I hate when people use the wrong words in common phrases. Like saying ‘that faithful night’ rather than that FATEFUL night. Faithful doesn’t even make sense.
On a similar note to this one: Alltimers. (Similar note because it's a similar mishearing of consonants)
You know, the age-related neurodegenerative disease? I even heard someone call it Oldtimers once, which I thought was really funny but still made my eye twitch a little.
This almost gives it the opposite meaning lol because generally used in that way is similar to “typically” in my mind. “I’m generally/typically impressed with your grades, BUT…”
I used to say “mind as well” until I got made fun pf by friends enough to remember to say “might as well.” I was like seventeen when it was pointed out, so still hard to remember the right way sometimes lol.
I was soooo gonna say this😭 my family said “mind as well” so often that I genuinely thought it was that until I started writing and kept getting that marked as it doesn’t make sense. Took some research to realize it was MIGHT as well. This is very recently too…I’m 18. I went YEARS without knowing the real phrase and I’m pissed😭😭
Ahaha yeah now I’m in my early 20s. It was a high school bf who told me and I think of him ever gd time I say it lol. Very funny to be questioning myself and then trying to remember the teenage guy I dated carefully enunciating it. Good times, fun memories.
I used to do this in my writing because I thought it was the difference between "past = time gone by" vs "passed = distance gone by", but sometime last year I just decided to stop caring.
Right? What's even more annoying is that breath is ~~less~~ fewer letters, and is the correct word to use in those instances. You're doing marginally more work for yourself just to be incorrect. I cannot fathom it.
Fewer/less and amount/number are my pet peeves. People don't care if something is countable or not, everything is "less" or "amount". It makes me angry lol.
Cloths instead of clothes too. Although breath/breathe is more common I think (usually I see it the opposite way though, with breath being used instead of breathe)
It makes the least sense of all the common mistakes imo. When you know what the word "of" means, it just makes absolutely no sense. It is the least relatable
I think I often see this mistake made by native English speakers. Maybe because they learned to speak the language before they were taught to write? But yeah, it doesn't make sense.
To my ears as a native speaker, the pronunciation of "could've" does not sound the same as "could of." I've had disagreement on this, but I stand by there being a slight yet noticeable difference.
I agree there's a difference, but that might not be true for every dialect.
For me, I pronounce words like fir/fur or cot/caught differently but I know this isn't common in American dialects.
For me personally, I typically don't even pronounce the F in *of* or the T in *but* if I'm speaking at a normal speed. I only do so if I'm speaking slowly/clearly.
I think that comes down to region and articulation. Like "could-uh" was pronounced similarly to "o'clock" like "three-uh-clock" where I grew up despite meaning could've. The use of "uh" in both of those conflate of with have based solely on dialect.
This is the one I just commented. Idk why it annoys me to no end, it just does.
And I get *why* it happens; in a lot of accents, "could've" sounds like "could of" (in my own accent, they do). But if you pauses for two seconds, it would be obvious that "of" makes no sense.
When I was in school, I used the word *I'd've* in a short story, and my English teacher was not happy, but couldn't really fault it.
(eg. "I'd've done it a different way")
"a part" vs. "apart".
"A part" means to be a part of something like a group. "Apart" means to be separate. The word structure is ironic if you think about it.
This one is fun because it far more likely for a native speaker to make it than a non-native speaker.
Native speakers encounter them first only as sounds, so for many years they are basically the same word. You have to actively work on separating them when you're learning them.
Non-native speaker will most likely encounter them written and spoken at the same time so it's easier to hold them separately in their mind.
rotten squeeze outgoing simplistic fly rinse deliver detail mindless cooing
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
There was a relatively long period of time where Microsoft word would offer "defiantly" as a spelling correction for a misspelled variation of "definitely". Speaking for myself, I know that I selected that on multiple occasions without double checking. After a while it might have actually started auto correcting to that.
I'm almost certain that a combination of these two things is why it has become so prevalent. I think that word has gotten better about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's still occurs in texting keyboards quite a bit.
HOLY CRAP my teacher in high school showed me this TEN YEARS AGO and it still lives rent free in my brain every time I read “alot.” It’s like an automatic thought now
That's the well-documented nesting and territoriality of the wild alot for you, right there.
I'm the same way--ran across it probably ten or twelve years ago, and it stuck. Feels like a different life. Sadly, she's kind of dropped off the internet. Mental health is a hell of a thing.
As someone who's an English second language, the fact I always associated "effect" to Minecraft potions helped me tremendously in differentiating the two.
Minecraft potions have "effects". Noun.
I already told the entire world that it takes mental energy for me to remember one way to use each of those words correctly. I actually am interested in seeing an example of what you mean, but maybe this will make my brain explode.
The fact that effect can be both a cause and a result is something that they need to address in the next English patch because many users find it confusing. C'mon developers, hurry it up!
I hate that people have entirely forgotten that "defuse" is not spelled "diffuse". When disarming an explosive device what you do not want is to be dispersed into a fine mist.
This is acceptable imo. It's an abbreviation minus punctuation, which is more or less acceptable in casual contexts. We don't punctuate PhD, MD, Mr/Mrs universally anymore either.
Threw is just wrong
This one used to bother me, but not anymore, because now I just imagine it as short for something like "Perhaps I could care less, but not easily", or something along those lines.
Came here to say exactly this. There are so many instances where using the wrong one *totally* changes the meaning of the sentence
And usually doesn't make sense
I prefer 'a princip**le** is a ru**le**' as the mnemonic (both ending in -le), because 'principal' can also be used to mean 'primary'. (e.g. the principal cause of...)
Yeah. I feel like this wasn't taught well when I was in school; principle only has that one specific meaning really and the rest of the time its principal.
I had a friend tell me they were gonna be late to dinner because they were finishing their 'collage project' and I legit replied with "I didn't know you liked art!"
They were studying international politics XD
Don't even get me started. I'm a content editor as well as a writer, and...I've seen some stuff, man. I've seen some stuff. It's enough to make you loose your mind. :)
For me, it has to be “use to” instead of “used to”. It just totally grinds my gears. If you used to do something, that is past tense… thus you should add a “d” to the end. It drives me insane
Faze vs phase. I've seen writers with so-far perfect English, then BOOM. "phase" instead of "faze". I cannot escape it. It's painful.
I've seen it so much I'm starting to wonder if "phase" will slowly take on faze's meaning and the word faze itself be fated to fade into obscurity.
woman/women
I've started hearing younger people (particularly on TikTok) saying it wrong now too. Used to be someone would say it correctly but spell it wrong, now they're doing both.
Most irritating (and seemingly common) malapropism for me is insure/ensure/assure. I see “insure” used for pretty much everything.
Grammatically speaking, using apostrophes to pluralize. It’s visual nails on a chalkboard.
"Per say" when they mean "per se." It's the one that's irritating me right now, but there are a million others. I lose a little more of my sanity every time I see an apostrophe used to form a plural.
I saw someone post something like "the sun peaked over the mountain" and when they were corrected (it should be "peeked") they DOUBLED DOWN and explained how in their mind it made sense becasue their way becasue the sun can't "peek."
I get that it’s a mistake, but I can see how that still makes sense in their head if you think about the sun peaking in the sky or peaking at midday! Similar to “chomping at the bit” and “free reign”- the sayings were actually “*champing* at the bit” and “free *rein*”, but both phrases still have the same sort of meaning if you mishear them and use these slightly different words.
You're not wrong, but I feel like if the sun was actually "peaking" over a mountain you'd have to be in a very specific geographic situation but I know that's not what they're saying.
One I’ve started seeing recently is people writing ‘I did it’ instead of ‘I didn’t’, which I’m hoping doesn’t turn into a trend because it’s VERY confusing.
I do love it when people write ‘viola!’ instead of ‘voila!’ though; I imagine a big viola bursting into existence as if summoned
oh my god the RAGE I feel when I see lose incorrectly spelt as loose causes me physical pain, I am so happy to see someone else writing about it.
Vindication!!
"Defiantly" is mine, because I saw it daily as a prof. For one thing "Definitely" is a very weak word ANYWAY in any argument, just one of those dumb modifiers that children think make a sentence stronger, when it does the opposite, (like multiple exclamation points and "very very") and then you don't even understand what word you want... Just grrr.
But typos on reddit answers don't bug me. Between typing on phones and autocorrect, gonna happen.
Mistaking "mortified/mortifying" with "horrified/horrifying"
Like what the hell do you mean the character was "embarrassed" to walk into the murder scene of their lover?
It's like they want to flex a bigger vocabulary but just end up looking illiterate and ruining the scene.
The LOOSE/LOSE thing pisses me off to no end. I’m an English major but even I’m not perfect and don’t claim to be. I try to edit my texts and messages if I catch the mistake as I’m not one to use autocorrect or emojis to simplify my thoughts. Other more common writing mistakes aside, this one is the worst one for me to see and I see it constantly online.
It's probably less a spelling mistake than actually not knowing the correct word, but I am desperately tired of people using "WEARY" when they mean "WARY". They're both adjectives, unfortunately, and they're close enough (both negative feelings) that it always takes a minute to realize the author is using them incorrectly. Same with "free reign" when they want "free rein".
(And if we're digging deep, the one I've given up on people ever saying correctly again is *"got another thing coming"*. It's **THINK**. "If you *THINK*..., then you have another *THINK* coming." That's the phrase. "Thing" is incorrect, but I know we'll never go back, not after all this time.)
"Another think coming," seems more derivative to me than "thing" like it was a cute version someone came up with to fit a specific use case.
Another one where the wrong way seems to make more sense is, "burying the lede." I always thought it was "burying the lead," and apparently I'm not alone. I read the story about how the phrase originated but now, I can't even remember what "lede" means, let alone the story.
I never knew that it was supposed to be rein rather than reign, my mind is absolutely blown. It sucks as well, because they both make sense. Damn, I'm going to have to remember that now.
Reckless compounding of any and everything preceded by "any" or "every."
"Anyone will do" does NOT mean the same thing as "Any ONE will do."
(On this same theme, I have yet to resign myself to the compounding of "all right" into "alright." I know both are acceptable but god I hate the latter beyond reason.)
heh, I think I prefer "alright," but it needs to be in speech -- and then of course it needs to be consistent.
On a similar note, I work as a freelance editor, and I'm slowly giving up the fight on differentiating between "back yard" and "backyard" and/or "back seat" or "backseat." Doesn't matter a whole lot anyway.
More colloquial like texts/posts than writing, but I've seen it in fanfiction dialogue: ya'll . Why why why do SO many people not understand how contractions work? it is y'all and has always been y'all
The one that drives me absolutely bonkers and I see it everywhere. Even in news articles.
A women
No, you absolute ninny. It's woman in the singular and women in the plural. But so many people use 'women' for both.
They're/their/there makes me want to rip my eyeballs clean off their sockets, eat them, puke them back up and then set myself on fire
IT'S NOT THAT FUCKING HARD IT'S BASIC ENGLISH GODDAMMIT
And on a similar note, your/you're also makes me irrationally angry
I can’t believe I have scrolled so far down and haven’t yet come across a comment about possibly the MOST common spelling mistake of all: they’re/their/there. I hate when people use this incorrectly. Also you’re/your but someone already commented that.
I really hate all spelling mistakes because I also write and read a lot, so words and their use are important to me, but I realise most people don’t care because the person reading would still be able to understand what you’re saying even if you do make a spelling mistake. But damn, it really grinds my gears. I’m even guilty of correcting people in person when they say/use a word wrong. Sorry, I didn’t mean for this to turn into a rant but AAAAHHHH it boils my blood.
Some of mine...
"on accident" - it's *by* accident
"Casted" - the past tense of "cast" is "cast".
"A software" - Software is a mass noun, so "piece of software"
Spelling mistakes are annoying, but I find more humor than anything else in the occasional malaprop.
I was in formation receiving the customary weekend briefing (I was Air Force at the time). One of our NCOs decided it would be a good time to warn the flight about the dangers of spring breakers and prefaced his briefing with, "We've got a lot of kids out there, drunk, under the affluence." I struggled to keep a straight face, and also wished I was under the affluence.
I thought of another one. Complete misuse of "verse." People confuse this with "versus" and say things like "I want to see Michael Myers verse Freddy and Jason." Or "Did you see the movie where Sadako versed Kayako?" Aaarrrgghhhh!!
It has to be “bias”. The number of people that use this when they mean “biased” is insane.
“You’re bias!”, it is biased you spastic.
It would be like someone saying “the toast is butter”.
Oh my god this one *kills me* because they try to argue it or flat out don’t care when you correct them. “Bias” is a noun, not a verb!!! Arghh!
I blame the -ed getting snipped off during verbal speech, honestly. :( I’ve had people argue that I’m wrong due to that.
I hate when people use the wrong words in common phrases. Like saying ‘that faithful night’ rather than that FATEFUL night. Faithful doesn’t even make sense.
For all intensive purposes
Yes, u/ShoulderOutside91. "For all intensive purposes" unlocks a deep feeling of rage that is normally quiet within me.
Would you say that the rage is intensive?
User artificialidentity3 cannot reply. His head just exploded.
For most purposes.
For all intensive purposes, I make sure that I diet and exercise regularly as well as maintain proper sleep hygiene. There, happy?
I feel sick.
Bone apple teeth.
r/BoneAppleTea
I’ve seen “for all intensive matters” on Reddit. Taking it a step worse!
On a similar note to this one: Alltimers. (Similar note because it's a similar mishearing of consonants) You know, the age-related neurodegenerative disease? I even heard someone call it Oldtimers once, which I thought was really funny but still made my eye twitch a little.
The use of oldtimers is more of a pun
“taken for granite”
That's just being igneous.
What are you a fucking rock person?
All you people need to get off your pedal stool.
lets play it by year
“It’s a doggy-dog world” is one of the worst I’ve seen
I can't believe that half of these are real. Where are y'all seeing these?
I will try my upmost not to do that.
A hare's breath instead of a hair's breadth
A hair brained scheme.
George Orwell would say this is because people don't know the actual meaning of the words in the phrase.
it irks me when people say "generally" rather than "genuinely". "I'm generally impressed you got an A." Huh???
This almost gives it the opposite meaning lol because generally used in that way is similar to “typically” in my mind. “I’m generally/typically impressed with your grades, BUT…”
I agree with most of these, but this one? I could care less (😏)
I'm going to strangle you
This. This is mine. It makes me rage 🤬. Don't know why, but yeah. If you could care less, why don't you? 🤦🏻♀️
YES! Really any eggcorns, grind my years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn
I used to say “mind as well” until I got made fun pf by friends enough to remember to say “might as well.” I was like seventeen when it was pointed out, so still hard to remember the right way sometimes lol.
This one used to bug me but now I don’t mine.
I was soooo gonna say this😭 my family said “mind as well” so often that I genuinely thought it was that until I started writing and kept getting that marked as it doesn’t make sense. Took some research to realize it was MIGHT as well. This is very recently too…I’m 18. I went YEARS without knowing the real phrase and I’m pissed😭😭
Ahaha yeah now I’m in my early 20s. It was a high school bf who told me and I think of him ever gd time I say it lol. Very funny to be questioning myself and then trying to remember the teenage guy I dated carefully enunciating it. Good times, fun memories.
Yes! I’ve seen “Rather or not” so many times. It’s “whether or not”.
The night never cheats on you.
Wait, what's this one supposed to be?
faithful
Ohhh I thought it was another misheard phrase
This reminds me of that basement yard episode where Frankie said “our father who does art in heaven” 💀💀💀
r/boneappletea
Worst case Ontario you just get 2 birds stoned at once.
"Breathe" and "breath" chaps my ass every single time I read it. "She held her breathe," no she absolutely did not
Similarly but not as common, "bath" instead of "bathe."
He walked passed her 😵💫
I used to do this in my writing because I thought it was the difference between "past = time gone by" vs "passed = distance gone by", but sometime last year I just decided to stop caring.
I have to consult my usage dictionary every single time!
This one is EVERYWHERE too
Right? What's even more annoying is that breath is ~~less~~ fewer letters, and is the correct word to use in those instances. You're doing marginally more work for yourself just to be incorrect. I cannot fathom it.
I think I see the reverse more often. "You need to breath." No I don't. I need to *breathe.*
Since we're taking grammar, you mean _fewer_ letters, which is one that always annoys me :)
_HOISTED BY MY OWN PETARD_
Fewer/less and amount/number are my pet peeves. People don't care if something is countable or not, everything is "less" or "amount". It makes me angry lol.
LMAO chaps your ass
I can't take credit for this, it's from the Robot Chicken Captain Planet sketch lmao
I think it's much older than robot chicken, I've heard a now deceased elderly relative say it. Great phrase tho
Cloths instead of clothes too. Although breath/breathe is more common I think (usually I see it the opposite way though, with breath being used instead of breathe)
I can't BREATH
There's a massage /relaxation place near me named "Just Breath"
"Could of" instead of could've. It makes me so irrationally angry.
It makes the least sense of all the common mistakes imo. When you know what the word "of" means, it just makes absolutely no sense. It is the least relatable
I think I often see this mistake made by native English speakers. Maybe because they learned to speak the language before they were taught to write? But yeah, it doesn't make sense.
To my ears as a native speaker, the pronunciation of "could've" does not sound the same as "could of." I've had disagreement on this, but I stand by there being a slight yet noticeable difference.
I agree there's a difference, but that might not be true for every dialect. For me, I pronounce words like fir/fur or cot/caught differently but I know this isn't common in American dialects. For me personally, I typically don't even pronounce the F in *of* or the T in *but* if I'm speaking at a normal speed. I only do so if I'm speaking slowly/clearly.
I think that comes down to region and articulation. Like "could-uh" was pronounced similarly to "o'clock" like "three-uh-clock" where I grew up despite meaning could've. The use of "uh" in both of those conflate of with have based solely on dialect.
Exactly. I had someone argue with me about it and was genuinly perplexed, because it makes absolutely no sense.
This is the one I just commented. Idk why it annoys me to no end, it just does. And I get *why* it happens; in a lot of accents, "could've" sounds like "could of" (in my own accent, they do). But if you pauses for two seconds, it would be obvious that "of" makes no sense.
When I was in school, I used the word *I'd've* in a short story, and my English teacher was not happy, but couldn't really fault it. (eg. "I'd've done it a different way")
Haha that’s one of those ones that people say when they’re talking aloud but never works written down.
"a part" vs. "apart". "A part" means to be a part of something like a group. "Apart" means to be separate. The word structure is ironic if you think about it.
lmao this is amazing. Apart isn't written apart.
That one drives me nuts. It changes the entire meaning of the sentence
Exactly, they're effectively opposites lmao
This one is pretty basic, but... you're and your.
That won their effects me most, its as if there actively trying to avoid improving they're grammar.
Good sir this sentence physically hurts me
NOOOOOOOOOO
This one is fun because it far more likely for a native speaker to make it than a non-native speaker. Native speakers encounter them first only as sounds, so for many years they are basically the same word. You have to actively work on separating them when you're learning them. Non-native speaker will most likely encounter them written and spoken at the same time so it's easier to hold them separately in their mind.
rotten squeeze outgoing simplistic fly rinse deliver detail mindless cooing *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Oh god damn it 😆 fucked that one up
liquid dull mighty melodic bear meeting versed plucky murky spotted *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
> It's frequency has increased. I rest my case.
Lol, I was like, "You... You did the thing you said you hate."
„You were supposed to destroy them, not join them!“
Same honestly. Defiantly instead of definitely is another one. Arg!
I can only assume this happens because people think 'definitely' has an 'a' somewhere, and then their spell check makes the wrong assumption.
There was a relatively long period of time where Microsoft word would offer "defiantly" as a spelling correction for a misspelled variation of "definitely". Speaking for myself, I know that I selected that on multiple occasions without double checking. After a while it might have actually started auto correcting to that. I'm almost certain that a combination of these two things is why it has become so prevalent. I think that word has gotten better about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's still occurs in texting keyboards quite a bit.
alot.
Did you mean as in the quantity of "a lot" or as in the verb "allot"? Either way, I agree, it's quite annoying.
The alot is a magnificent creature. https://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html?m=1
HOLY CRAP my teacher in high school showed me this TEN YEARS AGO and it still lives rent free in my brain every time I read “alot.” It’s like an automatic thought now
That's the well-documented nesting and territoriality of the wild alot for you, right there. I'm the same way--ran across it probably ten or twelve years ago, and it stuck. Feels like a different life. Sadly, she's kind of dropped off the internet. Mental health is a hell of a thing.
Oh boy, you're gonna hate me... alot. I always TRY to be aware. It it hard xD
effect/affect even though it's less of a spelling mistake
Yeah, same with isle and aisle. It's not exactly a simple spelling mistake. It's more of a knowledge or vocabulary gap.
I know for a fact I use this wrong. I’ve googled, I swear, but my brain just can’t seem to understand the difference between the two
As someone who's an English second language, the fact I always associated "effect" to Minecraft potions helped me tremendously in differentiating the two. Minecraft potions have "effects". Noun.
English is my first language. I still have to think of side effects. Medicine has side effects, making effect a noun.
Would it be needlessly harsh of me to tell you that each of them has a verb form and a noun form? The two words have four meanings between them.
I already told the entire world that it takes mental energy for me to remember one way to use each of those words correctly. I actually am interested in seeing an example of what you mean, but maybe this will make my brain explode.
Effect (noun) = result Effect (verb) = cause Affect (noun) = facial expression Affect (verb) = influence
The fact that effect can be both a cause and a result is something that they need to address in the next English patch because many users find it confusing. C'mon developers, hurry it up!
Can you use effect as a verb in a sentence?
The medicine's side effects can affect your quality of life ;)
Perfect. They should make that phrase and something about lose/loose into a sticky on Reddit.
[удалено]
You suffer the effect of something, it affects you.
I hate that people have entirely forgotten that "defuse" is not spelled "diffuse". When disarming an explosive device what you do not want is to be dispersed into a fine mist.
When I tell you how I cackled at this comment 😭😂
The past tense of 'pay' is usually 'paid'. While 'payed' is technically a word, it has only niche uses and >99% of the time, it should be 'paid'.
Threw. It's through, STOP.
Thru 😂
This is acceptable imo. It's an abbreviation minus punctuation, which is more or less acceptable in casual contexts. We don't punctuate PhD, MD, Mr/Mrs universally anymore either. Threw is just wrong
I have seen people unironically use "thru" and "tho". In a supposedly formal sentence. It drives me nuts.
"I could care less" so you do care??
Yeah, this drives me mad.
Most people confuse it with "I couldn't care less".
Always loved [David Mitchell's rant on that.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw)
This one used to bother me, but not anymore, because now I just imagine it as short for something like "Perhaps I could care less, but not easily", or something along those lines.
ROUGE
This one is my favorite. Its connotations are usually pretty funny. "Commander, we're in trouble. The kill bots have gone rouge!"
This is a deleted scene from Space Balls and you can't convince me otherwise.
Unphased for unfazed, awe for aww, plenty more that I can’t recall off the top of my head
Fellow phase vs faze comrade, I feel seen
Then VS Than … something about it’s misuse absolutely bothers me, lol.
*its
Came here to say exactly this. There are so many instances where using the wrong one *totally* changes the meaning of the sentence And usually doesn't make sense
I hate hate hate principle instead of principal.
I always remember the difference because a principal is your pal (in this exercise, at least).
I prefer 'a princip**le** is a ru**le**' as the mnemonic (both ending in -le), because 'principal' can also be used to mean 'primary'. (e.g. the principal cause of...)
That’s a good one too. I hope you don’t mind if I use it.
Yeah. I feel like this wasn't taught well when I was in school; principle only has that one specific meaning really and the rest of the time its principal.
Weary when they mean wary
College/collage... People are saying they are in "collage." You can only be in one if your picture is glued there.
I had a friend tell me they were gonna be late to dinner because they were finishing their 'collage project' and I legit replied with "I didn't know you liked art!" They were studying international politics XD
Noone. Unless it’s an old English way of time telling 🤔
or "no-one". It's just No one
Don't even get me started. I'm a content editor as well as a writer, and...I've seen some stuff, man. I've seen some stuff. It's enough to make you loose your mind. :)
It's either cue or queue. 'Que' is not an English word.
I have one that I find mildly annoying: "Pouring over" when "poring over" is meant. Seen it twice recently in books that were otherwise well edited.
“-esc” instead of “-esque” drives me a little insane
For me, it has to be “use to” instead of “used to”. It just totally grinds my gears. If you used to do something, that is past tense… thus you should add a “d” to the end. It drives me insane
Loose/lose is probably my #1, followed by your/you’re
Faze vs phase. I've seen writers with so-far perfect English, then BOOM. "phase" instead of "faze". I cannot escape it. It's painful. I've seen it so much I'm starting to wonder if "phase" will slowly take on faze's meaning and the word faze itself be fated to fade into obscurity.
so youre saying its usage will be fazed out?
woman/women I've started hearing younger people (particularly on TikTok) saying it wrong now too. Used to be someone would say it correctly but spell it wrong, now they're doing both.
I've heard that the pronunciation thing is regional. But spelling? It's very annoying. You are not a women. You are a woman.
I was also going to mention this 😆
Most irritating (and seemingly common) malapropism for me is insure/ensure/assure. I see “insure” used for pretty much everything. Grammatically speaking, using apostrophes to pluralize. It’s visual nails on a chalkboard.
Pluralizing word's with apostrophe's makes me fucking nut's.
"Per say" when they mean "per se." It's the one that's irritating me right now, but there are a million others. I lose a little more of my sanity every time I see an apostrophe used to form a plural.
I saw someone post something like "the sun peaked over the mountain" and when they were corrected (it should be "peeked") they DOUBLED DOWN and explained how in their mind it made sense becasue their way becasue the sun can't "peek."
Or, 'this peaked my interest' instead of 'piqued'
I get that it’s a mistake, but I can see how that still makes sense in their head if you think about the sun peaking in the sky or peaking at midday! Similar to “chomping at the bit” and “free reign”- the sayings were actually “*champing* at the bit” and “free *rein*”, but both phrases still have the same sort of meaning if you mishear them and use these slightly different words.
You're not wrong, but I feel like if the sun was actually "peaking" over a mountain you'd have to be in a very specific geographic situation but I know that's not what they're saying.
if I had one cent for every "sneak peak" I stg
Isn't there a Twitter bot called Stealth Mountain that calls that out?
One I’ve started seeing recently is people writing ‘I did it’ instead of ‘I didn’t’, which I’m hoping doesn’t turn into a trend because it’s VERY confusing. I do love it when people write ‘viola!’ instead of ‘voila!’ though; I imagine a big viola bursting into existence as if summoned
oh my god the RAGE I feel when I see lose incorrectly spelt as loose causes me physical pain, I am so happy to see someone else writing about it. Vindication!!
One that's recently begun to drive me up the wall is "who's" (who is, *who is*, WHO IS!) when they mean "whose."
"Defiantly" is mine, because I saw it daily as a prof. For one thing "Definitely" is a very weak word ANYWAY in any argument, just one of those dumb modifiers that children think make a sentence stronger, when it does the opposite, (like multiple exclamation points and "very very") and then you don't even understand what word you want... Just grrr. But typos on reddit answers don't bug me. Between typing on phones and autocorrect, gonna happen.
Bearly and barely
And people throw in barley
Mistaking "mortified/mortifying" with "horrified/horrifying" Like what the hell do you mean the character was "embarrassed" to walk into the murder scene of their lover? It's like they want to flex a bigger vocabulary but just end up looking illiterate and ruining the scene.
"Ugh, stop bleeding all over the carpet, you're embarrassing me!"
The LOOSE/LOSE thing pisses me off to no end. I’m an English major but even I’m not perfect and don’t claim to be. I try to edit my texts and messages if I catch the mistake as I’m not one to use autocorrect or emojis to simplify my thoughts. Other more common writing mistakes aside, this one is the worst one for me to see and I see it constantly online.
"Women" instead of "woman"
It's probably less a spelling mistake than actually not knowing the correct word, but I am desperately tired of people using "WEARY" when they mean "WARY". They're both adjectives, unfortunately, and they're close enough (both negative feelings) that it always takes a minute to realize the author is using them incorrectly. Same with "free reign" when they want "free rein". (And if we're digging deep, the one I've given up on people ever saying correctly again is *"got another thing coming"*. It's **THINK**. "If you *THINK*..., then you have another *THINK* coming." That's the phrase. "Thing" is incorrect, but I know we'll never go back, not after all this time.)
[удалено]
I like Judas Priest too much to say "think." Sorry!
"Another think coming," seems more derivative to me than "thing" like it was a cute version someone came up with to fit a specific use case. Another one where the wrong way seems to make more sense is, "burying the lede." I always thought it was "burying the lead," and apparently I'm not alone. I read the story about how the phrase originated but now, I can't even remember what "lede" means, let alone the story.
I never knew that it was supposed to be rein rather than reign, my mind is absolutely blown. It sucks as well, because they both make sense. Damn, I'm going to have to remember that now.
Not technically a spelling mistake, but "awhile" rather than "a while."
Reckless compounding of any and everything preceded by "any" or "every." "Anyone will do" does NOT mean the same thing as "Any ONE will do." (On this same theme, I have yet to resign myself to the compounding of "all right" into "alright." I know both are acceptable but god I hate the latter beyond reason.)
heh, I think I prefer "alright," but it needs to be in speech -- and then of course it needs to be consistent. On a similar note, I work as a freelance editor, and I'm slowly giving up the fight on differentiating between "back yard" and "backyard" and/or "back seat" or "backseat." Doesn't matter a whole lot anyway.
"Their" or "There" instead of "they're" or vice versa. "Your" instead of "You're"
Past and passed. I see so many examples where people use the wrong one, and it annoys me so much.
Just came here to see what I got wrong as a non-native speaker. Reassuring to see that I all the spelling mentionned here.
Your and you’re
More colloquial like texts/posts than writing, but I've seen it in fanfiction dialogue: ya'll . Why why why do SO many people not understand how contractions work? it is y'all and has always been y'all
ON accident. Where the fuck did you learn that?? How does that make grammatical sense in your head??
"would of"
I saw someone write “walla” for “voilà” once.
Mixing up to, too, and two.
Reign instead of rein. Spellcheck is useful, but it does not eliminate the need for careful proofreading.
"It's" when people mean "its"
Bare/bear "I can't bare the thought" *well apparently you can*
The one that drives me absolutely bonkers and I see it everywhere. Even in news articles. A women No, you absolute ninny. It's woman in the singular and women in the plural. But so many people use 'women' for both.
exited and excited. It drives me crazy
They're/their/there makes me want to rip my eyeballs clean off their sockets, eat them, puke them back up and then set myself on fire IT'S NOT THAT FUCKING HARD IT'S BASIC ENGLISH GODDAMMIT And on a similar note, your/you're also makes me irrationally angry
I can’t believe I have scrolled so far down and haven’t yet come across a comment about possibly the MOST common spelling mistake of all: they’re/their/there. I hate when people use this incorrectly. Also you’re/your but someone already commented that. I really hate all spelling mistakes because I also write and read a lot, so words and their use are important to me, but I realise most people don’t care because the person reading would still be able to understand what you’re saying even if you do make a spelling mistake. But damn, it really grinds my gears. I’m even guilty of correcting people in person when they say/use a word wrong. Sorry, I didn’t mean for this to turn into a rant but AAAAHHHH it boils my blood.
Some of mine... "on accident" - it's *by* accident "Casted" - the past tense of "cast" is "cast". "A software" - Software is a mass noun, so "piece of software"
Spelling mistakes are annoying, but I find more humor than anything else in the occasional malaprop. I was in formation receiving the customary weekend briefing (I was Air Force at the time). One of our NCOs decided it would be a good time to warn the flight about the dangers of spring breakers and prefaced his briefing with, "We've got a lot of kids out there, drunk, under the affluence." I struggled to keep a straight face, and also wished I was under the affluence.
I thought of another one. Complete misuse of "verse." People confuse this with "versus" and say things like "I want to see Michael Myers verse Freddy and Jason." Or "Did you see the movie where Sadako versed Kayako?" Aaarrrgghhhh!!
It has to be “bias”. The number of people that use this when they mean “biased” is insane. “You’re bias!”, it is biased you spastic. It would be like someone saying “the toast is butter”.
Oh my god this one *kills me* because they try to argue it or flat out don’t care when you correct them. “Bias” is a noun, not a verb!!! Arghh! I blame the -ed getting snipped off during verbal speech, honestly. :( I’ve had people argue that I’m wrong due to that.
Yes to the content, No to the use of ableist language
Your bias!
I always think of clothing cuts lol