Spellcheck
Oh it’s a pet hate of mine. Articles, letters, emails, you name it, anything I happen to read that contains terrible spelling.
The usual culprits which annoy me most…
Loose instead of lose (when you’ve lost something!)
Freind instead of Friend (“i” before “e” except after “c” we were taught at school!)
And don’t get me started on punctuation! I would write a book on it if Eats, Shoots and Leaves had not already been published!
The worse use of grammar one is by the media - “Hotel”. Since when was it “an hotel” with a silent “H”?? The Oxford Dictionary clearly states, as did my English teacher at school that it is “a hotel” and the “h” is definitely NOT silent!!
Proper use of grammar, punctuation and spelling is all being lost in a silent murk of text-speak, email language and the dreaded Americanisation of the spellchecker. No, we do not always use a Z when pluralising words!! I had to type that word twice as the auto-spellchecker changed it to a Z – that really says it all. I have tried to install UK English in my spell checker, but the bloody American software changes it back! Sorry I don’t mean to offend any American readers of my blog.
I don’t have kids, so I am not sure what is being taught in school these days. Most of my grounding in spelling and grammar however, was in Junior school (aged 7-11) and was ingrained in me by the time I went to Secondary school. I guess sloppy use of grammar and so on in the media is not helping, our eyes and ears are seeped with it a lot of the time, so perhaps we are persuaded something is right when it is wrong simply because we see it so often.
But it doesn’t stop me being irritated by it, and here is an ideal opportunity to have a jolly good rant about it! Thanks for listening…..
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Apostrophes are my weakness! I hate it when they are not used correctl'y. HA! x
ReplyDeleteI'm self-taught so sorry if I've made a mistakes on my blog. Ten years ago, I didn't understand English grammar etc. I would have loved you to have shown me how to write correctly. I'm still on my learning curve, but getting better everyday.
ReplyDeleteI don't like how young people especially "text" their way through everything the write. They are relying on a shorthand filled with misspellings and poor grammar. It is scary that this texting generation doesn't seem to care about writing and spelling correctly.
ReplyDeleteOh Annie I wasn't referring to you! I sometimes think I am in the wrong job, I get so wound up about it perhaps I should have used that energy to teach English? I have the greatest admiration for you and the other real writers who blog here, as I am the laziest, most procrastinating wannabe writer I know of!!
ReplyDeleteSeptembermom, I could not agree with you more! I have to text in "proper" English, and can't used predicitve text either. It fills me with horror when I see how the next generation propose to communicate with each other.....