It's and its

I agree with Lilyflower. Not just Location, location but so many similar programmes talk about a "lounge". I might expect a pub, hotel or airport to have a lounge but a home should have a living room.

They also use the word "property" all the time, never house or flat.

Just received this from a fellow pedant in the U.S.A.

.......and this one!

I love this thread! I'll come back and read it when I've had my hair done!

Make sure your spellcheck is set to U.K. English instead of U.S.A. English, that should help with predictive text.

Ditto re 'sink' for a washbasin! A sink is in the kitchen or utility - to me, anyway.

Wilkinson's lorries used to irritate me like mad - they had 'Everytime!' in huge letters on the side.
But I haven't seen that lately, so maybe enough pedants complained that they changed it for the sake of a quiet life.

What irks me is "He was sat". No he wasn't. He sat, or was sitting. Even TV announcers and celebrities are guilty of this.

another one becoming more common is using ' is ' instead of 'has', as in 'the minister is yet to decide.' once you start to notice , you see it everywhere, especially in newspapers - anyone else spotting it ?

Polremy, I would have definitely had to say something to the teacher as I cannot bear it when children are taught things incorrectly. I am waiting to speak to my granddaughter's teacher about her misuse of capital letters when referring to the seasons! She is young and will repeat this mistake forever if not pulled up about it now.

As well as the misuse of apostrophes, especially for plurals, I hate it when people say or write 'off' followed by 'of' e.g. 'I got off of the bus'. If it is said out loud very slowly perhaps people might realise how ridiculous it sounds. Also, the use of 'of' instead of 'have' as in ' I could of eaten another one.' The word 'of' seems to cause as many problems as it's and its.

greatgranny, I also hate it when tv presenters say 'gonna' instead of 'going to'. Even George Osbourne used to say it. His expensive private education was wasted on him unless he thought he was trying to connect with the plebs!

I thought I was nit-pickingly pedantic so it's nice to find that I'm not alone. I agree with all the previous comments, and would like to add my particular "favourite". I always understood that they was the plural of he, she or it. But now it seems that they is used in the singular sense instead of he or she. Is this advanced political correctness where gender must not be mentioned for fear of offence?

I have always been a bit fussy about grammar, although I'm beginning to be a bit unsure about some of it nowadays. Years ago, my younger daughter, who used to speak "proper English" and "schoolkids' English" (you know what I mean) often said "me and Katie are going... etc.",
I would reply "you mean Katie and I are going..." to which she would reply " no Mum, you're not going, I am!" I shut up after a while! By the way, she has become as pedantic as I am about apostrophes.

Greatgranny, you just beat me to it. The use of 'sat' where 'sitting' would be correct is almost universal now and it is driving me mad.

different to (from, please)
comprises of (consists of, comprises doesn't need it)
bored of (with, please. I know it's not logical because you are tired of, but that's what the grammar book says)
like, instead of as if
myself,enough said about this
Would you say "He gave it to I". No, so why "He gave it to John and I"
Don't get me started on "fantastic".

I agree with most of the above comments. One incorrect plural that I hear all the time is Media which is plural (ie many media) not singular (the media of television for example should be the medum!)
I know I am sometimes guilty when typing quickly on my phone(as I am now) of forgetting to press the arrow to turn i into I!! It's not becaus I don't know but just because I'm in a hurry. Likewise for missed apostrophes.
By the way I , like most of you) leaned grammar at school in the 1950s ) but all of my children , now in their 40s did not. However children in primary school ARE now learning it again in some detail because of the National Curriculum) so this will carry through as they grow up. Some of the poor teachers who are teaching it are having to learn it for the first time.

Ooh, how I love a bit of pedantry! Agree with everything here, especially Conni7's list. A couple more.... "I should of" instead of "should have", the obligatory "So" at the beginning of any explanatory sentence, and "invite" used as a noun instead of "invitation".

May I get this off my chest please! Just watching the news and they keep referring to children as 'kids' - am I unusual in that this really grates on my nerves? Kids are baby goats, I have children not goats! Grrrr!

Here is another one I cannot stand, between the three, four of us....you can only get between TWO.

When my children were in primary school their teacher sent a note home to everyone containing a glaring mistake. I corrected it in red and returned it. (I was not the only parent to do the same). Too much? No.

Well done Ana for raising & other contributors for augmenting .
Feel like tackling the broadsheets now???

And how about 'their' - when we mean 'his/her'.
Or 'them' when we mean 'him/her'.

I once had a PGDE student who had an art degree from an English university. One task I set her was marking a grammar/spelling exercise for my P7 class.
She worked her way through and every time she came to the word 'shining'she corrected it to 'shinning'. She also gratefully accepted a couple of exercises so she could practise using apostrophes.

Regional accents are a bit to blame. My English teacher gave up and told us we had to learn English as well as Norfolk. "I was sat" is Norfolk. The triple negative drove him mad as in "He didn't not never hev it". Why use one word when you can use three "He'd bin an' went an' got it". He would stamp his feet and shout that there is no such word as got, which We threw in anywhere with seeming abandon,

However, that's speech. The written word has to be done properly. In correct English.

(Goodness knows where that capital W came from!)

Why use one word when you can use three love it!
It's the Royal 'We' (Nfk*

and as my DM used to say
You munna say wunna it inna polite

so that means there are no words such as 'is not' or abbreviation such as isn't

It's INNA!

Not just apostrophes, It really annoys me when people say 'should of' instead of 'should have'. Just saying!