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Do grammar errors drive you crazy, or am I just weird?


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I am working on planning out my rising 7th grader's geography course for next year. I am using the Trail Guide to World Geography to make worksheets. Every question that should begin with which begins with what instead. I am changing them on my worksheets, but it's like nails on a chalkboard to keep reading them. :glare: I even googled to make sure it really is an error and not just a personal preference. Thanks for letting me vent.

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They bother me when they are on television or in print like a book, magazine or newspaper where an editor obviously missed it. They don't bother me so much on message boards, e-mails, etc.

 

:iagree: I should have said that errors don't bother me on message boards. We're all busy moms here and I certainly make my share of grammar and spelling errors. But in published material, 99% of errors should have been edited and corrected.

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:iagree: I should have said that errors don't bother me on message boards. We're all busy moms here and I certainly make my share of grammar and spelling errors. But in published material, 99% of errors should have been edited and corrected.

 

Yes, indeed. I'm with you on that one, too. I don't mind them in email or message boards because we are all usually thinking faster than we can type and who has time to proofread every little thing? But when people are putting things in print - hard copy - they really ought to be careful. I think most self-publishers (like the folks who produce Trail Guide, for instance) do not realize that it takes at least seven pairs of eyes to really proof something well. Perhaps they just don't have the budget to pay that many people to examine their material, which is understandable.

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This is the one currently driving me nuts; it's a campaign ad running in our area right now:

 

I approve working together across party lines and this ad.

 

It just sounds (and reads) so awkward! I think that is because they are joining an independent clause and a phrase? Please correct me if I'm wrong. :001_smile:

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This is the one currently driving me nuts; it's a campaign ad running in our area right now:

 

I approve working together across party lines and this ad.

 

It just sounds (and reads) so awkward! I think that is because they are joining an independent clause and a phrase? Please correct me if I'm wrong. :001_smile:

 

Yuck! That reminds me of an example SWB used in one of her writing workshops of a really BAD sentence! My dh gets really annoyed by spelling errors, grammatical errors (he used to correct my grammar all the time until I told him that I wouldn't "sleep" w/ a professor :lol:). Spelling errors and grammar errors in textbooks, ad campaign letters, books, workbooks, ed. materials, etc. really do get me.

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This is the one currently driving me nuts; it's a campaign ad running in our area right now:

 

I approve working together across party lines and this ad.

 

It just sounds (and reads) so awkward! I think that is because they are joining an independent clause and a phrase? Please correct me if I'm wrong. :001_smile:

 

OK, it's just a guess but I *think* what's wrong with this sentence is the first part (I approve working together across party lines) is fine, but the second part should be the past tense of approve: "...I'm so-and-so and I approved this ad"?

 

I can't remember since I don't watch much TV and haven't heard one of those announcements in a while, but it seems like you'd have to approve an ad before it gets broadcast and that would be past tense. Working together across party lines is an ongoing activity.

 

Whaddya think? Did I figure it out???

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I'm not typically a grammar stalker, but there's a nearby private school with the following in their ad:

 

"Is your child's skills one to two grade levels ahead of their peers?"

I have phoned and emailed, but it has remained unchanged for going on three years.

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I saw a sign at our waterpark:

42" HEIGTH REQUIRED

Aaagh! Where's a Sharpie??

:glare:

 

 

on a side note: Hey, 42" isn't too bad! At our BK, the girls noticed this one:

 

To play in the Fun Room you must be shorter than 4"

 

:lol:

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This is the one currently driving me nuts; it's a campaign ad running in our area right now:

 

I approve working together across party lines and this ad.

 

It just sounds (and reads) so awkward! I think that is because they are joining an independent clause and a phrase? Please correct me if I'm wrong. :001_smile:

 

I think that same ad is playing in our area, too.

 

It can be read two ways:

 

I approve working together across party lines and I approve this ad.

 

Or

 

I approve working together across party lines and I approve working together across this ad.

 

The first one makes more sense and is obviously the intended meaning, but it's grammatically incorrect because "working together across party lines" and "this ad" are not parallel. To make them parallel, he would need to change it to something like, "I approve working together across party lines and airing this ad."

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This is the one currently driving me nuts; it's a campaign ad running in our area right now:

 

I approve working together across party lines and this ad.

 

It just sounds (and reads) so awkward! I think that is because they are joining an independent clause and a phrase? Please correct me if I'm wrong. :001_smile:

 

The first part is all wrong: Shouldn't it be "I approve of working together across party lines"? The candidate isn't, after all, giving permission for people of both parties to work together. The second part is wrong, too. Wouldn't the candidate say, "I approved this ad."?

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Certain grammar errors make me crazy, regardless of where they appear, because they are not really typos; they're words or phrases that all of us should have learned by 6th grade: it's used instead of its, your instead of you're (I have ocassionally seen "your's," in one instance used repeatedly by someone with a degree in journalism. What???)

 

However, grammar errors on message boards don't bug me nearly as much as in books and newspapers and whatnot, KWIM? Those people are supposed to be "professional;" they're paid to get it right.

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The first part is all wrong: Shouldn't it be "I approve of working together across party lines"? The candidate isn't, after all, giving permission for people of both parties to work together. The second part is wrong, too. Wouldn't the candidate say, "I approved this ad."?

 

:iagree: My thoughts exactly.

 

On another note, I am a grammar nut myself. Don't even get me started. I live with a wonderful (and I must say intelligent) country cowboy who enjoys listenening to country music...do I need to say anymore??!!:lol:

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On these forums, spelling and grammar errors happen---we're busy moms, and we don't have time to check everything over all the time.

 

On printed materials, such as books, newspapers, signs, etc., though, grammar errors bother me! We live in southeast Missouri, and sometimes I see the craziest things in print, like a sign in someone's yard that says "Canalope for sale" or "It's high time to get your house painted!"

 

One grammatical issue that always bothered me, and I'm not sure if I'm the one who's wrong or not. Is it acceptable English usage to say, "She graduated high school in 1985" or "He graduated college with honors"??? It always seems like it should read "She graduated from high school" or "He graduated from college"! Another phrase I don't understand is, "She went missing"---that also strikes me as odd, grammatically.

 

Those of you who show true erudition in these matters, can you enlighten me?

 

:confused:

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I'm tired and I'm not picking up on what is wrong with this sentence. Help?

 

I think I meant to type in "Its high time to get your house painted" without the apostrophe! I know I often see this confusion with its/it's in our area----I guess it's seeped into my brain! (We just got back from a week at camp, and I'm doing mountains of laundry, so I'm a bit off myself! :) )

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I think I meant to type in "Its high time to get your house painted" without the apostrophe! I know I often see this confusion with its/it's in our area----I guess it's seeped into my brain! (We just got back from a week at camp, and I'm doing mountains of laundry, so I'm a bit off myself! :) )

 

I think the apostrophe is correct. It's is a contraction--It is high time to get your house painted.

 

Hope you get the laundry done. I'm doing mountains of laundry too, and I didn't just get back from camp!

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Certain grammar errors make me crazy, regardless of where they appear, because they are not really typos; they're words or phrases that all of us should have learned by 6th grade: it's used instead of its, your instead of you're (I have ocassionally seen "your's," in one instance used repeatedly by someone with a degree in journalism. What???)

 

This is the type of thing up with which I will not put. :D

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I think that same ad is playing in our area, too.

 

It can be read two ways:

 

I approve working together across party lines and I approve this ad.

 

Or

 

I approve working together across party lines and I approve working together across this ad.

 

The first one makes more sense and is obviously the intended meaning, but it's grammatically incorrect because "working together across party lines" and "this ad" are not parallel. To make them parallel, he would need to change it to something like, "I approve working together across party lines and airing this ad."

 

That's it!!! Thank you!!!!

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:iagree: It's a good thing considering my typing skills.

 

They bother me when they are on television or in print like a book, magazine or newspaper where an editor obviously missed it. They don't bother me so much on message boards, e-mails, etc.
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