Spelling Matters

[andysocial]

Originally published at BunkBlog. You can comment here or there.

Every so often, I run across some spelling error that just screams to be corrected.  I generally abstain, as most people do not take correction well.  I’m going to try to make a list someday, but here are two that made me cringe in the past few minutes:

• Per Say – it’s “per se” and if you don’t know that you probably shouldn’t be using it.
• Lead as a past-tense verb. The past tense of lead is led.  The pronunciation of the second, when spelled like the first, is a soft metal.

Are there spelling errors that make you scream?  Not just a simple typo, but when someone actually believes that what they wrote is absolutely correct?

Comments

[visgoth.livejournal.com]

I'm generally driven quietly insane by people who use the wrong term in a phrase.

E.g. "tow the line," "I could care less,"tongue and cheek," "beyond the pail," "[x has] another thing coming," and so on.

[andysocial]

Of course, the ever-lovely "could of" verb form needs no further abuse.

[bloojanuary.livejournal.com]

Lots of things piss me off...mostly because I'm a bitch and I feel it's my job to point out other people's stupidity.

Today I was in a case consult with another social worker, and she was explaining the relationship between mother (our client) and grandmother (client's mom). "Her behavior exerbates the whole situation," is how she put it. I was so distracted I sat there thinking about masturbation...I think she meant exacerbates.

???

[andysocial]

My father used to abuse the word "superfluous" way too frequently when I was a kid. He also liked to use exacerbate. It remains an amusing-sounding word.