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What spelling mistake do you hate/notice the most?

(309 Posts)
Puzzlelove Sat 15-Jun-24 09:32:39

Received an email this morning from a well known greeting card from that I use. Why don’t these mistakes get noticed? I hate seeing this spelling mistake.

Maggiemaybe Sat 15-Jun-24 13:11:57

Ah yes, Romola. I was going to say that these things don’t bother me much unless they’re printed, as on signs or flyers, but I used wrongly for me and less for fewer get me every time! I think it’s because they’re becoming the norm now.

I suppose I just have to remind myself that language evolves.

Wyllow3 Sat 15-Jun-24 13:15:49

a before e except after c.....

Apostrophes in the right place - I'm wobbly on that one.

eddiecat78 Sat 15-Jun-24 13:17:08

"different to" instead of "different from" - it annoys me and Stephen Fry!
Otherwise I'm keeping quiet about spelling. I used to be an excellent speller but it is definitely deteriorating as I get older

Urmstongran Sat 15-Jun-24 13:20:51

It’s ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ Wyllow3. 😁

sodapop Sat 15-Jun-24 13:22:42

My mother always said that you liken to and differ from eddicat stuck in my mind.
Another one which has been cropping up recently is the misuse of 'diffuse' and 'defuse' .

Urmstongran Sat 15-Jun-24 13:26:47

‘Hoisted’ by his own petard (instead of just hoist) irritates me!

Wyllow3 Sat 15-Jun-24 13:27:08

Urmstongran

It’s ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’ Wyllow3. 😁

Eeeeek. 😂 😂😂
Of course.

completely beleiveable (sic)

grandtanteJE65 Sat 15-Jun-24 13:28:17

Plurals that are not in the gentive case but have been equipped with apostrophes!

Maggiemaybe Sat 15-Jun-24 13:29:33

Again, not spelling, but using the word literally incorrectly can give rise to some howlers.

On a current Mumsnet thread touching on whether older people should get concessions on admission charges to museums etc, one poster said of an elderly couple that they definitely didn’t have disabilities because they literally waltzed from a black cab into the foyer of an art gallery. Some of the comments are very funny.

Typical boomers with their free ballroom dancing classes.

Lovemylife Sat 15-Jun-24 13:50:03

Bare with me blush

Mamardoit Sat 15-Jun-24 14:16:36

Germanshepherdsmum

But we see appalling mistakes here every day, made by people of our own age - and there are posters who always make the same mistakes.

Maybe they just struggle with spelling.

I tend to forgive mistakes because I'm the mother of dyslexic boys. Unless you have experienced someone really struggling with spelling despite trying unbelievably hard it is difficult to understand.

The just 'get him to write them out 20 times'! The thinly veiled blame that they/we weren't putting the effort in at home. We put hours of work into our boys, had more books than the children's section of the village library, and in the end paid for specialist teaching.

Grannynannywanny Sat 15-Jun-24 14:23:38

It irritates me when I see spelling and grammar mistakes on shop signs, flyers etc. But I feel uncomfortable seeing criticism of GN posters for their spelling. We don’t know know their personal backgrounds and I’ve seen at least one poster state she is dyslexic. I can’t imagine it’s great for their self esteem to read some critical posts .

kircubbin2000 Sat 15-Jun-24 14:23:54

Saw where someone was vindicated for their dodgy opinion.

Yiayia4 Sat 15-Jun-24 14:26:42

You are all so perfect!!

Grannynannywanny Sat 15-Jun-24 14:27:42

Well said Mamardoit.

Germanshepherdsmum Sat 15-Jun-24 14:30:51

I am not talking about dyslexia. I am talking about the same mistake each time. I won’t repeat what the mistake is because that would probably identify the poster - who is not dyslexic.

Witzend Sat 15-Jun-24 14:39:04

I don’t judge people who make such mistakes - maybe they’re dyslexic, or went to rotten schools, or had hopeless teachers.

However I certainly do judge, very scathingly, those who like to say that spelling and grammar don’t matter any more, nobody except pernickety old pedants cares.
Oh yes they do!

Mamardoit Sat 15-Jun-24 14:39:11

I'm not sure how you could tell that from a few posts on GN. Our sons were diagnosed by an educational psychologist. Several tests over 2-3 hours.

Germanshepherdsmum Sat 15-Jun-24 14:42:06

Some posters are prolific and write long posts.

eazybee Sat 15-Jun-24 14:44:36

Practice and practise.

Greta Sat 15-Jun-24 14:46:20

If children don't learn correct spelling at school and it is considered very rude to correct somebody's poor spelling how do people learn?

Skydancer Sat 15-Jun-24 15:10:09

Chest of draws.

Mamardoit Sat 15-Jun-24 15:24:24

Greta

If children don't learn correct spelling at school and it is considered very rude to correct somebody's poor spelling how do people learn?

They learn coping strategies and avoid situations where their lack of literacy skills is found out. If they really want to learn as an adult they can get help but that is their choice.

Too many seem to equate poor spelling with lack of intelligence and lack of ability in other areas.

We certainly shouldn't be correcting other adults.

Greenfinch Sat 15-Jun-24 15:33:54

Lightening instead of lightning ⚡️.

J52 Sat 15-Jun-24 15:36:29

I have sat in a cafe where the leaflets had ‘familys’ written instead of ‘families’ and correct them all.
I often see ‘separate’ spelt with an ‘e’ for the second ‘a’.
Necessary, is easy to remember if you think that a shirt has one Collar and 2 Sleeves.