This is the most common grammatical error I see in postings, yet correct usage is very simple. If you mean "it is", then "it's" is what you use; otherwise, there's no apostrophe in its.

For the most perspicacious among you, I am aware that there is one exception to this rule, but it is so rare that it's not worth mentioning.

For those of you who couldn't care less, just ignore this post.

Thanks.

 

The other mistake I see often is people writing "your" when they mean "you're".

 

I get a little peeved when I see there, their, and they're used interchangeably.

 

Pfff, I got you beat. My peers use Latin characters when typing in SMSs, Skype and other instant message services. Of course, there's no consideration about spelling while typing in Greeklish.

I 've even seen professors of mine send mail replies in Greeklish.

 

I get a little peeved when I see lists starting without colons.

I also get peeved when I see clichés.

I hate it when people put an adverb after the verb, when the verb has an object.

I find inconsistent writing styles very annoying.


So many grammatical errors - even amongst the ranks of the Grammar Nazis!

 

I get a little peeved when I see lists starting without colons.

I also get peeved when I see clichés.

I hate it when people put an adverb after the verb, when the verb has an object.

I find inconsistent writing styles very annoying.


So many grammatical errors - even amongst the ranks of the Grammar Nazis!

A list does not need a colon, but good try.

 

Grrr.

 

I 've even seen professors of mine send mail replies in Greeklish.

That would be completely Greek to me, I think Timeo Danaos et Dona ferentes

 

That would be completely Greek to me, I think Timeo Danaos et Dona ferentes

I was about to comment on how you quoted that wrong, but it turns out that this phrase is an ancient Greek translation of a latin text about an ancient Greek myth.
Imagine that!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_phrases#.CE.A6.CF.86
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeo_Danaos_et_dona_ferentes

 

"The phrase is often loosely translated into English as "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts", which has then been parodied as "Beware of geeks bearing gifts", or "Beware geeks bearing GIFs"."

It's pronounced JIFs!!!!

 

Not necessarily. There's not a standard pronunciation.

 

More people should realize that a spell checker does not check context, only spelling which may produce a work that is correctly spelled but totally wrong in meaning.

 

Where's Loosewire, when we need him? He could set us straight.

 

We should bear in mind that many of these mistakes (and I suspect that all of us have made them -- I know I have) do not represent ignorance of the proper usage, particularly when seen in a post on a forum or in a very informal e-mail, but rather just a typo that didn't get caught.

When I get really annoyed is when I see them on signs, in advertisements, or other situations in which people are (supposedly) paying some "professional" to do a job correctly.

 

Hola Geo,

When we do not understand something we use to say, "that is Chinese to me". Eventually, old people here could say "Greek" instead.

What do you say in Greece?

 

We say "Chinese" too! Saying Greek would be kind of counter-intuitive, wouldn't it?

 

Pretty soon, we'll be able to say, "That's all English to me!"

The quality of English education (grammar, writing in general, you name it) is getting so poor that you'd swear these kids have to be speaking a foreign language.

 

...
"Beware geeks bearing GIFs"."

It's pronounced JIFs!!!!

Who said? Its(!) a G which comes from an acronym for "Graphics Interchange Format", a hard G, so it's(!) pronunciation is GIF not JIF.

If it was from "Giraffe Interchange Format" then the file extension pronunciation might be different...

 

Steven Wilhite, the inventor of GIF, says so:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...finally-declares-file-formats-pronounced.html

 

You might enjoy this article regarding the potential pitfalls of the spell checker .....

http://grammar.about.com/od/spelling/a/spellcheck.htm

Not to mention those annoying moments when my smart phone's predictive text feature conspires to make me look even more stupid than I am. Once that wretched SMS is on its way it's impossible to recall it.