Comments on: Four Grammar and Spelling Mistakes That Plague the Internet

By: Axel

Axel — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:18:03 +0000

Thanks for the interesting read. English is not my native language and I often fall victim to spelling errors. Also I hate when I type teh

By: Dad

Dad — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:57:26 +0000

I must admit I spell phoneticly phoneticaly phonetic, I spell it like it sounds.

By: Jim Smoot

Jim Smoot — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:22:55 +0000

I’ll admit it, passive voice is a thorn in my side. It’s an old, ingrained habit that is hard to break.

As for spelling and punctuation, I definitely think email and texting are at the root of much of the bad English we see today.

By: Willy B

Willy B — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 03:27:40 +0000

And the number one mistake…. using the word “then” when you really should be using “than”. I hate it when that happens.

By: Ruchir

Ruchir — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:04:26 +0000

Um, I meant I, not you…

By: Ruchir

Ruchir — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:01:38 +0000

You ~~definately~~ definitely don’t have any problem with the above except with “definately” I guess. I think it’s the pronunciation of the word that makes people write it with an a…

By: Fitz

Fitz — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 23:00:35 +0000

the last three mistakes are quite understandable, it really surprised me that a lot of people don’t know the correct spelling of definitely… really odd

anyway, i think that when blogging, specially if it’s a personal site, one should not really take grammar very seriously… what’s important is that your message comes across clear to your readers, regardless if there was proper usage of punctuations or correct subject-verb agreements

although good grammer is obviously preferred, i don’t think your readers won’t mind if you have dangling prepositions or write in the passive voice more often than necessary

By: Alan Johnson

Alan Johnson — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:29:05 +0000

Bad grammar is indeed something which hurts the credibility of any website and I would definitely add abbreviations such as “u” instead of “you” to the list.

Alan Johnson

By: David Culpepper

David Culpepper — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:08:58 +0000

I’m really, really glad no one grades my grammar and punctuation when I blog. There would be red marks all over the place. Man, wouldn’t that be embarrassing.

By: Kevin Ott

Kevin Ott — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:04:33 +0000

Sometimes when I write, it occurs to me that I must have been a butcher in a former incarnation – I hack, mangle and cleave the English language!

But by using test readers, you’re on the right path! One of the best ways to improve something you’ve already written is to let other people read it. If you can, try to find test readers who are good writers themselves. Based just on your comment here, I can tell you’re a lively writer, so curing yourself of any bad habits shouldn’t be too hard.

I try not to be a grammar nazi, but I just canâ€™t help myself.

Yeah, sometimes I feel like kind of a prig pointing stuff like this out, but we’ve got to have some kind of higher standard to hold ourselves to — otherwise we’re just inviting mediocrity into our lives. I try to be as forgiving as possible, particularly if I think the writer has a good point to make. But my time is precious.