I was talking with a friend today about spelling and grammar pet peeves. While I in no way claim to be the all knowing authoritative source for spelling and grammar, and do (on rare occasions, ahem) make errors myself, I cannot help but be bothered by some very common spelling and grammar mistakes. I've also discovered a definitive correlation between the type of error and my level of annoyance. If I were to chart it, it would go something like this:
C Level Errors
Annoyance Level: Mild
Annoyance Indications: furrowing of one or both eyebrows, narrowing of eyes
- then/than
- to/too
- its/it's
- effect/affect
- whose/who's
- double spaces between words
Annoyance Level: Medium
Annoyance Indications: Unsuccessful suppression of eye twitches, low grunts of disapproval
- you're/your
- there/their/they're
- desert/dessert
- where/wear
- were/we're
A Level Errors
Annoyance Level: High
Annoyance Indications: Yeti-like noises and mannerisms
- using three commas instead of ellipses (,,,/...)
- apostrophes in the wrong place, such as turning "doesn't" into "does'nt". (Saw this error on a shirt in Bluenotes one day. True story.)
- spelling the word "definitely" incorrectly such as; definately, deffinatly, definatly, and ESPECIALLY defiantly, which makes it a different word all together
One of my co-workers perpetually writes "defiantly" instead of "definitely", and I've been trying for months to find a gentle way of saying AHHH STOP WRITING 'DEFIANTLY' WHEN YOU MEAN 'DEFINITELY' BECAUSE EVERY TIME YOU DO A SMALL PIECE OF ME DIES! Just remember; every time you write "defiantly" instead of "definitely", the terrorists have won.
My friend did mention that one of the only times it pleases him to see things spelt incorrectly is in a tattoo, and he sent me a link to this picture, which really just made my day:
I'm actually not incredibly surprised that someone who would want "I'm Awesome" tattooed on their back would spell it incorrectly.
