Monday, August 9, 2010

Grammar Police

I admit it - sometimes I am a member of the grammar police. I don't do it on purpose, but those things just jump out at me. Now, that is not to be confused with just plain, ordinary misspelled words. Those grab me, too. I make my share of typos but I usually don't misspell something unless my mouse (which has issues at times) and my eyes are not in agreement with each other. Like everyone else, I can (and frequently do) read right past my typing errors because I "know" what it is supposed to say.

In the "old" days (back when Jesus was a child; when I was growing up), if someone graduated with a high school diploma, you could trust they could read AND write using correct grammar. Not any more. These things get to me when I see them posted, in messages, on signage (you'd think someone creating the signs could actually proof-read the thing before it's sent out):

To, Too, and Two
Your and You're
Their, There, and They're
Except and Accept
Affect and Effect
Our and Are
When to use "suppose" and "supposed" - as in, "I suppose so" (implying now) and "I was supposed to be..." (implying past tense)
It's and Its
How to make something plural and How to make something possessive; Acronyms, such as DVD, don't become plural with an apostrophe; that's possessive (DVD's vs. DVDs)

I'm sure there's more, but this is enough for now.

What brought this on, you might ask... Today, as I was driving to my doctor's office, I saw an advertisement on a sign for a new day care. KinderLearning...Implies they're going to be doing some preschool stuff. I'm good with that. The sign said, "Is your current day care to expensive?"  It's TOO people, not TO! If the person who wrote the sign didn't know the difference, the person creating the sign (it was professionally done) should have proof-read the thing and pointed out the error to the customer. If the person creating the sign couldn't tell the difference of when to use TO and TOO, then that person shouldn't be making signs to sell to people.

Several years ago (20+ years), the company I worked for was closing our main office and only having agent offices. We ordered a sign from a well-known Wichita sign company with the address of the new agents. The sign maker abbreviated Kansas with KA - not KS. It wasn't a typo because it was done more than once. If that had been the only error, I might have bought into typo; it was so poorly done and the spelling was so bad, we refused to pay for it and had the owner of the company come and look at it. He stood there for a minute reading the sign, and then he picked it up and left our office without saying a word. We didn't get a bill.

OK, I'm off my soap box now and back to regularly scheduled programming.

Have a great night!

6 comments:

SkippyMom said...

To, two and too drive me as nuts as do there and their. I gave up on anyone knowing how to use possessives a long time ago.

The worst? When people write loose for lose.

If you lose weight your pants will be loose. Drives me bananas. Can these folks not say the two words out loud and see the difference?

I cringe when I see it and it seems I see it a lot. [A lot is another one. It is a lot, not alot. grrr]

Then again? I shorten everything. Lil', y'all, 'fridge - so who am I to snark?

Pat said...

That's funny. I spot typos everywhere, too! There were a couple of guys on the TODAY show who travel around the country fixing typos on signs. It was pretty funny. They spot the typos, go into the establishment and explain the problem, and then correct the spelling. Most people took it pretty well.

SkippyMom said...

Hey Momma! I gave you an award today because you are one of my favorite "Blogs of Substance" please come visit and claim. HUGS!

Rudee said...

This bothers me, too. At work we use Blackberries to communicate with one another and field staff. These are professional communications regarding patient care. When I see something like this: u r going to need to call and check on mr.x tonight, it makes me squirm. Really? u r? I'd rather see: your going to have to check on mr. x tonight, than u r. Neither sample is correct, but I'm appalled by the unprofessionalism and shortcuts. The worst offender is our director. Being a bean counter is her specialty. I wish she'd letter others write her missives because in my eyes, her poor grammar puts her in a bad light.

TinaM said...

Spelling doesn't bother me to much, maybe because I probably do it? haha :) to, too, two, 2, tu... I don't care, it's what the writer is saying that I care about. BUT I would be mad if I paid for a sign and it was messed up lol.

I have to tell ya, it's only going to get worse. Especially with all the texting and everything lol.

All the technology is great... but it really is making it so kids don't have to do for themselves, and that includes picking up a dictionary... if spell check doesn't find it- then it must be right! LOL (again, I don't mind since I'm probably an offender)

Marla said...

I am so with you on this one.