Grammar and Spelling Takes A Hit

Is it just me, or is anyone else bothered by the decline of good grammar, proper spelling and word usage. I mean, besides being annoying, I can't believe that educated people seem to be unable to use the proper words in their writing. I'm not talking about difficult technical words, but everyday language where people commonly misuse words, again and again. Here are a few examples, used by some of my friends and family, all of who have a minimum of high school diploma, and most have at least one college degree, if not more. One of the worst I have seen lately is a cousin of mine who is also a teacher. Now that's scary. A typographical error is one thing, where you appear to be typing with your toes instead of your fingers, however when the entirely wrong word is used, well, that is something else.

1. "I seem to have loosed my dictionary". Come on...the word is LOST! The past tense of to LOSE. There is one "O" not two. I see this one misused ALL THE TIME.


2. "I like putting epson salts in my bath". Um, Epson makes printers. What you put in your bath are EPSOM SALTS. (used by my teacher cousin)


3. "There's not to much going on here". TOO. The word is TOO. To implies you are going somewhere.


4. "Your coming with me". Sigh...the word you are looking for is YOU ARE = YOU'RE. Your implies possession, and does not refer to you doing anything at all.


5. "Well, supposebly it's going to rain tomorrow". There is no "B" in supposedly. I kid you not. Apparently you can use this form in the United States. I don't believe it. In any case, we are in Canada.


6. "I am smarter then you". The word required here is THAN. Then refers to what happened next.


7. "Live life to it's fullest". Now this one is very common and one of the trickier ones. There is only an apostrophe if you are contracting these two words - IT IS. If it doesn't make sense to use the two words, then do NOT use the apostrophe version. Sounds easy enough, but you would be surprised how many people will argue this one.


8. "This doesn't really effect me". Sigh again. The word you are searching for is AFFECT. Effect is a noun. Affect is the verb. Nouns do not describe action. The tricky part is that affect can also be a noun, but not in that sentence. You would use it like this "She has a flat affect" meaning she shows no emotion.


9. "I drank so much last night I past out". Again, no. You passed out. Notice the "D" and past tense. I know it gets complicated, but come on. Try at least.


10. "I wanted to right you a letter last night but I couldn't find a pen". Okay, this is just stupid. The word is WRITE. Not WRIGHT, RIGHT, or RITE. Get with the program.


11. "I wrote my affidavid last night for court". You know what. David isn't part of the document. The correct word is affidavit.


12. "The drugstore did not have that pacific kind of hair jell". The words you are reaching for are SPECIFIC and GEL.

I could go on and on like this website, but I think you get the idea.