conFORmation

Spelling is either correct or it's not. And it does matter. My absolute favourite, though, is "mountain" block: now THAT'S a mounting block I'd like to have!
 
When you correct people, please try to do it nicely. If people struggle with spelling, but are actually trying very hard to get it right, it can be very easy to upset them.
 
Drives me nuts too. It has a completely different meaning.

Having been pulled up for using incorrect terms recently (by Cortez), I can confirm it is very annoying. I re-read my post, did a literal "head-desk-thump" manoeuvre and kicked myself for being so daft. I was highly annoyed with myself, but appreciative of the poster who corrected it as I'd rather know (/ be reminded / have it highlighted) before I say it next time and look like even more of an idiot.

I genuinely don't understand why people get so offended - surely it's better to be told these things and learn from them for the future? Some people seem to be peculiarly proud of their lack of education or knowledge.

Dyslexia is a bit different, and minor spelling errors / typos /autocorrect issues which don't change the meaning of the sentence are one thing - I had to double check "manoeuvre" above as I always forget the u! It would still be recognisable, if erroneous though... Using an entirely different word is another matter. Surely you can only spell it "confirmation" if you're saying "confirmation" in the first place - if you're saying "confOrmation", and therefore meaning the correct term, it's blindingly obvious how to spell it correctly.
 
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Bosworth said:
I have had dogs for years and it has always been spay. Never spey, spey is a river in Scotland. I suspect someone has given you duff information. I loathe it when people write ' I spade my bitch'
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This. Spay. Although 'how much is it to have my dog spaded?' is worse. Along with 'I want my dog newted'.

Twiggy2 - I suggest that if you can't compromise you instead grab the academic high ground and refuse to refer to anything except ovariohysterectomy in future - or OHE if you want to shorten it.
 
JFTD said:
I genuinely don't understand why people get so offended - surely it's better to be told these things and learn from them for the future? Some people seem to be peculiarly proud of their lack of education or knowledge.
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as FC says it is all about HOW you correct someone. A whole thread about a person's mistake is totally different to a post with smily faces and things.
 
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undergroundoli said:
as FC says it is all about HOW you correct someone. A whole thread about a person's mistake is totally different to a post with smily faces and things.
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Oh I agree there - but some people can't even take a lighthearted comment or joke pointing out their error. TBF on the OP, the confo-confi mistake is very, very common on here and this could have been inspired by many posts. There is a logic in a new thread discussing it as many more folk will see the comment and the issue highlighted for them, without singling anyone out.
 
Ever since Hyperbole and a Half did the cartoon about the Alot I've been seeing it everywhere, I never noticed it before, do people really think it is a word? Aside from that, no it doesn't really matter but poor spelling and grammar do make an impression on people and could influence them when making important decisions like whether to employ you or what mark to give you in an exam.
 
JFTD said:
Oh I agree there - but some people can't even take a lighthearted comment or joke pointing out their error.
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True. I think it's more likely to be an acute awareness of deficent knowledge leaving people sensitive than real pride in people's lack of education. When people are really trying they tend to find it hard to handle comments implying they're still not good enough.
 
Wingles instead of windgalls makes me giggle a silly amount. And when we went to see an old pony, he was advertised as being "skewballed"... Bit concerned for his health initially!
 
Lolo said:
Wingles instead of windgalls makes me giggle a silly amount. And when we went to see an old pony, he was advertised as being "skewballed"... Bit concerned for his health initially![/QUOTE
Was that the skewballed pony that had cushions as well as wingles?
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fburton said:
Isn't correct spelling a little bit like correct attire for showing/competing/hunting? Who cares as long as its safe and you feel comfortable!
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What an odd comment, lots of people care. What a very dangerous and slippery slope we would be on if people couldn't spell words properly. The OP is referring to two different words which mean completely different things - I think it is pretty vital to get those correct.

My opinion on both spelling, grammar and hunting & showing attire is that you should try to get it right. Half ar$ed attitudes to both pee me off.
 
Gamebird said:
This. Spay. Although 'how much is it to have my dog spaded?' is worse.
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Don't get me started on this! Spent half an hour the other day trying to convince my OH that "spaded" is not the correct word (i.e. someone has been spaded). He was trying to say that he went out with a woman that was sterilised, but he was saying she'd been spaded. D'oh! Cue a very long discussion on the correct spelling and word!
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
Its "spay" here too.

I'm a proper grammar Nazi. I can't abide lazy spelling/punctuation etc.
All of the things mentioned in this thread are things that really irritate me.
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I'm a proper grammar Nazi. I can't abide lazy spelling/punctuation,:p etc.
All of the things mentioned in this thread are things that really irritate me.

I am afraid that incorrect spelling and grammar are a bugbear of mine, too. Sadly, I do, as someone has suggested, make assumptions about an individual's ability and intelligence based very much on their ability to spell/write a sentence with an appropriate grammatical structure. I have to catch myself and berate myself for doing so. My first reaction when someone writes 'Dispair' is to put a one word post underneath simply stating 'despair'. Likewise, I shudder at the 'would of's and 'could of's.

But then again, some of the Malapropisms that appear on hear do make me smile. Muddling up 'Averse' - which means disinclined to do something and 'adverse' - which means contrary to something is a common mistake; and of course the conformation/confirmation.

So much has changed language-wise in my 40 odd years of existence. When I was at school, one would receive a black mark for saying 'different to' - it should be 'different from'; likewise, it should be 'compared with' as opposed to 'compared to'. These days, even Radio 4 presenters fling out 'different to' with gay[archaic] abandon. And don't get me going on tautology... 'Reverse back' anyone? I'm all for evolution, but quite against extinction.:cool:
 
I would like to point out that language changes and moves and develops all the time. We speak modern English. Which in 30 years time will be different to how it is spoken now.

In a way, as long as people are speaking and writing and reading, does it matter if they get grammar wrong? I mean, does it matter that they use a comma badly or muddle up of and have or to and from? I don't think it does. As long as the communication is effective then that's what matters.

But then things like bought/ brought and conformation and confirmation do muddle up effective communication and that's why that matters a little bit.
 
Hereshoping said:
But then again, some of the Malapropisms that appear on hear do make me smile. Muddling up 'Averse' - which means disinclined to do something and 'adverse' - which means contrary to something is a common mistake; and of course the conformation/confirmation.
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Or you could simply evert your gaze. :eek3: :biggrin3:

So much has changed language-wise in my 40 odd years of existence. When I was at school, one would receive a black mark for saying 'different to' - it should be 'different from'; likewise, it should be 'compared with' as opposed to 'compared to'. These days, even Radio 4 presenters fling out 'different to' with gay[archaic] abandon. And don't get me going on tautology... 'Reverse back' anyone? I'm all for evolution, but quite against extinction.:cool:
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At least we haven't yet embraced the bizarre-sounding, American 'different than'.
 
Some words are really cool but belong to such arcane things we never get to use them. I think blunderbuss should be turned in to a verb meaning 'to comprehensivly and continously mess up.'

As in 'my cob blunderbussed the show jumping. We had every fence down,' or 'I'm scared I'll blunderbuss meeting my boyfriend's parents.
 
Hereshoping said:
I'm a proper grammar Nazi. I can't abide lazy spelling/punctuation,:p etc.
All of the things mentioned in this thread are things that really irritate me.




likewise, it should be 'compared with' as opposed to 'compared to'. These days, even Radio 4 presenters fling out 'different to' with gay[archaic] abandon. And don't get me going on tautology... 'Reverse back' anyone? I'm all for evolution, but quite against extinction.:cool:
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At the risk of sounding horribly pedantic, "compared to" and "compared with" are two different expressions, equally valid but with different meanings, although I quite agree that the wrong expression is frequently used!
 
Where/were/we're
There/Their/They're
Trail/Trial

And slightly off topic but if I see another post about my ponio, baby ponio or baby horsey I'll puke all over the keyboard. I generally stop reading posts as soon as I come across those words!

<runsandhidesfromirateponioowners>
 
camilla4 said:
At the risk of sounding horribly pedantic, "compared to" and "compared with" are two different expressions, equally valid but with different meanings, although I quite agree that the wrong expression is frequently used!
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Yes, I agree - if you wish to suggest a similarity, you would say 'compared to'; but should you wish to express a degree of difference, it is 'compared with'. You are right; my example above would have been more complete had I suggested the context. I merely wanted to press that it is rarely used with its appropriate modifier.
 
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