Thursday, July 3, 2008

PET PEEVE.. again...

OKAYYY….. I’m blogging again!!

Nottttt that anyone reads this anyways…

But I have a HUGE pet peeve, and so I must complain…

You see… I hate spelling errors.

Like, really I hardcore dislike them.

Now, don’t worry, I understand some mistakes. There are some words out there that are genuinely difficult to spell…

I assume that most often, these extravagant words are used in more professional type documents, as opposed to a blog, instant message, wall post, and so- on. In these instances, the DICTIONARY should be consulted…. Again I will assume that most of us have enough pride in how we are professionally presenting ourselves that we will verify the correct spelling of such words before including them in any document/presentation/ or so on…

So, now you’re wondering what I’m talking about…

Well, my problem is with simple basic mistakes in little almost insignificant things such as notes, blogs, IMs, emails, wall posts etc.

Somewhere along the line, schooling has greatly failed us.

It is NOT normal to be making mistakes in the proper usage of words like “where, were, we’re, their, there, they’re, are, our, to, too, two”… just to name a few.

You see, the reason it is completely unacceptable to make such mistakes is that these words are basic, common words that sound similar, but have completely different meanings. These words are also used so often that we should know their proper spelling at the appropriate time.

For all those out there that don’t see the problem in such mistakes because “oh, you understand what I mean” I’ll let you in on a little secret.

I can figure out what you mean. But often, I have to re-read whatever sentence has the misspelled word in it. Because…

“We’re our you taking of two?” REALLY throws me off.

There’s no way I would smoothly read such a line and just KNOW a person meant to ask, “Where are you taking off to?”

I would be so thrown off, and distracted by the horrendous, unacceptable spelling, that I would need to re-read over and over, to get past my confusion and figure out the meaning behind those words… That is, if I can even correctly figure it out!!

And so, my frustration has become so extreme that I have decided to post a little lesson for anyone that may need a refresher:

Where, were, we’re

Where: referring to a location. EXP: “Where are you?”

Were: Past tense of the verb “be”. EXP: “I was going to the store.”

“You were going to the store.”

We’re: Abbreviation for “we are”. EXP: “We’re sisters.”

There, Their, they’re

There: referring to a location. EXP: “I’ve been there!”

Their: shows possession. EXP: “That’s their house.”

They’re: abbreviation for “they are”. EXP: “They’re going to the zoo.”

Our, Are

Our: used to indicate possession. EXP: “Our team is going to win.”

Are: present tense of the verb “be”. EXP: “Where are you going?”

“We are silly!”

To, too, two

To: used in indicating a direction, a person… EXP: “I’m going to the mall.”

“To: Sarah”

Too: also, in addition. EXP: “Me too!”

“I’m hungry, tired, and fed up too."

Two: the number 2. EXP: “I’ll meet you around two.”

People, in the end, when you make such simple mistakes, I check one thing: the time at which the message was sent. If it wasn’t late, there is no excuse. I’m left questioning your basic intelligence.

What fueled all this you ask?

Yesterday, I was watching CNN, who was reporting a story on the Republican Presidential candidate John McCain when I noticed a completely unacceptable spelling mistake.

The name of this potential future President had been spelt “McCaign”.

How terrible for an international news channel to making such a horrendous mistake.

And then I started to think… of the mistakes we make everyday.

Kids now, think it’s cool to spell things as ridiculously as they possibly can.

“Luv u gurlzz alwayz!” is tame compared to the insane spelling I’ve seen them using.

Anyways, I can’t force anyone else to change, but I’ve decided to demand more of myself. I won’t lie. When I’m sending quick IM’s I choose not to capitalize, I conveniently forget apostrophes in contractions…

But no more… I retire my former, lazy ways- right now.

And so, I ask the same of anyone who may stumble across this post. In fact, don’t just demand correct spelling from yourselves. Don’t be shy to write in to a news station, or news paper, pointing out unacceptable errors.

And hey, please hold me accountable should I resort back to my lazy ways.

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