The spelling/grammar nazi thread

[ihoss.com]

I see a lot of spelling/grammar mistakes here and on the rest of the net. English is not my first language, so don't hide behind the fact that it isn't yours either; you can still improve your English. I'm sure I make lot's of mistakes too, so I'm not here to say what you all do wrong. This is a thread where we can all point out some common mistakes we all make, and try not to make them again.

So;

Then/Than:
Then is about time, than is comparison.
Examples:
My Rolex is shinier than yours.
I looked him in the eyes, then I shot him.

And then someone else can explain when and where I should use 's after words, and when I should use s. I never get that right

[webdreamer]

Is it color or colour.
In the UK it is colour but in the US it is color.

[Visionray]

So;

semicolon?

[ihoss.com]

I love semicolon; it can be used everywhere

[gerbick]

Your/you're

Your cat is dead.
You're the owner of a dead cat.

Definitely... there's definitely no damn "a" in "definitely".

And there's no such word as irregardless. It's a bad, bad word.

[hanratty21]

Apparently, in journalism school, they teach you to never use the term 'utilize' unless it is part of the work 'overutilize.'

On a side note, will GW Bush ever stop saying 'Nuc-u-lar?'

[MagnusVS]

I'm sure I make lot's of mistakes too

(at least you admit it!)

[silverx2]

/me sits back and waits for the lolcats.

[MagnusVS]

And then someone else can explain when and where I should use 's after words, and when I should use s. I never get that right

Ah. Now I see (reference to my post above)

's is used to express posession in the genitive form, e.g. "John's computer".
s is used to express that something is in plural (flertall), e.g. "John has many computer games".

[ctranter]

You should of checked threw you're reply too pick up the error's, dont be hippocritical about there mistake's.

[chrimarg]

what`s with the of instead of have. you should have checked...is this some new reform? I`ve seen this for a year or so, and it makes me want to throw up, just sounds wrong to me.

[silverx2]

yeah and if you threw some checks of a high enough value people might ignore your errors. of course you could have spell check run through your post even faster, and save some cash!

[robbmcaulay]

Definitely... there's definitely no damn "a" in "definitely".

Wow... definitely been guilty of that one. I just realised the other week that i've been spelling surprised as suprised for as long as I can remember!

[MyFriendIsATaco]

I'm sure I make lot's of mistakes too

You mean lots?

[edit]Actually, now that I think about it, lot's and lots are incorrect, huh? Shouldn't it just be a lot?

Not alot. That's a common mistake as well.[/edit]

[PAlexC]

It's = it is
its = possessive

[asheep_uk]

You use an apostrophe if it's possessive and for an abbreviation of it is, PAlexC.

It is Toby's fault. It's Toby's fault. The fault is all Toby's. Toby is a problem. Toby's a problem. Toby has a few problems, but the one thing we can be sure of is that they are all Toby's.

[asheep_uk]

Then there is the problem of possessive plurals.

Toby has a few friends. Toby's problem is with his friends. His friends have problems to. Their problems are with Toby. Toby's friends' problems are with Toby. Toby has one friend who likes another friend. That's their problem, just one friend. Toby's friend's problem is that they like another of Toby's friends.

[MyFriendIsATaco]

It's sad when I comprehend code better than my own damn speaking language.

[silverx2]

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

yeah I'm the king of grammar

[MyFriendIsATaco]

Badger badger badger badger badger MUSHROOM MUSHROOM!