Gransnet forums

Pedants' corner

Ect., ect., ect.

(179 Posts)
Esspee Fri 31-Dec-21 12:56:16

If I see even one more ect. on Gransnet I am going to have to comment. I know that “as long as the meaning is clear” is the usual standard but ect. is like chalk screeching on a blackboard to me.
Does it drive you crazy or is it just me?

NotTooOld Fri 31-Dec-21 16:50:33

What annoys me is people using 'eg' (for example) when they mean 'ie' (that is) and 'ie' when they mean 'eg'. Happens all the time, everywhere......aagh.

MissAdventure Fri 31-Dec-21 16:54:26

I would appreciate a simple explanation of affect/effect, if anyone is willing?
I don't know properly, and always end up using "affect".
When is effect going to get a look in?

LauraNorderr Fri 31-Dec-21 16:56:36

Urmstongran

Drives me nuts but I try not to be bothered. I know we are not allowed to pass comment so I don’t. One poster keeps spelling ‘shielding’ wrong and she uses the word a lot. Others say ‘here here’ when agreeing with another poster on a thread. In the big sea I don’t suppose it matters but I do notice them!

I’ve noticed that too Urms, very irritating.
Perhaps use the time spent shielding to learn the i before e rule.

Juliet27 Fri 31-Dec-21 16:57:59

It’s only fairly recently that I’ve learnt that I say anenome instead of anemone. What a strange word anyway!

It’s Aks instead of Ask that annoys me.

Doodledog Fri 31-Dec-21 17:01:06

MissAdventure

I would appreciate a simple explanation of affect/effect, if anyone is willing?
I don't know properly, and always end up using "affect".
When is effect going to get a look in?

effect is a noun, and affect is a verb.

What that means in practice is that you can affect something (action), but the thing you have affected is described as the effect (the name of the action).

I affected the temperature of the room by turning on the heating, and the effect of this was that George Clooney took off his shirt. This affected me in a quite remarkable fashion.

sodapop Fri 31-Dec-21 17:12:17

Using 'of' instead of have - I could of eaten it. So wrong.
ECT in my previous life stood for electro convulsive therapy.
Lose and loose seem increasingly to be used to mean the same thing,.
It's strange how spelling mistakes jump out at me but the most glaring numerical errors pass me by completely.

B9exchange Fri 31-Dec-21 17:23:33

'Loosing' instead of 'losing'. Why would you set free an item you can't find? And yet it is so rare to see it spelt correctly!

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 17:35:14

All the above and more. I wish we were permitted to make polite corrections - only so that the perpetrators learn, you understand, rather than for the evil delight it would give.

nandad Fri 31-Dec-21 17:48:22

Chest of draws and on suite (as well as ect). Facebook does make me scream at the screen.

Esspee Fri 31-Dec-21 18:06:06

The problem with us being too polite to correct glaring errors is that some people seeing e.g. definately written incorrectly on endless occasions start to believe it is the correct spelling.

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 18:08:12

Here here.

Chestnut Fri 31-Dec-21 18:09:04

I have to admit it wasn't that long ago I would write 1960's instead of 1960s. I don't know why, it was lodged in my head.

Calistemon Fri 31-Dec-21 18:09:33

Esspee

The problem with us being too polite to correct glaring errors is that some people seeing e.g. definately written incorrectly on endless occasions start to believe it is the correct spelling.

I must admit GN has made me nervous about the difference between different from and different to .......

Ect
wink

Witzend Fri 31-Dec-21 18:09:58

Germanshepherdsmum

All the above and more. I wish we were permitted to make polite corrections - only so that the perpetrators learn, you understand, rather than for the evil delight it would give.

??

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 18:11:56

Or ‘should of’ or ‘bored of’ ect.

MissAdventure Fri 31-Dec-21 18:12:35

Thank you, doodledog.
I can't quite get past the effect that the notion of Mr. Clooney, shirtless, is having on me.
(Still think I've got it wrong!)

Anniebach Fri 31-Dec-21 18:17:01

So unkind

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 18:37:04

I can’t help it if bad grammar and bad spelling grate Annie. I drafted complex legal documents for many years. Precision was vital. There seems to be a very laissez-faire attitude to spelling and grammar nowadays, even in broadsheets and on the BBC.

Anniebach Fri 31-Dec-21 18:42:54

Posts on this forum are not legal documents , criticising posters spelling is unkind, all you gain is hurting people.

Mollygo Fri 31-Dec-21 18:48:55

It is unkind Anniebach but at least this thread is called Pedants’ Corner, so we can all feel justified in having a go about our favourite hates.
My pet hate is the incorrect use of who’s and whose.

sodapop Fri 31-Dec-21 18:50:44

It is pedants corner Annie just pass on by if it bothers you.

sodapop Fri 31-Dec-21 18:51:19

gringrinGSM

Anniebach Fri 31-Dec-21 18:53:51

Is hurting posters every justified Mollygo ?

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 19:01:39

I am entitled to find bad grammar and incorrect spelling grating Annie. I don’t usually correct the posters who are guilty of such heinous (pronounced ‘heeneous’ so frequently) crimes but this is pedants’ corner where like-minded people can share their particular gripes.

Anniebach Fri 31-Dec-21 19:03:22

Is there need to refer to posts on this forum ?