Spelling inconsistencies

[Laindessiel]

I've always wondered why some people use the word loose when they mean lose, and some others say then when they mean than, and lots of others.

Why?

Edited by Logos to remove specific member's names because I don't think it is fair to single people out for their spelling/grammar, see my post.

[Madhuri]

These must be typo errors. Sometime people write in a hurry, or it doesnt come to their notice, I dont think they have any problems with their English, they write so well. It must have been a mistake by mistake :p :D

[Koa]

Because they're native speakers and don't notice it :D

[bluevictim]

Actually, it seems that on the internet those are, in fact, the correct spellings. :)

[Lily Adams]

^ Indeed! :lol:

My friend always uses the wrong "to" when she writes. It's aggravating sometimes because I'm such a freak about grammar and spelling, ha ha.

[Koa]

Actually, it seems that on the internet those are, in fact, the correct spellings. :)

LOL
together with DEFINATELY for 'definitely' :lol:

[Domer121]

I am always worried about spelling...But when you are on AIM or MSN you lose track of your correct manners, if you will... I think that just like this generations handwriting has gone down hill....so has spelling and grammer.

[Virgil]

I'm probably the most guilty on sloppy spelling. :blush: :blush: Wait only Nightshade is sloppier. :p :D

[Riesa]

:lol: you are a famous misspeller that's for certain. there's even a poem about it. :lol: hiya virg. :)

and I catch myself misspelling words a lot lately, like here when I mean to write hear. ah, it's all senility and lack of concern. right virg? ;)

[Lily Adams]

I try and use good grammar and spelling on IM, but sometimes I slip. It takes forever, though, to type out everthing; I like lengthy, drawn-out, proper things anyway. :D

[Virgil]

:lol: you are a famous misspeller that's for certain. there's even a poem about it. :lol: hiya virg. :)

and I catch myself misspelling words a lot lately, like here when I mean to write hear. ah, it's all senility and lack of concern. right virg? ;)

Right senility and no dexterity in the fingers. What poem are you talking about? blp's rant against me?

[dramasnot6]

Nobody's perfect. You too must have some spelling or grammar weakness Lain,everyone does.

[Logos]

Well I'm glad to see that people are taking this topic lightly :) however, that being said, I have to remind people that this forum is populated by a large percentage of people who do not use English as their first language and some people here might / may have other issues that cause them to have difficulties with spelling/grammar and we try to be tolerant of /overlook that around here ;)

However, a general discussion of (commonly) misspelled words etc. might be very helpful to people who want to learn about it.

[Lily Adams]

Well I'm glad to see that people are taking this topic lightly :) however, that being said, I have to remind people that this forum is populated by *many* people who do not use English as their first language and some people here might / may have other issues that cause them to have difficulties with spelling/grammar and we try to be tolerant of /overlook that around here ;)

:nod: Indeed.

[Logos]

The OP and ensuing posts quoting it/referring to the specific member's names that were in the OP have been edited.

[Virgil]

I have to remind people that this forum is populated by a large percentage of people who do not use English as their first language and some people here might / may have other issues that cause them to have difficulties with spelling/grammar and we try to be tolerant of /overlook that around here ;)


Unfortunately i don't have that as an excuse. ;)

[Shalot]

However, a general discussion of (commonly) misspelled words etc. might be very helpful to people who want to learn about it.




I have a book called The Most Common Mistakes in English Usage and it has a chapter on commonly misused words and even though I've read this book (and many other books about writing that deal with the same topic) I am still lost on lay and lie and especially effect and affect.

Anyone have any tips on how I can remember when to use lay or lie, or the difference between effect and affect?

[Whifflingpin]

Within the area of confusion you are talking about:

"to lie" is an intransitive verb and means what you know it means.
"Lay" is the past tense of "lie."

Just to confuse, "to lay" is a completely separate transitive verb, so may be used in the present tense.
Its past tense is "laid."

To confuse further, "lay" is used reflexively, so that its meaning becomes almost indistinguishable from "lie."

There is therefore no simple way to explain the differences.

"Lie down!"

"Lay down your arms!"

"When I lay me down to sleep..." is present tense and means more or less the same as "When I lie down to sleep ..."
The past tenses would be, respectively, "When I laid me down to sleep..." and "When I lay down to sleep..."

So, why did I say "more or less the same?" "To lay myself down" implies a more deliberate action than "to lie down." And, the more I think, the worse it gets, in the past "I laid myself down" would not be used in a continuous sense, whereas "I lay down" could be continuous or not.

Tips on how to remember? Read only Gibbon and Austen - avoid Shakespeare and the internet and all native speakers of English.

[Basil]

You know, there are certain non-native speakers of English here at the forum whose posts I enjoy based primarily on the elegance of their prose. I suspect it comes down to simplicity, but their sense of grammar often seems much cleaner and crisper than the prose stylings of native speakers.

[Virgil]

You know, there are certain non-native speakers of English here at the forum whose posts I enjoy based primarily on the elegance of their prose. I suspect it comes down to simplicity, but their sense of grammar often seems much cleaner and crisper than the prose stylings of native speakers.

Please tell. They should receive kudos.

[Koa]

I am always worried about spelling...But when you are on AIM or MSN you lose track of your correct manners, if you will... I think that just like this generations handwriting has gone down hill....so has spelling and grammer.


grammAr :D
sorry, can't help it. :blush:

I used to be very upset at a certain person's (nothing to do with this forum) spelling mistakes (English being his native and only language). In my native language, spelling mistakes of common words only denote ignorance and bad education (or typos of course, but a typo doesn't happen systematically with the same word ;)). With experience I realised that with English it's different, since you don't pronounce all your letters, or pronounce them differently according to the person/accent, or there's no fixed rule (like loose and lose, which until not long ago I had only seen from non-natives anyway). As I explained before, one reason why I rarely make spelling mistakes in English, besides typos and distractions (I also happen to write here instead of hear, or even worse, with words that shouldn't even sound the same but they do to me), is that I learnt every word in my mind with MY spelling rules, that is reading each letter. My pronounciation probably suffers from it, but my writing skills definitely don't :P

I actually visit an Italian forum where everybody seems to be convinced that singe-syllabe words need an accent mark, while the general rule is exactly the opposite. Sometimes it's so hard to shut up, I never 'exploded' but I so much feel like opening a thread to explain them, without naming culprits, that it's NOT like THAT!!:crash: :sick:

[Basil]

Sorry, Virgil, no can do. However, I am willing to make a list of people whose prose I find unacceptable. That's a much more comfortable role for me. :p :p

[Virgil]

Sorry, Virgil, no can do. However, I am willing to make a list of people whose prose I find unacceptable. That's a much more comfortable role for me. :p :p

:lol: Please don't. I may wind up on that list. :lol:

[B-Mental]

Well here is a question for any of the British on the forums...noone or no one? I had a visiting english professor that wrote noone, until the giggles and smirks spread across the classroom. How do the Brits spell this?

[Koa]

Good question B-Mental, I always wonder about it myself... I've seen it spelt as no-one, too. I asked my English friend who actually teaches English and he said that no one knows, you just choose your way :lol:

I also wonder about nevermind or never mind.

[Virgil]

I've have never seen "noone" or "no-one" in a published work. I never knew this was even a controversy.

Edit: Looked it up in "Common Errors in English": http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

“No one” is always two separate words, unlike “anyone” and “someone.”

http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/noone.html

[kathycf]

I always spelled it correctly then. No one will have cause to fault me for my spelling of no one. :lol:

Otherwise, I have an unfortunate tendency to spell the as "teh" and also mangle the word definitely...

[ennison]

No one = not one. It looks very odd as one word. Looks like Ye olde high Noone!

[Jay]

I also wonder about nevermind or never mind.
It's never mind.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=53498&dict=CALD

[Laindessiel]

I'm sorry everyone. I'm sorry Logos. I'm sorry Uncle Pen. I'm sorry Drame. I didn't mean to offend anyone! I just didn't think it was a typographical error, that's why I asked, because Uncle Pen wouldn't use "loose" if he meant "lose" in his poems; him being a grand poet and all, and maybe "loose" is an archaic form of "lose" and he likes using those; THAT I thought. And the "than, then" case: I've seen it used so many times by so many people I wondered if it's really just a typo already or an official word. I just wondered. Both Toni and I thought of that a million times.

I never meant offense to anyone. To anybody who's been hurt because of what I've said, I'm deeply, truly sorry. I apologize. It wasn't intended.

Dang, I don't wanna cry!!!

(Just wanna let everyone know that hurting anyone is not embedded in my head, in my soul. Not an atom. So if ever I say something worth punching me, I swear to you I didn't mean it and I never intended to punch the feelings out of everyone. Sometimes, my words hold double-meanings: the second meaning being evil, without me aware of it. So I'm sorry to everyone.)

[kathycf]

I'm sorry everyone. I'm sorry Logos. I'm sorry Uncle Pen. I'm sorry Drame. I didn't mean to offend anyone!


Lain, why are you so upset dear? I don't think anybody is hurt over this, or has taken offense. I certainly haven't. Don't worry, I think folks know you are a nice young lady and don't mean any harm.

[bluevictim]

and maybe "loose" is an archaic form of "lose" and he likes using those; THAT I thought. And the "than, then" case ... In your defense, this isn't far from the truth. English spelling wasn't standardized before the 18th century, so it's easy to find examples of "loose"/"lose" and "than"/"then" (and other examples of loose spelling) in Shakespeare and Spenser (for example). Today, however, especially on the internet, it's pretty safe to assume these are unintentional typos or misspellings.

[Laindessiel]

Lain, why are you so upset dear? I don't think anybody is hurt over this, or has taken offense. I certainly haven't. Don't worry, I think folks know you are a nice young lady and don't mean any harm.

Maybe people just misunderstood what I meant by my question. I certainly didn't mean any harm to anyone, not to anyone here, not anyone anywhere! Thanks for understanding, Kathy. :)


In your defense, this isn't far from the truth. English spelling wasn't standardized before the 18th century, so it's easy to find examples of "loose"/"lose" and "than"/"then" (and other examples of loose spelling) in Shakespeare and Spenser (for example). Today, however, especially on the internet, it's pretty safe to assume these are unintentional typos or misspellings.

Thanks for the clarification. THAT'S what I want to hear.

[AimusSage]

but it is better then ever, don't you see what I mean, I never loose :D:D:D:D:lol:

Single me out please :p

[B-Mental]

Oh that darn Aimus, ooh, I can't believe it, ooh, dagnabit!

[Isagel]

In your defense, this isn't far from the truth. English spelling wasn't standardized before the 18th century, so it's easy to find examples of "loose"/"lose" and "than"/"then" (and other examples of loose spelling) in Shakespeare and Spenser (for example).


Nice. I am in good company! I confuse loose and lose, then and than. I have tried to memorise them, but it won´t stick. I suspect that the part of my brain that should help is covered with teflon. The knowledge just slides off. But I try to look it up every time. One of these days I´ll get the hang of it. If anyone has a good trick to remember them by, please tell!

[ennison]

Loose women have little left to lose!!!! Will that help?

[Isagel]

Yep. Thank you.

[Koa]

(lol)

Today I was reading my university e-mail, where they send stuff about things going on at uni and initiatives etc and one of those email had some pretty obvious spelling mistakes (one of which was loose instead of lose) and some were reiterated. :eek: I think it was written by a student, who probably thinks she is so important for taking care of that initiative :lol: I was quite horrified, honestly.... it's human to make mistakes but I'm one of those pedantic people that are disturbed by bad spelling... :blush:

I don't know, loose and lose are pretty separate in my mind, but again, I have my rules based on a language with no exceptions in pronounciation...

Though I recently learnt that "cleanliness" is NOT pronounced like "clean". :eek: That was a MAJOR shock! :lol:

[Isagel]

And there is also the slight difference in how you say niece and knees. (I have trouble getting the "s" sound right) It makes a great difference when you are saying - He went down on his knees. Brr.

[Laindessiel]

(lol)
Though I recently learnt that "cleanliness" is NOT pronounced like "clean". :eek: That was a MAJOR shock! :lol:

And I just learned a few months ago that mishap is pronounced as MIS-hap and not MISH-ap! *knocks head*


And there is also the slight difference in how you say niece and knees.

Really? What is it? It isn't the rule of the "s, z" pronunciation of the letter s., is it? I'll be damned if it is.

[Laindessiel]

(lol)Though I recently learnt that "cleanliness" is NOT pronounced like "clean". :eek: That was a MAJOR shock! :lol:

And I just similarly learned a few months ago that mishap is pronounced as MIS-hap and not as MISH-ap! *knocks head*


And there is also the slight difference in how you say niece and knees.

Really? It isn't the rule of "s, z" prounciation of the letter s in some words, is it? I'll be damned if it is!