Grammar Discussions

[robd]

Split infinitives. Something I was never taught. Or tort. Or, something.

I think you mean taut.

 

[Pushka]

I think you mean taut.

Very. . I new their was another won.

 

[Buzzard]

What about adapter and adaptor ?

I saw earlier today where somebody had written eye's.

 

[Pushka]

Steak and stake
Brake and break
Plain and plane (does anyone get this one wrong) Um, Nope!
Wrung and rung
Plait and plate JohnK - Different sounding words

Just adding some junk here

 

[JessicaTam]

Pedantry and Pedentry.

Maybe we should incorporate that one into the title...

 

[ALH]

Defuse and diffuse

 

[froggerADL]

Affect and effect.

 

[robd]

Affect and effect.

That's a good one.

 

[OzEire]

Frogger just beat me to it... I read through all 20 pages thinking why hasn't anyone mentioned affect and effect !

For me, the two main offences I see are: their/they're/there and your/you're. As they say, punctuation is "the difference between knowing your cough, and knowing you're cough".

May I be indulged to add that irony (and what is ironic) is probably not what you have been led to believe. Most of the things people say are ironic aren't, the're unfortunate. Almost everything in Alanis Morrisett's song is not actually ironic. The conclusion of Romeo and Juliet is tragically ironic because he kills himself believing she is dead unable to live without her, when ironically, she feigns death to be with him (actually, but not ironically, Shakespeare understood how to use English effectively).

OzEire

ps. this thread is for English pedantry, all that is left for me to say is "pog mo thoin"

 

[anat0l]

Frogger just beat me to it... I read through all 20 pages thinking why hasn't anyone mentioned affect and effect !

It's been mentioned

In a Singaporean movie where one of the main characters struggles with English, this pair of words was mentioned twice.

"I would like to resign with affect...with effect... [decides] with affect..."

"...to make the company more...'affective'?! It's meant to be 'effective'...."

 

[Pushka]

Frogger just beat me to it... I read through all 20 pages thinking why hasn't anyone mentioned affect and effect !

It was. Back a few pages ago.

 

[JessicaTam]

It was. Back a few pages ago.

Back a few pages/A few pages ago.

 

[anat0l]

A fitting joke (given before):

Student: "Miss, I ain't got a pencil."
Teacher: "No, not 'ain't', 'haven't'! I haven't got a pencil! You haven't got a pencil! They haven't got a pencil!"
Student: "Wow! What happened to all the pencils?"

 

[medhead]

Frogger just beat me to it... I read through all 20 pages thinking why hasn't anyone mentioned affect and effect !

For me, the two main offences I see are: their/they're/there and your/you're. As they say, punctuation is "the difference between knowing your cough, and knowing you're cough".

May I be indulged to add that irony (and what is ironic) is probably not what you have been led to believe. Most of the things people say are ironic aren't, the're unfortunate. Almost everything in Alanis Morrisett's song is not actually ironic. The conclusion of Romeo and Juliet is tragically ironic because he kills himself believing she is dead unable to live without her, when ironically, she feigns death to be with him (actually, but not ironically, Shakespeare understood how to use English effectively).

OzEire

ps. this thread is for English pedantry, all that is left for me to say is "pog mo thoin"

You need check out the oatmeals take on irony. That concludes that while those things are just misfortune, someone pointed that out is wrong regardless of being correct.

I didn't really understand their point. Perhaps it was ironic.

 

[JessicaTam]

You need check out the oatmeals take on irony. That concludes that while those things are just misfortune, someone pointed that out is wrong regardless of being correct.

...

What?

Umm, huh?

 

[JohnK]

What?

Umm, huh?

Not just me then!

 

[marki]

Defuse and diffuse

Your kidding

 

[TheEmu]

You need check out the oatmeals take on irony. That concludes that while those things are just misfortune, someone pointed that out is wrong regardless of being correct.

I didn't really understand their point. Perhaps it was ironic.

Or ironical.

 

[medhead]

What?

Umm, huh?

You've not heard of the oatmeal? Google is pretty good at tracking this stuff down. Suggest "oatmeal irony"

 

[SeatBackForward]

You need check out the oatmeals take on irony. That concludes that while those things are just misfortune, someone pointed that out is wrong regardless of being correct.

I didn't really understand their point. Perhaps it was ironic.

Alanis is that you?