drug vs dragged - Page 4

Hamlet53 · 03-25-2011, 03:09 PM

Thought that this might be of interest to those following the back and forth of this thread. At least those that are open to all media, not just the printed word.

Changing language versus the grammar police.

Anke Wehner · 03-25-2011, 03:15 PM

I (and I think most people who are native German speakers) have some trouble with "borrow" and "lend" because the corresponding German words, "borgen" and "leihen" are interchangable.

Less trouble with "lie" vs "lay", though, because "liegen" and "legen" aren't homonyms.
Being used to declensions might help with the who vs whom problem, too. I do prefer a text using "who" exclusively to having to wade through one where it's used incorrectly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jocedb

And has anyone mentioned the misuse of hang, hanged, and hung?

Makes me qant to quote Maskerade (by Terry Pratchett).

Quote:

'We've got to do this properly. Did you know Dr Undershaft was strangled before he was hung?'
'Hanged,' said Bucket, without thinking. 'Men are hanged. It's dead meat that's hung.'
'Indeed?' said Salzella. 'I appreciate the information. Well, poor old Undershaft was strangled, apparently. And then he was hung.'

Tony_A20 · 03-26-2011, 04:16 AM

Why disturb one's serenity by discussing the mistakes of others? Writers who use words incorrectly advertise their ignorance. Improving one's own craftsmanship is more important, and more valuable.

Anke Wehner · 03-26-2011, 06:11 AM

Because discussing mistakes helps the people who make those mistakes to stop making them. At least if they are willing to listen.

If no-one had called me out of it, I'd probably still be mixing up "wench" and "wrench", or "kneeing" and "kneeling".

rhadin · 03-26-2011, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anke Wehner

Because discussing mistakes helps the people who make those mistakes to stop making them. At least if they are willing to listen.

Well said and the right approach/attitude. I've been an editor for 27 years and I still learn something new about grammar with each book I edit.

Worldwalker · 03-26-2011, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony_A20

Why disturb one's serenity by discussing the mistakes of others? Writers who use words incorrectly advertise their ignorance. Improving one's own craftsmanship is more important, and more valuable.

So ... um ... why disturb one's serenity by posting in a thread one disagrees with?

Improving one's own craftsmanship and discussing errors seen in public are not only not mutually exclusive, but quite often the latter leads to the former. Learning from one's own mistakes is good, but learning from others' mistakes is better (it saves time that can be used to make new and different mistakes).

HarryT · 03-26-2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhadin

Well said and the right approach/attitude. I've been an edior for 27 years and I still learn something new about grammar with each book I edit.

Totally agree. I too learn something new from every book I proof-read.

Laine · 03-28-2011, 08:30 AM

Do you think it's O.K. to inform people of their mistakes?
The local take-away food bar is run by Chinese. Their menu board had 'sause' on it so I told them it was sauce. My husband said that I shouldn't do that as it's rude. I think it's helping them.

rhadin · 03-28-2011, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laine

Do you think it's O.K. to inform people of their mistakes?
The local take-away food bar is run by Chinese. Their menu board had 'sause' on it so I told them it was sauce. My husband said that I shouldn't do that as it's rude. I think it's helping them.

I think it is helping them as well and I don't think it is rude. I've suggested that they go back to whoever created the menu for them and ask for new ones -- corrected, of course -- for a substantial discount.

joycedb · 03-28-2011, 10:40 AM

What irks me is when a company pays an ad agency for an ad and it has errors even a schoolchild would notice.

Joyce

HarryT · 03-28-2011, 11:57 AM

The most common one by far is using "it's" as a possessive pronoun. You see this in endless professional advertisements and notices. It's such an easy thing to get right, too.

DreamWriter · 03-28-2011, 03:04 PM

This is an interesting thread. I was exempted from English classes in seventh and eighth grades because my skills were considered advanced, so I had an "independent study" period instead. I still wonder what I missed during those years!

Several of my pet peeves have been mentioned. The misused words/phrases that irritate me most are:

it's / its
you're / your
affect / effect
complement / compliment
their / they're
principle / principal
would/should/could of / would/should could have (correct)
1920's / 1920s (correct)
sentences ending in prepositions (exceptions might be dialogue)

I have never used Garner's Modern American Usage. That looks like a book I'd enjoy reading cover to cover! I'm such a word geek, and I enjoy learning.

I don't correct people when they mis-speak, but I certainly have been tempted to mark up incorrect advertising signs! And when there are too many errors in a book, it completely ruins the story for me.

I'm not perfect, though. I sometimes struggle with elements of grammar and sentence structure. In many cases, I suspect that something might be wrong, but I'm not always sure what is correct.

jehane · 03-29-2011, 03:46 AM

Fascinating. Some of those are on my pet peeve list as well.

On the original point, I do realise that it's self-published work, but I also realise that I'm reading in Australian English while the authors are writing in American English, which is why I asked. Thanks all for the replies!

And now I have another one: what is the correct short form for "medical evacuation"? I prefer "medevac" but apparently everyone else I work with uses "medivac". At least they didn't "correct" my report. The internet suggests that both are acceptable. I'll make the argument that it should be "medevac" on the basis that it is an abbreviation of "MEDical EVACuation". What do you think? Do you think that "medevac" in either form is even acceptable written English?

The worst case of a greengrocers' apostrophe I've come across was on the entry form for a writing contest. I can't recall the full sentence, but it used "author's" where it should have used "authors". Objectively it's not the worst usage, but that it appeared on a writing contest entry form just seems so much more wrong than usual.

pdurrant · 03-29-2011, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jehane

Fascinating. Some of those are on my pet peeve list as well.

And now I have another one: what is the correct short form for "medical evacuation"? I prefer "medevac" but apparently everyone else I work with uses "medivac". At least they didn't "correct" my report. The internet suggests that both are acceptable.

I think the internet suggests that medevac is the more common form (by a long way)

medivac: 495,000 results (and "Did you mean: medevac")
medevac: 3,360,000 results

It seems thre was an Australian TV series called Medivac, which might explain your colleagues' preference for that spelling. Dialecticon shows that Medivac seems to be much more common in Australian English than elsewhere:

http://www.chaucery.com/fun/dialecti...hrase2=medivac

medevac:medivac
US: 76:23
Canada: 72:28
UK: 69:31
Australia: 43:57

Anke Wehner · 03-29-2011, 06:32 AM

One of my pet-peeves is capitol vs capital. And one I see more often in comments about books rather than in books: "sneak peak" (Is there a mountaintop sneaking up to you?)

Then there's authors revealing they don't understand the words they use by adding redundancy, like...
"a capital crime, punishable by death" - That's what "capital crime" means.
"brine water" - Brine is salt water.

Oh, and using "thee" in subject case. I've meanwhile found out that is the usage among some groups of Amish, but it still sounds wrong...

Anybody know a good website explaining comma use? That's something I know I'm rarely sure about.

03-26-2011, 06:11 AM	#49
Anke Wehner Addict Posts: 249 Karma: 177956 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Germany Device: PRS-650	Because discussing mistakes helps the people who make those mistakes to stop making them. At least if they are willing to listen. If no-one had called me out of it, I'd probably still be mixing up "wench" and "wrench", or "kneeing" and "kneeling". Last edited by Anke Wehner; 03-26-2011 at 06:32 AM.

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03-25-2011, 03:09 PM	#46
Hamlet53 Nameless Being	Thought that this might be of interest to those following the back and forth of this thread. At least those that are open to all media, not just the printed word. Changing language versus the grammar police.

03-26-2011, 04:16 AM	#48
Tony_A20 Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 25000 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle 3	Why disturb one's serenity by discussing the mistakes of others? Writers who use words incorrectly advertise their ignorance. Improving one's own craftsmanship is more important, and more valuable.

03-28-2011, 08:30 AM	#53
Laine Addict Posts: 341 Karma: 1162396 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Cabramatta, Sydney, Australia Device: Aura H2O, Voyage	Do you think it's O.K. to inform people of their mistakes? The local take-away food bar is run by Chinese. Their menu board had 'sause' on it so I told them it was sauce. My husband said that I shouldn't do that as it's rude. I think it's helping them.

03-28-2011, 10:40 AM	#55
joycedb Guru Posts: 997 Karma: 1086596 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Florida Device: none	What irks me is when a company pays an ad agency for an ad and it has errors even a schoolchild would notice. Joyce

03-28-2011, 11:57 AM	#56
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	The most common one by far is using "it's" as a possessive pronoun. You see this in endless professional advertisements and notices. It's such an easy thing to get right, too.

03-28-2011, 03:04 PM	#57
DreamWriter Books are brain food. Posts: 2,950 Karma: 4836916 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: U.S. Device: Paperwhite · Fire HD6/HD8/HD10 · Galaxy Tab A7	This is an interesting thread. I was exempted from English classes in seventh and eighth grades because my skills were considered advanced, so I had an "independent study" period instead. I still wonder what I missed during those years! Several of my pet peeves have been mentioned. The misused words/phrases that irritate me most are: it's / its you're / your affect / effect complement / compliment their / they're principle / principal would/should/could of / would/should could have (correct) 1920's / 1920s (correct) sentences ending in prepositions (exceptions might be dialogue) I have never used Garner's Modern American Usage. That looks like a book I'd enjoy reading cover to cover! I'm such a word geek, and I enjoy learning. I don't correct people when they mis-speak, but I certainly have been tempted to mark up incorrect advertising signs! And when there are too many errors in a book, it completely ruins the story for me. I'm not perfect, though. I sometimes struggle with elements of grammar and sentence structure. In many cases, I suspect that something might be wrong, but I'm not always sure what is correct.

03-29-2011, 03:46 AM	#58
jehane Book addict Posts: 441 Karma: 2650464 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Antarctica/Australia/Ohio Device: Sony PRS-300/T1/Asus TF101	Fascinating. Some of those are on my pet peeve list as well. On the original point, I do realise that it's self-published work, but I also realise that I'm reading in Australian English while the authors are writing in American English, which is why I asked. Thanks all for the replies! And now I have another one: what is the correct short form for "medical evacuation"? I prefer "medevac" but apparently everyone else I work with uses "medivac". At least they didn't "correct" my report. The internet suggests that both are acceptable. I'll make the argument that it should be "medevac" on the basis that it is an abbreviation of "MEDical EVACuation". What do you think? Do you think that "medevac" in either form is even acceptable written English? The worst case of a greengrocers' apostrophe I've come across was on the entry form for a writing contest. I can't recall the full sentence, but it used "author's" where it should have used "authors". Objectively it's not the worst usage, but that it appeared on a writing contest entry form just seems so much more wrong than usual.

03-29-2011, 06:32 AM	#60
Anke Wehner Addict Posts: 249 Karma: 177956 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Germany Device: PRS-650	One of my pet-peeves is capitol vs capital. And one I see more often in comments about books rather than in books: "sneak peak" (Is there a mountaintop sneaking up to you?) Then there's authors revealing they don't understand the words they use by adding redundancy, like... "a capital crime, punishable by death" - That's what "capital crime" means. "brine water" - Brine is salt water. Oh, and using "thee" in subject case. I've meanwhile found out that is the usage among some groups of Amish, but it still sounds wrong... Anybody know a good website explaining comma use? That's something I know I'm rarely sure about.

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