It's irritation (grammar)

[jaydeehess]

Ok I voted but I have to say that this is one error that does not particularily bother me.

The people who confuse "then" and "than", or who use "there", "their", "they're" wrong, bug me a lot more. (I have even seen "they're" used when the writer needed "there" )

I also don't care for the use of the phrase "could of" instead of the contraction "could've".

I chuckle at the use of "I could care less" instead of the original phrase, "I could not care less", the later of which, to my mind, conveys the intended sentiment.

 

[Meed]

Its a close call. YOUR vote could be decisive. Just a click away.

Don't you mean "it's" a close call?

Also, huh?

 

[Meed]

Yes it are.

Innit?

 

[Tristan Chi]

Don't you mean "it's" a close call?

Also, huh?

Ain't its a shame?

 

[Baylor]

I see a tendency for miswriting the possessive form of the neuter pronoun "it", even among native, otherwise quite capable English writers.

How annoyed are you English speaking types over it's's abundance?

Not annoying at all. Easy to use and understand. It is annoying, however, when pseudoskeptical JREFers incorrectly correct my proper use of its. That's what happened the other day in another thread.

 

[Mick Houlahan]

If we're gonna use _it's_ to indicate possession, then I insist we also use _hi's_(or _him's_) and _her's_

 

[Rat]

Not annoying at all. Easy to use and understand. It is annoying, however, when pseudoskeptical JREFers incorrectly correct my proper use of its. That's what happened the other day in another thread.

Can you tell me where? I wish to mock them.

 

[Rat]

Innit?

In case you missed it (because I want to add presumptuous patronizing to my previous tedious pedantry) I was mocking your use of a plural noun (phenomena) with a singular verb (is).

 

[Tristan Chi]

So the blackcap barons toss a coin to settle the score.

 

[Niggle]

Okay, so it bugs the hell out of me. I don't know why.

 

[Agatha]

This irritant pales into near-insignificance compared with loose/lose and could of/could have.

 

[jaydeehess]

Ok I voted but I have to say that this is one error that does not particularily bother me.

The people who confuse "then" and "than", or who use "there", "their", "they're" wrong, bug me a lot more. (I have even seen "they're" used when the writer needed "there" )

I also don't care for the use of the phrase "could of" instead of the contraction "could've".

I chuckle at the use of "I could care less" instead of the original phrase, "I could not care less", the later of which, to my mind, conveys the intended sentiment.

This irritant pales into near-insignificance compared with loose/lose and could of/could have.

Agreed.

 

[Tristan Chi]

Suspiciously close a call. I for one welcome,,, ovrlrd.... Grammar will set you free. It has been spoken

 

[jaydeehess]

Off topic anecdote: I once worked with a person who referred to the gas pedal in a car as the "exhilarator". I never corrected her as I figured that was at least as good a descriptor as "accelerator".

 

[bigred]

This irritant pales into near-insignificance compared with loose/lose and could of/could have.

This one pales to using "so" at the beginning of a sentence incorrectly (written or spoken). At least the "it's/its" mix-up is relatively infrequent.

 

[Rat]

This one pales to using "so" at the beginning of a sentence incorrectly (written or spoken). At least the "it's/its" mix-up is relatively infrequent.

It's not incorrect. It's perhaps dismissed as an unnecessary throat-clearing, but serves the same purpose as lots of similar things ("Right then..." "OK..." "Now..."). In speech, perhaps, it often means "I have something to say, but need a second or so to formulate my thoughts into words." In writing it serves a number of purposes.

 

[jaydeehess]

"So", is similar to using "right" at the end of each sentence.

 

[Agatha]

Off topic anecdote: I once worked with a person who referred to the gas pedal in a car as the "exhilarator". I never corrected her as I figured that was at least as good a descriptor as "accelerator".

I like that. I will consider my car to have been exhilarated every time I speed up.

 

[Rat]

"So", is similar to using "right" at the end of each sentence.

Certainly, in that it can be massively overused. In that case it's still not 'wrong', but it is ugly and tedious. It shares that (in UK usage) with "turned around". With "right" at the end of sentences, it can be useful, as can the valley girl questioning tone, in sentences where you want to not only impart information, but also confirm that the person you're speaking to has understood what you've said. If you do so with every sentence, you are probably implying that the listener might be a bit slow.

 

[Varanid]

IMO "so" is a perfectly acceptable -- and helpful -- beginning to some sentences.

I drove over to the store, but they didn't have any bubblegum. So, I decided to convert to Islam.