Ect., ect., ect.

Sorry Annie you’ve lost me there.

MissAdventure

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!)

No you are right. He has that effect on many women, and it affects their heart rate.

Another way to remember is that nouns can have articles ('a' or 'the') in front of them. If you can do this, the correct word is 'effect' - the noun. The word 'the' ends in an 'e', and 'effect' begins with an 'e'.

If you can't use an article, the word is always 'affect' (verb).

Fortunately, that is more difficult to explain than to remember! Just check if the sense would be there if you put 'the' in front of it, and if the answer is yes, use 'effect', as it begins with the last letter of 'the'.

Thank you.
I'll try to bear all that in mind.

Articles used to be quite simple. Now ‘a’ and ‘the’ also belong to an emergent group called determiners.

MissAdventure

Thank you.
I'll try to bear all that in mind.

? Just concentrate on GC removing his shirt. You might get the word wrong, but you'll have a smile on your face.

MissAdventure

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!)

I'm quite unmoved.
In fact, I'm helping him on with his shirt as I post!

Anniebach

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

They're not, and some people are dyslexic.
I am a pedant married to a dyslexic and it's not always easy but we manage!

In reply to the OP - yes, it drives me nuts!

Me too!
“Global pandemic “ drives me up the wall - why not “world, global pandemic” while we’re at it?

I agree about etc. Drives me mad! Another thing that annoys me is overly long sentences. I've even seen a whole post without a full stop!

Not really to do with grammar etc but what grates for me is grown women writing LOL on their posts.

Lucca

Not really to do with grammar etc but what grates for me is grown women writing LOL on their posts.

Me too. I know that all of us will have traits that annoy others, so these threads can be unsettling, but as well as LOL, Grrr, and 'Why, oh why. . .' both grate for me, too. 'Why, oh why' sounds like it's being said with the back of a hand against the brow and the other one in the air.

(and don't get me started on 'uni' )

I have been known to use grrr occasionally when I am angry about something. Maybe like 'Next door neighbour....grrr' in my e-mail heading. I think it's a wonderful word because the growling expresses anger perfectly.

I'm with you, pedant. Here is something else which, to me, is beyond the pale. I cannot stand it when people use the word decimate to mean utterly destroy. Once, I actually lost control of myself and said, "Only 10% were lost? That's not too bad, actually". This was followed by a completely blank stare. I enjoyed it far too much.

Infer and imply?.

MissAdventure

I know a fair bit about apostrophe use, but sometimes I leave them out.
Just because I can.

But decimate, whilst it doesn’t mean utterly destroy also means to destroy or remove a large proportion so saying only 10% is inaccurate as well.
Are you good on who’s and whose?

I know I don't proof read my dashed off postings on here as I would a letter or report. Perhaps others are the same.

mrshat

In reply to the OP - yes, it drives me nuts!

Just wondering whether that’s Mrs or Mr ?

Leaving out apostrophes is as bad as putting them in the wrong place to me. Think this needs a grrr

Juliet27

mrshat

In reply to the OP - yes, it drives me nuts!

Just wondering whether that’s Mrs or Mr ?

???

A common one the last two years- metre and meter.

MayBee70

MissAdventure

I know a fair bit about apostrophe use, but sometimes I leave them out.
Just because I can.

Better out than in the wrong place!

Split infinitives.
I absolutely love them.

Americans just never learnt to spell, always dropping their ‘u’s and getting ‘re’ s the wrong way round. As for Australians ,well but…