Grammar and spelling

I have no idea about 'parsing' and the other things people (on here) talk about.
I'm not lazy, I'm not thick: I simply wasn't taught that type of thing.

I find myself increasingly irritated at people's bad grammar and spelling. I grew up at a time we were expected to use both correctly. I have complained before (as have others) about people who begin every sentence with the word 'so'. I love music and love some of the current music, but it dements me when i can't understand a word the person is singing. Watching The Voice and the panel rave about a singer I've listened to and I have been unable to make out a single word. Might as well have been singing in a foreign language. Another pet hate of mine is 'can I get' instead of 'can I have'. Sounds like they are about to serve themselves. I understand many people struggle with spelling, but I find it frustrating that so many people can't distinguish between 'too' and 'to', 'their' and 'there'. Used to drive me mad when I was working and would receive emails, often from senior colleagues, who would get them wrong. End of rant!

Haha Nonnie. In my local Waitrose in the lift there is a sign which ends with thankyou. I feel so warm towards the customer who has put a slash through the k and y.
Seriously though it becomes a class issue and that makes me cross. At some time the teaching of the tools of grammar in state schools weren’t seen as important as ‘creativity’ etc. They are in private education.... say no more. Children who attend private schools are no brighter than those attending state schools. Once you have the tools you can choose whether to use them or not.

Grandma70s
The language you are looking for is ‘Yankanese’.

My phone dictionary includes the 'word' alot.

My company employed someone to do my job when I was away on assignment. I saw from her CV that she didn't know what to do with apostrophes so gave her a sheet and a link to a wesbsite which explained it easily and simply. She obviously took no notice. She was far from stupid, just didn't think it important I suppose.

I could give a very long list but the one which currently gets me cross is alot. NO, it is 2 words!

I wouldn't dream of correcting someone on social media but do think that companies should get it right. I sat outside the garage waiting for DH to sort out a new exhaust pipe and found myself staring at an apostrophe which should not have been there. By the time he came back I was barely still in my seat!

Some years ago our local Sainsburys had a CD counter with a big sign saying CD's. It was irritating but I said nothing until one day a man with a Manager badge was nearby so I drew his attention to it and explained why its was wrong. It didn't change.

Why does my bank have literature saying PIN number? Would they say personal identification number number? No.

Grandma70 "Two countries divided by a single language"

MissAdventure.

No Kim19, I agree that it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things but it's nice to have a good old moan in the company of similar pedants sometimes isn't it?

How about patients who "had their bowls open"?

When I was nursing, I came across many incidents that appalled my inner pedant.
I wasn’t unusual of course to have elderly gentlemen with ‘prostrate’ disorders, and the odd one with ‘bronichal coughing’, but medical students and nurses also made some terrific howlers.
One student described a patient as having ‘profuse dire rear’, and that ‘he last sore GP too ears ago’

‘Gotten’ is an older form of ‘got’ that has been preserved in America, but has, or had, died out in English. I believe Shakespeare used it sometimes. It makes me cringe even so, and I hear it increasingly in speech.

It also annoys me that Americans refer to their language as English. How about ‘American dialect’?

Bathsheba, you're so right in that this is a regularly aired topic here. I try, with difficulty, not to let it bother me. I sometimes wonder if the cause is the wider spectrum of subjects that are covered in school whereas I was pounded with the three rs (with enduring gratitude) relentlessly. I think in a few years it won't matter as the majority of us won't know anything about sentence parsing at all far less punctuation. I say.....reluctantly, but with depth..... does it really matter in the wonderful scheme of human relationships?

The word 'gotten' written by British writers in novels set in Britain is my current pet hate. Grrrr.
What is wrong with the word 'got' ? Or, in many case 'have'.
I understand that it is a commonly used in the US - that's fine but many of the characters who use the dreaded word are supposed to be normal Brits in normal situations and I've never heard anyone in my acquaintance ever say 'gotten' in these contexts.
I do all my reading on my Kindle and that is where I have noticed it cropping up the most. Maybe it's an automatic editing thing? Once again, Grrrr.
I'm calmer now that I've gotten that off my chest

My dd also taught English overseas - in SE Asia and Australia. She had done a very rigorous full time TEFL course first, and was appalled to find that some of her fellow teachers - Brit or Aussie- were making basic mistakes.

She once had students from someone else's class worriedly asking her about something basic (e.g. there/their) that was confusing them, since their teacher had got it wrong on the whiteboard.

When she pointed it out to their teacher, he just scoffed and said nobody cared about such things any more, it didn't matter.
But it did - the poor students were paying good money for their lessons, and were going to take important exams, where such mistakes would mean losing marks.

She found such occurrences acutely embarrassing. It was usually the case that such teachers had done a cheap online course, where unless you really made a complete hash of it, you would get some sort of 'qualification' at the end.

My boyfriend writes me beautiful messages but then uses the wrong ‘to’. He’s only recently managed ‘you’re’after lots of encouragement.

So on balance I usually let it go as I so enjoy his expressive way of writing.

By the time I finished primary school, I had learnt all the grammar I needed to know. Fortunately I really loved all that clause analysis! My point is, that if we reached that level of education, then there's no reason why everyone shouldn't. You don't need a GCSE or A-level in English to be able to spell, punctuate and speak gramatically. I suppose the reformed SATs were intended to make a difference but the kind of grammatical jargon the children are meant to understand is not going to make a nation of 'correct' speakers and writers.

Not necessarily Maggieanne it depends how you are taught at school. I was a TA at primary I retired in 2007 but have a friend still working there, she told me that a lot of young teachers that she has worked with can’t spell properly we were both shocked at that, especially as English is the second language for a lot of the children.

Recently I read an American crime novel which used 'would of' and it made me wonder about US grammar.
It also used 'he envisioned ...' which is ludicrous. 'He envisaged...' is surely correct?

I'm with you on this all the way. People also don't seem to know the difference between 'your' and 'you're' and 'to, too and two' even though my granddaughter was taught this in her reception class when she was 5 years old! Compulsory Latin lessons in schools, I say, from a very early age; it's such an excellent tool for understanding grammar.

If people actually spoke correctly it would help. Even television presenters and politicians continually say, 'I'm gonna do' or 'I've bin'.

Many people educated abroad, write better English that the children from our schools. I mark exam papers from abroad as well as this country and this contrast makes me very sad.

My pet hate, be it spoken or written, is saying something "comprises of" when it simply comprises or it comprised.

knspol, I too have come across incidents where teachers' grammar is incorrect. What chance is there for the kids if that's happening?

The new literacy testing that candidates have to pass before being accepted on to PGCE courses is a good step in the right direction. But we probably have some older teachers who qualified before this was in place, who would not now get through this test. They need help and retraining, but probably don't even realise their mistakes.

NanKate, oh yes!
My pet abomination is,"Choccywoccydoodah". It may taste excellent but I would never buy from a shop with a name like that!

Yes there are different levels of education together with other dificulties,it is irritating when people say things incorrectly, but one doesnt know the reason. I am blessed with having no speling problems or pronunciation problems,and I feel sorry for others not as lucky.

Maths is a problem with many of us, I don't know how we can improve that easily, but grammar, surely if people speak properly then the written word comes naturally. ( I sometimes have the urge to say shirley, if you see what I mean, and pacifically, and, oh, there are so many, just drives me mad). Punctuation, oh dear, my teacher always said, before you hand your work in, read it through! It usually works.for me