Annoyances!

People always say that, I'm the same. But if no one ever dares to mention a glaring error, it just gets compounded and eventually accepted as correct.

Just to let you know that a very well-known make of dishwasher tablet now has '*less chemicals*'

I thought you'd like that one

So this Sarah Smith, a graduate, blames other people or a "system" for her ignorance of grammar. Hmm. Blame game. Won't take responsibility for her own education.

What's to stop her bloody learning it on her own since she knows it's important and she knows she doesn't know?

Pathetic excuse for an English graduate and a so-called professional!

If I weren't so polite I'd be yelling "What a fuckwit!"

Exactly! So would I...

Well, me too I must admit!

I don't think that DD had a rigorous education in English grammar, (although I don't remember her making any of the howlers mentioned in that article) but she has had to step up to the mark and learn it in-depth pdq because she is teaching English to foreign students now! And the way it is taught as a foreign language is a lot more thorough than it was taught in a English school.

I am less upset by development of use of language/vocabulary, which has always happened, and more annoyed by things that are just wrong!

I am guilty of replying 'I'm good, thanks' when someone asks how I am but my hackles rise when someone asks the assistant in a cafe 'Can I get a coffee please' Not logical at all!

I get twitchy when I hear 'Could of/should of' Get off of the grass' etc. and the misuse of the apostrophe etc . Best was when my mum was typing up a dissertation for a student and kept coming across 'praps' for perhaps!

My sons are of the generation that wasn't taught grammar. Both of them speak perfectly grammatical English - as appropriate to the context, of course. However, when DS2 decided to take up Spanish again at University, he phoned me in some confusion because he had never been taught formal grammar at school. He didn't understand the grammatical terms being used by his lecturers. I sent him a copy of a grammar module I had created for my Access students who had the same problem. This year, my 11-year-old GD had to take a grammar and punctuation paper as part of her Key Stage 2 Sats.

quote from the Mail article "me and the headmistress".

Once again, teachers are being blamed - but surely parents also have their part to play. I was (far too often) reminding my children in the 1980's that it was "Jane and I" ……..I told them that they were not the most important one, and the other person should come first. However, I notice even now in 2014, I am still correcting them! It seems that colloquial usage conquers all.

ps Am now also terrified of making mistakes in my posts!

Saw another one this morning...."I'm flooded of workers." ??

Can (or could) cope with adverbial clauses of time, place etc but what's always flummoxed me is the semi colon.

I told DSIL, who had a problem with written work, that he should read what he had written out loud and think of a comma as a little breath, a semicolon as a bigger breath, and a full stop as a big breath!

As DH was always saying when DC were young "You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink".

I dislike it when people confuse 'borrow' and 'lend'
"Can you borrow me your book please?"

Yes, or, Can I lend your book?

Ok, beat this one. Our local Spar shop has just sent out a flyer announcing that they do Free Home Delivery's !!! Mind you, it's tempting to ask for one just to see what they look like

Further to the "me and the head mistress" debate, I hate when "I" is used when it should be "me". (Confusion of subject and object). People tend to do this because they think "I" is always right and "me" is always wrong.

A lot of songs use the phrase "...for you and I" but it should be "...for you and me."

If you just remove the other person (you and) it is obvious!

e.g.
You and I are going to the store. [Correct]

He'll come to the store with you and I. [Incorrect]

Sigh!

I notice it's the poor teachers who get it in the neck again, in the 70s and 80s. Could it be that she was one of the kids who did not listen, as I definitely taught grammar and spelling then. It just wasn't quite as in depth as it was when I was at school.

The prisoner was found guilty and was hung for murder.
No!
Hanged for murder!
This is a very common error, and it's annoying.

How about "Feel free to call myself if necessary"? When I explain that I can call myself, and you can call yourself, but I can't call yourself and you can't call myself... the usual answer is a blank look and "Duh!"...