reader’s correction on it, but I don’t suppose it will be noticed). Nor, in my cynicism, do I expect much reference to principles on an internet site.
Ooh, there’s another one I do see a lot of. I waste a lot of time on messageboards for tourists/travellers, and I notice many people say “sites” when they mean “sights”. And they use airport acronyms for cities, which is a waste of time for those of use who can’t be bothered to scrabble around looking them up. And they use their own diminutives and abbreviations for other countries’ places and events (St. Pete for St. Petersburg, anyone? And how about St. Patty’s Day?)
I’m prepared to go a bit easy on Johnny Foreigner if he is struggling with these sort of things. Even my Flemish colleagues, whose English is nearly perfect, struggle with the odd homophone. They also seem to put off when they mean of, “I’ll have two off those nice pints of Guinness please bar-steward”.
However, can I please be allowed to administer a good slap to the (supposedly) educated muppets in the sales, marketing and recruitment fields, who seem incapable of getting these things correct?
P.S. There is a facebook quiz on “there/their/they’re”. I got 100%, naturally.
The of/off thing is quite cute – the Germans are wont to do it too. The fact remains that they are speaking or writing English as their second language, and still getting things in better order than some Brits.
I have created a new Facebook group called “A slap on the back of the head for managers using bad grammar” – a snappy title, I’m sure you’ll agree. Feel free to sign up
I tried to install the “there/their/they’re” thing but it didn’t work for some reason – I’ll have another stab at it later.