This Drives Me Crazy!

rhymegirl · Dec 30, 2008

I read a lot of things online in various places. And what drives me crazy? Spelling and grammar mistakes.

I was just reading some blurbs on Yahoo.

This is what I saw, word for word, exactly like this (except for my quotation marks):

"Read how the celebrity's are losing weight fast with no diet as seen on CNN and MSNBC."

See anything wrong with that?

KTC · Dec 30, 2008

celebrity is spelled with an s.

citymouse · Dec 30, 2008

I just found this on the web. It is about an 8yr old guitarist. What's wrong with this text?

"This kid takes a guitar that is bigger than him and just rips it to shreds!..."

What gripes me is some one got paid real money to write that line!
C

aka eraser · Dec 30, 2008

Those kinds of mistakes have been appearing in major, daily newspapers (at least here in Canada) for several years. Used to be, any of Toronto's three (now four) dailies could be counted on for properly-spelled, grammatically-correct content.

Not a day goes by now though, when I can't find some sloppy error in just about every section of any paper. Seems good rewrite people and copy editors are the first to go when papers decide it's time to get lean.

Exir · Dec 30, 2008

"Read how the celebrity's are losing weight fast with no diet as seen on CNN and MSNBC."

OMG OMG OMG

Let me try adding the punctuation marks, shall I? Should it be:

Read how the celebrity's are losing weight fast, with no diet as seen on CNN and MSNBC.

Or should it be:

Read how the celebrity's are losing weight-- fast [as in the verb, get it?] with no diet-- as seen on CNN and MSNBC.

Or maybe it is:

Read how the celebrity's are losing weight fast with no diet, as seen on CNN and MSNBC.

Whew.

Exir · Dec 30, 2008

"This kid takes a guitar that is bigger than him and just rips it to shreds!..."

Ooh... I'm not quite sure about this one -- maybe it should be "bigger than himself"? :Shrug:

NeuroFizz · Dec 30, 2008

I's can rite gud. Hire me fur them commershals. I wont evin slip in a y'all, y'all. I evin no the diffrince tween a plurul and a posesif.

Exir · Dec 30, 2008

I's can rite gud. Hire me fur them commershals. I wont evin slip in a y'all, y'all. I evin no the diffrince tween a plurul and a posesif.

Maybe that guy thinks an -ies suffix looks ugly.

minervaK · Dec 31, 2008

rhymegirl said:
I read a lot of things online in various places. And what drives me crazy? Spelling and grammar mistakes.

I was just reading some blurbs on Yahoo.

This is what I saw, word for word, exactly like this (except for my quotation marks):

"Read how the celebrity's are losing weight fast with no diet as seen on CNN and MSNBC."

See anything wrong with that?

Apostrophe abuse is punishable by death, in my book. Unfortunately, it seems to be sweeping the nation.

The lack of commas has already been noted by others.

'Fast' should be 'quickly.'

'Losing...with no diet' is nonsensical; better would be 'losing weight quickly, without dieting' or 'losing weight quickly, without using a diet.'

As a fellow Grammar Nazi, I feel your pain.

MK

minervaK · Dec 31, 2008

citymouse said:
I just found this on the web. It is about an 8yr old guitarist. What's wrong with this text?

"This kid takes a guitar that is bigger than him and just rips it to shreds!..."

What gripes me is some one got paid real money to write that line!
C

Well, there are lots of things wrong there, but the grammatical error is that it should read "...bigger than he." The verb 'is' is implied; i.e., "the kid takes (sic) a guitar that is bigger than he (is)..."

MK

triceretops · Dec 31, 2008

Read how the celebrity's are losing weight fast with no diet as seen on CNN and MSNBC."

I'll give it a shot with a chopping knife:

Learn how celebrities are losing weight without dieting, as seen on CNN and MSNBC.

thethinker42 · Dec 31, 2008

Maybe the celebrities are losing weight by exercising and avoiding apostrophes.

Exir · Dec 31, 2008

"This kid takes a guitar that is bigger than him and just rips it to shreds!..."

I don't really understand why "takes" is a mistake here. Any grammar Nazi here to enlighten me?

citymouse · Dec 31, 2008

Sister Mary Frivolous always said that when in doubt finish the sentence.

"This kid takes a guitar that is bigger than him and just rips it to shreds!..."
This kid takes a guitar that is bigger than he is and just rips it to shreds!..."

C

Fuzzy Dragon · Dec 31, 2008

How much trouble could we get into by correcting the newspaper and delivering it back to their offices? Or putting up a corrected version on a website? Or a betting pool for how many mistakes a particular journalist makes in a week?

citymouse · Dec 31, 2008

What gets me is when I'm watching CNN and these journalists (who should know better) say things like she's bigger than me. she's bigger than me am? No one says that. But there you are. I know I keep banging on this drum but these people get paid major $$$ for that kind of speech.
And of course we get the same from our politicians. Even the eloquent Barak lays the me am on us.

However, putting all this into perspective. When murderers with machetes chase your family into a church and hack off their arms. Or when your child dies in your arms from hunger all these details tumble into insignificance.

C

Irysangel · Dec 31, 2008

Speaking of grammar, is anyone else bothered by the extra comma in the 'Share Your Work' category heading? Drives me nuts every time I see it.

citymouse · Dec 31, 2008

I never noticed. I'm sure it will be fixed pronto.
C

Irysangel said:
Speaking of grammar, is anyone else bothered by the extra comma in the 'Share Your Work' category heading? Drives me nuts every time I see it.

minervaK · Dec 31, 2008

Exir said:
I don't really understand why "takes" is a mistake here. Any grammar Nazi here to enlighten me?

I'm probably wrong, but 'takes' doesn't agree with 'guitar' unless there's a destination: i.e., you can take a guitar, but you have to take it somewhere. However, using 'take' this way is pretty common usage nowadays, so it's probably accepted without question in most situations.

MK

Oberon · Dec 31, 2008

They're their there, lose loose, all hose works tat Spill chick don't hep you wit.

rhymegirl · Dec 31, 2008

triceretops said:
Read how the celebrity's are losing weight fast with no diet as seen on CNN and MSNBC."

I'll give it a shot with a chopping knife:

Learn how celebrities are losing weight without dieting, as seen on CNN and MSNBC.

Actually, the only thing that bothered me about that sentence was celebrity's.

I can't stand it when people don't get that adding an "s" (or "ies" in this case) is for making a word plural, but using an apostrophe means you're signifying possession. I see this mistake so often all over the place.

BarbaraKE · Dec 31, 2008

rhymegirl said:
Actually, the only thing that bothered me about that sentence was celebrity's.

I agree, that's what bothered me. Although I wouldn't mind a couple more commas. And you can get rid of the 'the'.

Read how celebrities are losing weight fast, with no diet, as seen on CNN and MSNBC."

Matera the Mad · Dec 31, 2008

We could all stand to lose some "the"s.

One of the best places to be driven crazy is right here at AW. Thread subject lines in Basic Writing Questions have been known to cause excruciating pain. :roll:

citymouse · Dec 31, 2008

In defense of those who ask basic writing questions I offer this.
I know an author who has published two books, has one with a new agent and another that has just been edited and is ready for submission.
He is almost 60yrs old.
At age 40 he was one of the "functional illiterates" in the USA. Determined to tell all the stories he has in his head he sat with a dictionary , a yellow pad and a pencil and he taught himself to read and write. As you might expect it took years. This naturally lead to literacy without understanding.
Enter moi as a sort of surrogate Basic Writing resource. He's too embarrassed post his questions in AW and so he asks me. And so I say kiss the ground, because we are twice blessed.
C

aka eraser · Dec 31, 2008

citymouse said:
In defense of those who ask basic writing questions I offer this.
I know an author who has published two books, has one with a new agent and another that has just been edited and is ready for submission.
He is almost 60yrs old.
At age 40 he was one of the "functional illiterates" in the USA. Determined to tell all the stories he has in his head he sat with a dictionary , a yellow pad and a pencil and he taught himself to read and write. As you might expect it took years. This naturally lead to literacy without understanding.
Enter moi as a sort of surrogate Basic Writing resource. He's too embarrassed post his questions in AW and so he asks me. And so I say kiss the ground, because we are twice blessed.
C

Citymouse, good on you for for acting as a relay. But I hope you've tried to convince him to join and ask those questions himself. If he has concerns as to his treatment, I invite him to contact me with his chosen user name. I'll do what I can to ensure his landing is a soft one.

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