A pedant on Facebook - moi?

At a secondary school where I worked as a teaching assistant, 'less' and 'fewer' used wrongly was a constant irritation, mainly in the maths department. Those maths teachers used to get fed up though, when other departments, especially geography and science, told the children they were using a bar chart rather than a histogram which was what they drew on the board for them to copy.

They could have sorted out this confusing (for the children at least) situation by talking to one another. Instead, my suggestion of 'fewer' instead of 'which children had 'less' pets' was laughed at in maths, and my point about calling it a histogram rather than a bar chart dismissed in geography.

SURELY the school departments should make sure that they are not 'breaking' grammatical or mathematical rules in their own subjects?

Ooooh and the science teacher who insisted on putting an apostrophe in the possessive its; it nearly drove me mad!

When I taught French, my pupils often told me I was the only person who taught them any grammar. That was up to 30 years ago.
Communication is what matters, but sometimes wrong spellings or poor grammar can affect clear communication.
I do think autocorrect and quickly typing a reply can be partly responsible.

I've just given in and told a FB person that where refers to place and is not a verb.We where going etc. Waiting for the backlash.

MissAdventure

Honestly, reading this thread, there are very few people who can afford to be pedantic!

This

I had a mini amusing moment when receiving an email from my plumber, who was a little late sending out invoices due to family issues.

*He wrote, "please bare with me*"

erm..no thanks.

Alongside ‘Chester draws’, I have just seen a lovely ‘Garden Harbour’ for sale on our local FB page.

I hope the buyer has a large garden to accommodate the ‘harbour’.

Q: Who led the Pedants' Revolt?

A: Which Tyler.........

You have to have studied both English and history for this joke.....but it made me laugh......!

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@Grammaretto
Also very pregant, you are either pregnant or not.

My pet peeve is stationery, I've seen stationery companies spell it wrong and when they re furbed our postoffice the window stencil had it spelt wrongly.

Oh yes whence . What a lovely word. Just right.

JamesandJon33

I wonder from where they brought it !!!!

Or even from whence......

Gawd! There's no hope for some people is there 😕 Fridayschild

I once pulled someone up on Facebook for using of instead of have. Their reply? “It’s the same thing” 😱

JamesandJon33

I wonder from where they brought it !!!!

I can’t believe how many people use brought for bought! How on earth can they think it’s correct. Sets my teeth on edge 😬😂
Don’t think I’ve seen are for our before though.
I also think that someone needs to advise them that it’s advice they need!

I worked with a teenager who struggled with reading and writing, to the extent l helped him fill in his simple timesheet. Like most his age he had a mobile phone with Facebook on it, this spurred him on to improve his skills and now, many years on, l am delighted that he regularly posts updates of his young family, his work and his fantastic country pursuits. His grammar, vocabulary and spelling are far from perfect but far improved from where he was as a teenager, his confidence has grown and l am so proud of him.

I wonder from where they brought it !!!!

Have read through half of these so far and was half cringing, half laughing, but I had to stop for a while.
I’ve just sat back down and was actually having a look on Facebook.
Here’s a cracker:
“We have just brought are 2nd Motorhome in the last 8 months and this 1 is awesome planning south of France June any advise welcome”
There are no words! 😫

Graygirl My husband, son and grandson are all dyslexic, so I do sympathise. However, they all get someone to proofread anything that has to be put into a public forum - and son & grandson use technology as much as possible - just to ensure that really egregious mistakes don't get through.

My very intelligent aunt could write the beginning and end of a word perfectly but couldn't manage the middle of words. Her career was blighted by it.
My uncle couldn't read or write so once he found a job with his mother writing his application for him, he stayed with the company for all his working life. He was terrified that one day somebody might find out especially after his Mum died because he thought it meant he would be unemployable. He was in heaven when technology allowed him to dictate what he wanted to say and would translate it with the written word. Strangely enough, he was an incredible artist so whatever his problems, it didn't affect that part of his life.

Graygirl, keep posting! My daughter is dyslexic, therefore I can empathise.
I have dyslexic tendencies and ofter type on Word, before posting. 😉

Well, please don't stop posting here.
There is no rule which says you must have immaculate spelling, punctuation, or anything else.

This thread proves that.

I am severely Dyslexic, any form of writing can be a nightmare.
I have left groups when I have been criticised. The older I get the harder it is. There is a name for my diversion , I can recognise the correct spelling but cannot put it down on paper myself. I love books and have had poetry published.

Moonwatcher1904

It amazes me what people put on FB and don't read what they've put before they hit that send button...
I've just happened to look on there and someone has posted - Hi. I'm after a week by week desk dairy tried all over.
Someone has replied - What are you milking on your desk.
Love it...
It's the businesses that I would avoid if they can't advertise without a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes. It makes me think they're not very professional if they can't write properly - just my opinion.

I would never use a business that posted advertising containing awful grammar and spelling - why would I think that they'd take care of my home/belongings/person if they can't be bothered to care for themselves? 🙄

sodapop

unbelievable Juliet27 and from the BBC.

The wording was shown on the antique cards so not the BBC’s responsibility but it was interesting to see that such grammatical errors were made in the past.

Grrrr! At the start of this thread I told myself not to join in, but the spirit is weak, I’m afraid. The two things which really set my teeth on edge are illogical ones. I can’t abide being told that I could get something “for free”, and whenever I hear “I thought to myself “ I have to ask who else they could have thought to? (And yes, I know where I put that last word . )