Monday, November 15, 2010

Confession

I'm a snob.  Well, a grammar snob at least.  Call me a rule follower, but I prefer to use words the way they were intended.  Yes, I'm one of those moms.  I correct my children when they say "Can I have some water please?" I usually say "Yes, you MAY have water."

I'm not sure why folks forget that there are two "r's" in the word "library."  I cringe when I hear teenagers say "fo sho" (that's "for sure" if you aren't hip to the lingo).  It's even more bothersome when I hear 9 year old kids saying it.  They might as well be pulling their fingernails across a chalkboard.  It's almost as frustrating as the boys that insist on wearing their pants below their bottoms and showing off their boxers.  But that's a whole other post.

I don't know when the word "supposedly" was replaced with "supposably" (not an actual word by the way).  At some point it became acceptable to use text speak in an email.  FYI: If I have to break out my teeenage text decoder book just to read your email, I'm probably going to delete it.  It also became acceptable at some point to use the incomplete sentence for dramatic effect.  I know I have done it before, but I know folks that do it.  All.  The.  Time.  I don't use it often.  Only when. Absolutely. Necessary.  :)

There: the opposite of here.  "Please put your shoes over there."
Their: the possessive pronoun form. "Their shoes were all wet after walking in the rain."
They're: Can be used synonymously with "They are." If "they are" does not work in your sentence, "they're" is not the proper word.  "They're going to the store after the movie."
My second grader knows the difference between these words.  There's no excuse for adults.

This morning I was taking Reagan to school and a Suburban pulled out in front of me with writing on the back window.  It said "Go VIPers." Now, granted, I did not get to finish my coffee so I was operating at half caff.  I went into an entire discussion (in my head of course) as to how ridiculous it is to have a football team named the VIP'ers.  Eventually I did realize that she meant "Vipers" but somehow she must have figured that standard rules of capitalization did not apply to car windows.

I saw a t-shirt at the store the other day that said, "Don't worry, I'm just correcting your grammar in my head while you speak."  I may have to purchase it for myself.

9 comments:

  1. I love the supposedly to supposably, I catch it all the time with people. They have no clue they are saying it wrong.

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  2. Yes, I hate the dreaded "supposably," and the there, their, they're missteps as well. I might as well add in the your, you're thing while I'm at it!

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  3. You remind me of my mom, she corrects me all the time...since I am horrible at it.

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  4. I am the same way! I cringe when I hear "She done that." or "I seen...." Some people I know talk like that all. the. time. ;)

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  5. I've seen that tshirt. So funny!!!

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  6. Imagine my Arabic, not to mention my English.

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  7. Don't omit these common irritants:

    * improper use of your and you're
    * improper use of its and it's
    * pronouncing height with "th" at the end
    * the phrase "I could care less..."
    * describing someone's total lifestyle change as having done "a 360"

    Hmm. I guess I'm a snob too! :P

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  8. The one that annoys me the most:

    tomarrow.

    I obviously need that t-shirt.

    ReplyDelete

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