From a recent open letter by Bill Jemas:
“At the same time, the friends that I work for and with are giving me reign
to do what I do best; exploring new challenges.”
Here’s a suggested challenge, Bill:
USE THE RIGHT FLIPPIN’ WORD.
It’s “rein,” dámņ it, not “reign.” To “reign” is to rule, as a king. You’re not a king. To “give rein,” just as in “give free rein,” is a horsemanship term. It means to ease up on the restraints and let the horse go at whatever clip it wants in whatever direction it wants.
I don’t know why so many people screw this up, but I see it all the time and it just makes me nuts.
PAD
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For me, it’s “led” versus “lead” — I don’t know how many times I’ve seen people use the same spelling for both the past and present tenses of the verb “to lead.” I guess they get it confused with the verb “to read”, which does have the same spelling for both tenses.
On the other hand, I have a friend of mine who goes berserk whenever anyone says “hopefully”, as in “hopefully, it won’t rain today”, and I usually give him grief about his pet peeve.
I’m disturbed by the level of anger I’m reading in the above posts. Isn’t it just a little silly to be genuinely aggrivated by spelling, usage and grammatical errors? Perhaps so many people make these mistakes because it’s easier for some to learn these skills than it is for others.
I’ve been a third grade teacher who’s experienced a wider variety of learning styles and intelligences than can possibly be documented. I’ve been a waitress who’s seen plenty of impressively educated folks who can only order from the pictures on a menu. I’m now spending my time raising my two young children. My son seems to be mathematically and mechanically strong and language weak, and my daughter is the opposite. Am I to classify one as more intelligent than the other? What does it say about you if you know where to put all of your apostrophes, but have to use a calculator to balance your checkbook? How smart are you if you spell all your words correctly, but can’t explain the difference between square and plumb? Do you think less of your mate, friends, parents or children when they substitute the word affect for effect?
I am the type of person who tends to notice written language errors. I’ve chucked to myself when I’ve read Picard ending a sentence with a preposition. There’s a business near my house with a huge sign in front that says “OPEN SUNDAY’S” that distracts me a bit while I drive past it. But I can’t imagine getting annoyed or upset by such occurences.
As for the deterioration of written language on the net, I agree that it’s a shame so many folks don’t put more effort into their internet communication. I think it’s impolite to fill text with avoidable errors. On the other hand, I believe it’s probably just hastening the very natural evolution of our language. Oh yes, all these grammar, spelling and usage rules we’ve worked so hard to master and apparently hold so dear won’t last. Think how far we are from the English of 1000 years ago (or 500 years ago or even 300 years ago.) Pray consider the ever-changing nature of language before condemning the instruments of change.
Someone mentioned the whole thing with “very unique”. Here’s another one we hear among comic fans a lot: “limited invulnerability”. It doesn’t work that way. Someone’s either invulnerable or they’re not. It’s meant as an absolute. The description they are probably going for is “enhanced durability”, which means they can take a lot more punishment before it takes a toll on them. Doesn’t have the same ring, though.
Here’s another one you hear on the news all the time: “Near miss.” “There was a scare at JFK today when two 747s had a near miss.”
There’s no such thing as a near miss. Either you missed or you didn’t miss. If you missed, it’s a complete miss. If you didn’t miss, then you hit, and it’s a collision. If you almost collided but didn’t, then it’s a “near collision” or a “near hit.”
PAD
Good god, I’m so embarrassed. I just mailed a letter to Peter David that used the word “complementary,” when it should have said “complimentary.” It also lacked a closed-parenthesis at the end of a sentence that required one.
Forgive me, Mr. David! I hope you’ll still read the letter. 🙂
Jason
Janice, I don’t think anyone regards those making these kinds of mistakes as ‘stupid’, but let’s be fair – mostly they’re not third-graders, either…
Sure, language changes and evolves according to use, that’s basic modern linguistics, but it shouldn’t result in gibberish. Another basic notion in modern linguistics is that the quality of our thoughts and ideas are directly affected by the quality of language we use. Unclear language? Unclear thought. We take an extra 10 seconds to straighten our thoughts out before we express them verbally – I don’t think writing them should be any different. If anything, it allows you MORE clarity – hëll, I’ve been back and forth through this very post for like 6 times.
If haste is an acceptable excuse (as people often claim), why not just hit keys generally located next to the ones you actually need, and let other people figure it out? Because you want people to understand what you’re saying – and some effort has to be put into that. Like it or not, this is a written medium; a post like the one I quoted above is the textual equivalent of someone trying to express ideas with a mouth full of marshmallows – in which case I’d tell them to please swallow first, personally.
The internet is speeding up language’s evolution anyway; writespeak is common practice, and it should be, at least for this medium. But there are better and worse ways to use even that.
Obviously, nobody here would ‘condemn the instrument of change’ (beautifully put), after all – we are all using it right now (and besides, I doubt there has been a single post free from mistakes throughout the entire debate). Of course this thread is silly; it’s a bunch of bìŧçhìņg and moaning – the two things most loved by comicbook and internet fans – let alone people who are keen enough on both to be here… I wouldn’t take anyone’s aggravation TOO seriously.
\\Here’s another one you hear on the news all the time: “Near miss.” “There was a scare at JFK today when two 747s had a near miss.”
There’s no such thing as a near miss. Either you missed or you didn’t miss. If you missed, it’s a complete miss. If you didn’t miss, then you hit, and it’s a collision. If you almost collided but didn’t, then it’s a “near collision” or a “near hit.”
PAD\\
Carlin is great, isn’t he? I’d say “he da man”, but he’d beat me to a pulp and scream “Oh yeah?!? Well you da fûçkìņ’ honkaaahhhh!!!”
Carlin is great, isn’t he? I’d say “he da man”, but he’d beat me to a pulp and scream “Oh yeah?!? Well you da fûçkìņ’ honkaaahhhh!!!”
Carlin pointed that one out as well? I’ve been bìŧçhìņg about it for years. Wouldn’t surprise me, though. Nothing gets past Carlin insofar as the language being mangled.
PAD
Janice commented I’ve chucked to myself when I’ve read Picard ending a sentence with a preposition.
Once and for all, there’s absolutely NOTHING wrong in ending a sentence with a preposition. That little “rule” was introduced by Robert Lowth (in his A Short Introduction to English Grammar). The rationale was to devise a grammar system which would “elevate” the English language to the lofty level of Latin. Unfortunately, in his attempt, he ignored one very basic principle: English is NOT a Romance language; it’s Germanic. Modern German has a series of verbs which naturally include prefixes such as “bekommen”, “verstehen”, “unterhalten”, “auskommen” of which some are considered “separable” and some are “inseparable”. “Be-” and “ver-” are considered inseparable prefixes; “unter-” and “aus-” are considered separable. The terms refer to whether or not the prefix is separated from the root verb when conjugated. Taking “bekommen” and “auskommen” for example, the first verb is conjugated as “ich bekomme, du bekommst, er bekommt, etc” while the latter is “ich komme . . . aus, du kommst . . . aus, er kommt . . . aus”. (For the sake of translation, “bekommen” means “to become”, “auskommen” means “to come out”.) When separated, the prefixes fall at the end of clause or sentence (a few exceptions are made, but German syntax is nearly as disturbing as English syntax) and have the feel of a preposition–this is only natural since most of the separable prefixes also serve a function as prepositions with their own set of rules governing the case–accusative, dative or genitive–of the object of the preposition.
Obviously, English contains several verbs which require “prepositions” to complete a thought (“to go out” has a slightly different meaning than “to go”). The truth, though, is that these “prepositions” are functioning as adverbs in a “phrasal verb” as can be explained at http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/022703.htm
It would have been nice if Mr Lowth had actually understood how certain words were being used as parts of speech when he made his little “rule” before passing along faulty information.
PAD: Carlin pointed that one out as well? I’ve been bìŧçhìņg about it for years. Wouldn’t surprise me, though. Nothing gets past Carlin insofar as the language being mangled.
Ohhh, indeed he did. It’s in the brilliant “Airline Announcements”, in 1992’s “Jamming in New-York”. if you want, drop me an Email and I’ll send you the (legally acquired) MP3 file.
Just to back up gvalley on this: I work in TV news, and it’s very obvious to people in the industry that the English language is a lot more fluid than people realize. There’s a vast difference between the written and spoken word, and in working in the media that point is hammered home every day. Granted, the written word should not become a slave to the evolution of the spoken word, and while there is a very, very strong dedication in the editors and copywriters of the American media to adhere to formal grammar (at least, the claim’s been made… I’ve seen more than my fair share of errors), there are a lot of places where grammar simply doesn’t apply. In a lot of places (advertizing particularly), strict adherence to the King’s English will likely LOSE you revenue.
I will get on the grumpy bandwagon and say that I think people who don’t understand the differences between pluralization and property should be hung up by their thumbs. I grew up in NYC, but moved down to Augusta, GA ten years ago while I was in high school. The differences in the educational system are palpable… I regularly witness the area’s major auto retailer advertizing “Dodge Durango’s and other model’s” on huge billboards and it makes me ill. “Peanut’s and Hot Dog’s” is another favorite.
The OTHER John Byrne
Nytwyng, “I could care less” is correct. It’s meant to be sarcastic.
\\Reigning – ruling
Reining – controling, moderating
Rayneing – Using a variety of spells to screw with a fellow British ex-buddy’s head
Rahneing – Turning into a Scottish werewolf
Any questions?\\
Yes. Run that third one by me again, please? I caught the otherse (Rahneing is obviously a reference to Wolfsbane 🙂 but Rayneing is eluding me. It sounds like I should know it but I just can’t make the connection in my head right now (which means that it will come to me when I’m drifting off to sleep later, naturally. Way of the world, :).
Chris
Who apologizes for any and all misspellings and grammer errors contained in her post. Spelling is not one of my stronger suits. 🙂
Uh-oh… ‘Plural vs. possessive’ is getting worse. I just saw an NBC ad for ‘”Law & Order: Criminal Intent” on Sunday’s.’ Sunday’s what? Ear? Nose? How about the top some angry exec (who can spell) is going to pop when they find out about it?
Honestly, what’s the world coming to if people in advertizing can’t get plural vs. possessive right? So sad.
tOjb
To BrakYeller:
What’s the world coming to when a person can’t spell “advertise” correctly, yet obsesses over the proper use of the apostrophe?
While some English verbs may end in -ise with an Americanized version in -ize, “advertise” isn’t one of them– “theorise”, “hypothesise”, “canonise”, “terrorise”, even “Americanise” and “Anglicise”, all end in -ize in standard American English; -ize is also becoming common in British English. “Advertise”, however, remains an -ise holdout.
“Advertise”, however, remains an -ise holdout.
Drat you, drat you for finding my kryptonite! Seriously though, I work in advertising, and I see it all the time, both -ise and -ize. Kind of like those people who pretend to be British by spelling ‘humor’ with an extra ‘u.’
tOjb