http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/their.html
This one.
For the love of all that is holy, if you have to read just one then read that one.
Common Errors in English Usage
31–40 of 50 posts
Re: Common Errors in English Usage
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Loose vs. lose comes up far too often here. Also: http://www.uta.edu/owl/top20.htm
I also notice a lot of "eke vs. eek" here. Turns out there's this property called onomatopoeia that escapes many people.
In fairness, "eke" is a rarely used word. No such excuses for they're/there/their though.
Re: Common Errors in English Usage
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
I highly suspect this is outdated advice. Technically there was some ambiguity about whether 12pm/am would denote midnight or noon, since am/pm are relative to noon. However, the computer age has utterly removed that ambiguity. 12pm is noon, 12am is midnight. Digital clocks have spread familiarity with that convention widely throughout the developed and developing world. I doubt there is any serious confusion any lon…
You'll still confuse people (generally outside Anglo-American culture) who are used to 24-hour digital clocks.
If they've not familiar with pm timing, they'll be confused for the entire afternoon, not just noon.
Re: Common Errors in English Usage
#34"Although digital clocks routinely label noon “12:00 PM” you should avoid this expression not only because it is incorrect, but because many people will imagine you are talking about midnight instead. " Uh?
I highly suspect this is outdated advice. Technically there was some ambiguity about whether 12pm/am would denote midnight or noon, since am/pm are relative to noon. However, the computer age has utterly removed that ambiguity. 12pm is noon, 12am is midnight. Digital clocks have spread familiarity with that convention widely throughout the developed and developing world. I doubt there is any serious confusion any lon…
Yes, I distinctly remember learning as a child in the 1980s that 12pm was noon and 12am was midnight. I also remember being confused because I thought it should be the other way around at the time.
Re: Common Errors in English Usage
#35I often intentionally use these on people as sort of a test.
Do you make a lot of friends that way?
Re: Common Errors in English Usage
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Loose vs. lose comes up far too often here. Also: http://www.uta.edu/owl/top20.htm
This one too is common: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/couple.html From the outside it seems to be a US, West coast affection.
Yeah, that's more "slang dialect" than "error".
Also, did you mean "affectation"?
Re: Common Errors in English Usage
#37It's great, but try reading the one on apostrophe's and see if you can still get it right every single time. We need some sort of academy anglaise to make decisions on the language and exorcise the apostrophe once and for all. Cursed thing it is.
I do not understand where the confusion lies. In the vast majority of cases its use is simple.
Re: Common Errors in English Usage
#38> Unlike asbestos removal, “as best as” removal is easy, and you don’t have to wear a hazmat suit.
Re: Common Errors in English Usage
#39Effect / affect is a bugbear of mine, it pops up every now and again in bug descriptions and so on i.e. "this bug has effected a number of users".
Great reference site, thanks.
Re: Common Errors in English Usage
#40The point of English is that when they become common enough they become correct.