Non-Words: Alittle / Alot / Noone

[Abraham]

The latest in the ugly slipstream of hybrid non-words: Alittle

One little space would legitimize this childish misspelling as it should be i.e., a little...

Alot, another bogus word was leading the race, followed closely by Noone.

Much like the actor in the old T.V. commercial demanding "Where's the beef"? I ask, "Where's the space?"

Now and again, most of us misspell or transpose a letter or two, but these abominations must be harpooned wherever they raise their ugly heads or no telling when spaces willbeabandonedalltogether...

Please feel free to add your favorite often misspelled word or infantile term like: "I could cared less" or "On accident".

[marksiwel]

The latest in the ugly slipstream of hybrid non-words: Alittle

One little space would legitimize this childish misspelling as it should be i.e., a little...

Alot, another bogus word was leading the race, followed closely by Noone.

Much like the actor in the old T.V. commercial demanding "Where's the beef"? I ask, "Where's the space?"

Now and again, most of us misspell or transpose a letter or two, but these abominations must be harpooned wherever they raise their ugly heads or no telling when spaces willbeabandonedalltogether...

Please feel free to add your favorite often misspelled word or infantile term like: "I could cared less" or "On accident".

Where Ever?

Heck (Not a real word) if you went back in time and tried to write like you do know, they would stone you.

Noone is a strange one though, because I read it as "Nune"

[surprise_i'm_armed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EudQrFSuplA

(Link is only 15 seconds long)

Speaking of harpooning....

The English language is an ever changing thing.

There are those who say that incorrect spelling and punctuation
while emailing or tweeting will not affect the language, but I
believe those 2 forms of communication lower the bar.

My public school educators taught us to NEVER use "ain't" in any
situation. Every time I hear it, I immediately think of what the
proper contraction should have been.

Speaking of spaces - I don't mind reading a long post, but I wish
people would realize that hitting the space bar once in a while will
make for shorter, more pleasing paragraphs.

The posts that are long in one giant paragraph need the gift of
white space.

Rant off.

SIA

[TxD]

willbeabandonedalltogether...

Isn't that German?

[TLynnHughes]

Personal pet peeve....media's new term for missing persons...."So and so WENT missing."

Missing is not a destination or an action in this case. It's a state of being in that you either ARE missing or your AREN'T (ain't for SIA ).

[VoiceofReason]

My favorite is used by Microsoft (plug and play), newspapers and TV news. It is “try and find” as in “try and find new hardware” or “try and find more information”.
I remember an English teacher in school stressing it is “try to find”. You either try or you do (sounds like Yoda).

Come to think of it, she looked a little like Yoda.

I shouldn’t have said that but I couldn’t resist.

[Abraham]

SIA,

I wholeheartedly agree - the bar HAS been lowered - Ugh!

TLynnHughes,

It's maddening - Arrrgghhhhh! (Arrrgghhhhh, of course, is the proper spelling...)


marksivel,

Please tell me you're not disputing the spelling of: Wherever?

Is your, ahem, observation "write like you do know..." an appeal to legitimize misspelling or an unintended humorous example of so-called evolving language?

(evolving being the loophole for those who can't spell)

[chartreuse]

One that gets my goat is folks using "sell" for "sale" and vice versa.

"For sell: Ruger 10/22", "I want to sale my 1911".

And don't get me started on aposhrophes!

[Keith B]

Eye dunt no whut all da fuss is abut, usin Hillbillys speel thut waze alot.

[karl]

"Definately", "deleated", among other egregious misspellings I've seen. It sometimes makes me wonder if these infractions embarrass the poster at all. Correspondence like this in the workplace would get you many funny looks.

[chartreuse]

Eye dunt no whut all da fuss is abut, usin Hillbillys speel thut waze alot.

Yeah, it's funny, but it's also serious.

One problem resulting from declining standards of English is that often folks aren't saying what they think they're saying. Here's a trivial example. Yesterday evening I was in a restaurant in KS. We were given a free bowl of tortilla chips when we sat down. The menu informed us: "Second refill of chips is free, Third refill is $1.50". This leads to three possible scenarios:

1. Our first serving was free, our second serving (first refill) would also be free, as would our third serving (second refill) but our fourth serving (third refill) would cost $1.50.
2. Our first serving was free, our second serving (first refill) might be free or might cost an amount not listed on the menu, our third serving (second refill) would be free and our fourth serving (third refill) would cost $1.50.
3. Our first serving was free, our second serving (which the menu mistakenly referred to as our second refill) would also be free, but our third serving (mistakenly referred to as our third refill) would cost $1.50.

OK, so it's probable that the restaurateur intended the third meaning - but that's not what the text on the menu said. Of course, most of us aren't likely to get into an argument over something so trivial, but apply the same poor standards of English to contracts, legal matters, firearms etc. and there's a real possibility of things going very pear shaped, very quickly.

[bdickens]

Imply vs. infer.

One implies to and infers from.

[Abraham]

Speach is another in the long list of commonly misspelled words.

The word is "Speech".

I see "Shot" when "Shoot" would be appropriate and vice versa.

No question, we all make the occasional spelling error or interject an inappropriate word here and there, but c'mon...(yes, yes I know, but deliberate misspellings don't count...)

I catch myself using "your" when I should employ "you're", but honestly if the wholesale making up of words or hybridizing continues, then I'll start making up my own.

Perhaps, creating my own "Esperanto" will be fun and the eye rolling can be shifted...?

[The Annoyed Man]

I don't know about spacing, but the one that really gets under my skin is "orientated." That is not a real word. The correct usage is "oriented," as in "he is oriented to time and place." If an ER doctor described his patient as "orientated" to time and place, he would be laughed out of the ER. The verb is to "orient" something, not to "orientate" it.

Correct: "Please orient that chair so that it faces north."

Incorrect: "Please orientate that chair so that it faces north."

[marksiwel]

I don't know about spacing, but the one that really gets under my skin is "orientated." That is not a real word. The correct usage is "oriented," as in "he is oriented to time and place." If an ER doctor described his patient as "orientated" to time and place, he would be laughed out of the ER. The verb is to "orient" something, not to "orientate" it.

Correct: "Please orient that chair so that it faces north."

Incorrect: "Please orientate that chair so that it faces north."

The only person I hear use that word is my wife, the English Major, if you want to hear a rant on English and spelling, just hang around my house...shhhh I think shes coming