# Lose or Loose?



## AlanF (Oct 15, 2013)

Many of us English monoglots admire greatly the non-English speakers' ability to write in our language. There is one misspelling, however, that is becoming the norm in CR: loose for lose. "Loose", with two os means the opposite of tight. E.g., my lens cap is loose and sometimes falls off. The verb you use when you can't find something is "lose", with one o. E.g., I will lose my lens cap if it becomes loose and falls off.


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## Sporgon (Oct 15, 2013)

AlanF said:


> Many of us English monoglots admire greatly the non-English speakers' ability to write in our language. There is one misspelling, however, that is becoming the norm in CR: loose for lose. "Loose", with two os means the opposite of tight. E.g., my lens cap is loose and sometimes falls off. The verb you use when you can't find something is "lose", with one o. E.g., I will lose my lens cap if it becomes loose and falls off.



Blame Noah Webster. It's the sort of thing he would have advocated. I mean loose sounds like lose donnit ?


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 15, 2013)

What's up with sticking an e on the word lens? At least you can't loose a lose lense cap, even if you can lose your loose lens cap.


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## mackguyver (Oct 15, 2013)

I have an English degree and this one kills me. It's especially bad when people use the "word" loosed. That and "can not" which is not technically incorrect, but just ignorant. I could vent on dozens more...


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## J.R. (Oct 15, 2013)

mackguyver said:


> I have an English degree and this one kills me. It's especially bad when people use the "word" loosed. That and "can not" which is not technically incorrect, but just ignorant. I could vent on dozens more...



+1 ... the list could be "end less"


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## AmbientLight (Oct 15, 2013)

Errors may often be caused by using grammar from different languages. For example "can not" may be a word by word translation from German "kann nicht". It may be that the same difference occurs for multiple languages, in which these words have not been concatenated. Given that it is not technically incorrect, it is not filtered out by spell checkers.

Please don't be too hard on people for misspelling or similar occurrences, where it is difficult for foreign language speakers to realize their mistakes.

It is a different thing for "lense", in which case I have absolutely no idea, where this may come from. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.


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## Sporgon (Oct 15, 2013)

mackguyver said:


> I have an English degree and this one kills me. It's especially bad when people use the "word" loosed. That and "can not" which is not technically incorrect, but just ignorant. I could vent on dozens more...



Loosed - to discharge. 'He loosed an arrow at his opponent'. 

Honestly, haven't you ever watched Robin Hood ?


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## takesome1 (Oct 15, 2013)

Is this a STA meeting? (Spelling Trolls Anonymous)


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## Fleetie (Oct 15, 2013)

Thank-you, AlanF.

I have been "biting my lip" over this for a very long time now on here. It infuriates me when people whose first Language is obviously English consistently get this wrong, and then claim "it's not important" if challenged about it.
Almost all English people get it wrong, or at least the ones who write on the internet do. *I suspect that people whose first language is not English actually do better, statistically, than the rest at spelling "lose" (vb.) and "loose" (normally adj.).*
There are no excuses for those whose first language is English.


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## ajf (Oct 15, 2013)

mackguyver said:


> I have an English degree and this one kills me. It's especially bad when people use the "word" loosed. That and "can not" which is not technically incorrect, but just ignorant. I could vent on dozens more...



"Loosed" is a perfectly good English word. Many arrows were loosed by English bowmen at Agincourt. I suppose that a large number of those arrows were also lost.


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## mackguyver (Oct 15, 2013)

ajf said:


> mackguyver said:
> 
> 
> > I have an English degree and this one kills me. It's especially bad when people use the "word" loosed. That and "can not" which is not technically incorrect, but just ignorant. I could vent on dozens more...
> ...


Correct - I just meant the improper usage of the word.


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## AmbientLight (Oct 15, 2013)

ajf said:


> "Loosed" is a perfectly good English word. Many arrows were loosed by English bowmen at Agincourt. I suppose that a large number of those arrows were also lost.



If I loose some money, does it actually fly from my wallet?


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## Orangutan (Oct 15, 2013)

AlanF said:


> Many of us English monoglots admire greatly the non-English speakers' ability to write in our language.



{My admiration for polyglots on this forum} >>> {My annoyance at their misspellings and misuse}

I wish I knew a foreign language as well as they know my native language.


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## Pinchers of Peril (Oct 15, 2013)

Ya'll got a point their. Your right we should learn that they're is a difference between the too words. If we don't let other's no about it than there never going to learn.


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## unfocused (Oct 15, 2013)

I'm kind of glad someone brought this up. 

I suspect that the worst offenders may be native English speakers. I'm often impressed with the command of the language that some of the English as a second language forum participants have. I'm jealous and reminded of how inferior certain aspects of our educational system can be.



Sporgon said:


> I mean loose sounds like lose donnit ?



It doesn't to this Midwestern English speaker's ear. 



mackguyver said:


> ...That and "can not" which is not technically incorrect, but just ignorant. I could vent on dozens more...



Not sure how "can not" is ignorant. Perhaps a bit antiquated, but still perfectly acceptable.


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## agierke (Oct 15, 2013)

Slow day for the canon rumor mill huh?

Can't we just rehash how much DR one actually needs or debate how many megapixels is enough?

C'mon people, you're gonna loose me here!


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## Orangutan (Oct 15, 2013)

Pinchers of Peril said:


> Ya'll got a point their. Your right we should learn that they're is a difference between the too words. If we don't let other's no about it than there never going to learn.



And one more thing: dew knot trussed spelt chequers two fix awl yore mist steaks.


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## Dick (Oct 15, 2013)

Really though... Grammar flaws kill messages.


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## Northstar (Oct 15, 2013)

Also....There, their, and they're are misused so frequently it's shocking to me. 

I think that the people that make these types of spelling errors don't understand how they are perceived by some people.

Accidentally doing it when quickly posting something is one thing, but doing it multiple times in a single sentence or paragraph reveals insight not only into the education levels achieved by the writer, but also into their concern for how they present their work. In this day an age, you can google search how to correctly use a word, there's no excuse.

When you sit down to write something, you usually have time to get the message communicated correctly, and so for those that don't get it "right", it's laziness, lack of education on the subject, or not caring about the quality of their work....or mostly likely some combination of the three. 

Occasionally we all make mistakes, fine, but repeatedly making a simple mistake is very "telling" of who you are as a person...IMO. 

It's a judgmental world we live in.


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## takesome1 (Oct 15, 2013)

Dick said:


> Really though... Grammar flaws kill messages.



So if I understand the reference correctly.
The word “your” is used if I really know my s....
And I would use you're when stating my opinion to grammar trolls.
Did I get this correct?


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## docholliday (Oct 15, 2013)

Now dat's one oiange book, ain't it?

Sorry, couldn't resist being from the true midwest (Indiana). Just be glad that not all of us use apple products (and their extremely poor spell/grammar checker).


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## Sporgon (Oct 15, 2013)

Ah ! Now I understand where the expression ' A picture's worth a thousand words' comes from


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## cayenne (Oct 15, 2013)

AlanF said:


> Many of us English monoglots admire greatly the non-English speakers' ability to write in our language. There is one misspelling, however, that is becoming the norm in CR: loose for lose. "Loose", with two os means the opposite of tight. E.g., my lens cap is loose and sometimes falls off. The verb you use when you can't find something is "lose", with one o. E.g., I will lose my lens cap if it becomes loose and falls off.



*THANK YOU*....

One of my pet peeves today when reading forums.

I find, however, the majority of culprits guilty of "loose for lose"....are Americans.

I've just chalked it up to the poor school system we have here, and the general atmosphere that seems to pervade youth, that education really isn't that important.

***grumble*** Now....you kids Get off my lawn!!



cayenne


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## ajfotofilmagem (Oct 15, 2013)

Here in Brazil we speak Portuguese. Currently, all countries speaking Portuguese are undergoing an agreement to unify the rules of spelling. I understand English, but not enough to write correctly, then translate by Google, then fix several times. The conjugation of verbs in Portuguese has no equivalent words in English. In English someone can say: I DO. YOU DO. HE DOES. In Portuguese we say:
EU FAÇO
TU FAZES
ELE FAZ
NÓS FAZEMOS
VÓS FAZEIS
ELES FAZEM
Now imagine a verb that represents the hypothetical future, or the past hypothetical...
Also the order of words in the sentence is quite different, and Google Translator looks like the speech of MASTER YODA in the film Star Wars.


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## ScottyP (Oct 15, 2013)

The "greengrocer's apostrophe is the one that gets me. It gets its name from days when vegetable carts were run by immigrants, but nowadays I see mostly native born speakers screwing it up. It goes like this: if you have more than one apple or pear, you have apples or pears. Not "apple's" or "pear's". I get that in business emails from college educated people all the time though.


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## CarlTN (Oct 15, 2013)

AlanF said:


> Many of us English monoglots admire greatly the non-English speakers' ability to write in our language. There is one misspelling, however, that is becoming the norm in CR: loose for lose. "Loose", with two os means the opposite of tight. E.g., my lens cap is loose and sometimes falls off. The verb you use when you can't find something is "lose", with one o. E.g., I will lose my lens cap if it becomes loose and falls off.



My own complaints are from a broader pop culture context. I cannot stand misuse of "to" and "too". Or how about referring to one lady as a "women". Or how about things that "rock" (usually shoes, a skirt, or a purse)...instead of things that _should rock_, like music?

I also absolutely hate all the new Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry songs. I really don't think it's just me. Their voices have gotten much worse, and the songs themselves are grotesque to the point of absurdity. Miley's voice sounds like a bullfrog got drunk and then heavily hung over the next morning, and is now attempting to do its best impression of Stevie Nicks, after Nicks smokes an entire field of tobacco...and then Nicks herself is for some insane reason...trying to attempt to mate with a bullfrog. Imagine such a scenario if you will! 

I can see why neither one of them can keep a man for very long! A woman's voice needs to be at least _somewhat_ pleasant to listen to on a day-to-day basis! Yet we are barraged with their music. ENOUGH...bring back "hair metal"..."new wave"..."punk"...even "grunge rock" at its most depressing...or EVEN PURE 70's DISCO would be far better than the current, _complete crap_ the kids listen to today. Don't even get me started on "country" or "rap"...!! And as much as Madonna is widely ridiculed now, in her prime, her music was far better than the best of the best music, since 2000 or so. At least she worked hard (in between escapades with the likes of dennis rodman-types), and co-wrote much of her own music. Perry and Miley obviously had a lot of input on writing their own current material, because it sucks! Their earlier hits apparently had much stronger influence from songwriters who knew what they were doing.

At least someone like "Ke$ha" admits that she and her family are "bat$*** crazy", capitalizes on it, and doesn't pretend her style is the "norm". But what's scary is, it kind of is becoming the norm! What sort of Halloween costume would Ke$ha wear? Boggles the mind.


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## DJL329 (Oct 15, 2013)

takesome1 said:


> Is this a STA meeting? (Spelling Trolls Anonymous)



No, it's *an* STA meeting. Sorry, could not resist. 

The one that I have noticed on the forums recently is the misuse of "advise," instead of "advice."


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## CarlTN (Oct 15, 2013)

DJL329 said:


> takesome1 said:
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> 
> > Is this a STA meeting? (Spelling Trolls Anonymous)
> ...



Isn't "advise" how the British spell "advice"? No, maybe not...


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## takesome1 (Oct 15, 2013)

DJL329 said:


> takesome1 said:
> 
> 
> > Is this a STA meeting? (Spelling Trolls Anonymous)
> ...



This is the first step to recovery, you made it to the meeting. Now put the bottle down.


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## richyrara (Oct 15, 2013)

Whilst we're on the subject, one thing that _really_ annoys me is how some people 'Could care less', when plainly they mean 'Couldn't care less'.

See here:

Dear America... | David Mitchell's SoapBox


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## Sporgon (Oct 15, 2013)

CarlTN said:


> DJL329 said:
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> > takesome1 said:
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No, I'd advise you to keep that kind of advice to yourself, or someone may loose off a salvo of abuse, or worse lose interest in the thread, especially if they have only been loosely following it.

'Course actually I don't know nothing about grammar anyway


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## CarlTN (Oct 15, 2013)

Sporgon said:


> CarlTN said:
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I'll take that under advizment...


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## AlanF (Oct 15, 2013)

The British English usage is the ending "ice" for the noun and "ise" for the verb. E.g., I would advise you that the advice is to practise the practice of grammar. Americans use "ise" in all cases.

We also use defence but defensive etc. We also use s after y in words like analyse, catalyse, where the US uses yze. The common US usage of the ending "ize" is also correct in British English, as in the US form, but "ise" is more common.


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## ajfotofilmagem (Oct 15, 2013)

CarlTN said:


> AlanF said:
> 
> 
> > Many of us English monoglots admire greatly the non-English speakers' ability to write in our language. There is one misspelling, however, that is becoming the norm in CR: loose for lose. "Loose", with two os means the opposite of tight. E.g., my lens cap is loose and sometimes falls off. The verb you use when you can't find something is "lose", with one o. E.g., I will lose my lens cap if it becomes loose and falls off.
> ...


For me, singers like Miley Cyrus sell their image and not their music. Today the clip of the song is more viral than the music itself. In the music video of Miley Cyrus "wrecking ball" she appears naked on a wrecking ball. Very hot girl, but very bad music. On the other hand the great band INTERPOL has a song with the same name "wrecking ball" that is simply wonderful. Search on Youtube "wrecking ball-Miley Cyrus" by the sexy image, and "wrecking ball-INTERPOL" by the great music.


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## Famateur (Oct 16, 2013)

AmbientLight said:


> ajf said:
> 
> 
> > "Loosed" is a perfectly good English word. Many arrows were loosed by English bowmen at Agincourt. I suppose that a large number of those arrows were also lost.
> ...



Definitely possible. I expect that's exactly what would happen to mine if a new 5DIII were to go on sale right now for under USD$2,000. 



Northstar said:


> Also....There, their, and they're are misused so frequently it's shocking to me.
> 
> I think that the people that make these types of spelling errors don't understand how they are perceived by some people.



Agreed. It's not about being a grammar/spelling troll. Rather, it's that in an environment where communication is primarily in written form, spelling and grammar accuracy influence the perceived credibility of the writer. If someone is either ignorant of the proper spelling or carelessly relying on spell-check to fix things, it speaks to a lack of thoroughness and attention to detail -- both of which are desirable attributes in a largely anonymous environment (like this forum) where information and opinions are exchanged.



Dick said:


> Really though... Grammar flaws kill messages.



LOL...great image.

I saw a sticker on a car window the other day that cracked me up. It read (this is how it was spelled and emphasized): "Your entitled to your WRONG opinion." 

Grammar and spelling flaws kill regular messages, but in preachy car stickers? They're priceless!


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## DJL329 (Oct 16, 2013)

AlanF said:


> The British English usage is the ending "ice" for the noun and "ise" for the verb. E.g., I would advise you that the advice is to practise the practice of grammar. *Americans use "ise" in all cases.*



Sorry to disagree, but I am an American, and I was taught the correct usage of each in school.


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## Valvebounce (Oct 16, 2013)

Hi folks.
Actually I could care less, but not not a lot! ;D

One thing I do care about is not being able to address a poster by a name when their user name is basically unintelligible.

Cheers Graham.




richyrara said:


> Whilst we're on the subject, one thing that _really_ annoys me is how some people 'Could care less', when plainly they mean 'Couldn't care less'.


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## Valvebounce (Oct 16, 2013)

Hi Folks.
My main grammar bugbear is the incorrect use of "you and me" versus "you and I". I even find myself shouting at songs on the radio when they are wrong. I know it doesn't change anything but it does get it off my chest at least temporarily! :
I tried to correct my sister in law the other day and she told me her use was correct 'cause it was in songs by x and y.
Even when I tried to show her that it is easy to determine which is correct by dropping the third person then see if I or me makes sense she told me either way is acceptable. Oh well I guess you cannot educate pork! 

How about here and hear. I just started reading another post someone wants to here from people about x!

Cheers Graham.


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## nonac (Oct 16, 2013)

You see these two words used incorrectly everywhere! It is amazing. Another one that I see quite often is fourty instead of forty.


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## Zen (Oct 16, 2013)

There's another one that frequently shows up on this and other photography forums: lens and lenses.

Guys, it's one lens, two [or more] lenses! Singular vs. plural.

Sometimes these misspellings and grammar gaffes make a message difficult to understand if not unintelligible. We all make allowances for non-English speakers, of course, but those of us who are native speakers of English should do better.

But who am I to criticize? I make my share of mistakes, too! 

Zen ;D


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## Kelt0901 (Oct 16, 2013)

If one can’t write what one means, one cannot mean what one writes.


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 16, 2013)

mackguyver said:


> I have an English degree and this one kills me. It's especially bad when people use the "word" loosed. That and "can not" which is not technically incorrect, but just ignorant. I could vent on dozens more...



The thing about an English degree is that in a few hundred years it will be worthless  while a math degree will still be going strong ;D.


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 16, 2013)

CarlTN said:


> AlanF said:
> 
> 
> > Many of us English monoglots admire greatly the non-English speakers' ability to write in our language. There is one misspelling, however, that is becoming the norm in CR: loose for lose. "Loose", with two os means the opposite of tight. E.g., my lens cap is loose and sometimes falls off. The verb you use when you can't find something is "lose", with one o. E.g., I will lose my lens cap if it becomes loose and falls off.
> ...



umm rather disco and grunge back? let's not get carried away hah


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## distant.star (Oct 16, 2013)

LetTheRightLensIn said:


> mackguyver said:
> 
> 
> > I have an English degree and this one kills me. It's especially bad when people use the "word" loosed. That and "can not" which is not technically incorrect, but just ignorant. I could vent on dozens more...
> ...



I think that English degree does not mean what you think it means.


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## e17paul (Oct 16, 2013)

Whether full frame or crop sensor, I'm sure that none of us lose the opportunity to let loose shots on our Cannons.


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## Dylan777 (Oct 16, 2013)

I posted a photo of a photog holding his camera in DC shooting. The photo got removed without explanation.

What is "lose or loose" topic have to do with camera gear??? Sorry...but I'm little lose, loose maybe lost here


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 16, 2013)

distant.star said:


> LetTheRightLensIn said:
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> > mackguyver said:
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I think you may be correct in general but not in this specific case where it seems like someone got a degree in instantaneously current spelling and grammar .

(also one should keep in mind that many people post here while watching TV, or while at work or otherwise distracted and just zip out a quick response without much and it can be easy to have the sounds in your head and slop out there for their or they're and so on, plenty of times the mistakes are random and consistent)


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## J.R. (Oct 16, 2013)

For me English is a fourth language and the way it is used in my country, as long as you understand what the speaker / poster is trying to convey, it is usually enough. 

Canonrumors is a forum where the users are spread all across the world - some with good English and some with not so good English. I feel that there should be some leeway as long as one can understand what a poster is trying to convey. That said, I've seen many native English speakers who have worse English language skills than myself  

I would bet that nobody is going to stop posting on the forum simply because they did not know the nuance of a language.


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## Jim Saunders (Oct 16, 2013)

J.R. said:


> Canonrumors is a forum where the users are spread all across the world - some with good English and some with not so good English. I feel that there should be some leeway as long as one can understand what a poster is trying to convey. That said, I've seen many native English speakers who have worse English language skills than myself



What I'd add to this is that I have all the time in the world for those learning the language, but those who should know better, should.

Jim


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## Tyroop (Oct 16, 2013)

Lose/Loose. I also notice this one a lot. The other one that really bugs me is using 'lead' (as in heavy metal) for the past tense or past participle of 'lead' instead of 'led'. Even BBC journalists get this one wrong fairly often and I find myself having to write to them yet again.


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## procentje20 (Oct 16, 2013)

I'm surprised to see nobody has mentioned the bought brought mixup yet. That might be a London thing, as I meet a lot of Londoners in my office. I cannot understand how one mixes those words up. "I brought a new car" Didn't the car bring you? 

I'm Dutch, so English is only spoken on the television here. And at Starbucks, I still don't get that one. There are a lot of words difficult for me. Especially words that do or do not have a lot of TH combinations in there. I still cant figure out what to use when. 

I'm never offended when I'm corrected. Even if its in a bit of a tone. I might be an native English speaker messing up the grammar.

(Full disclosure: spell check helped me capitalise English and Starbucks put an apostrophe in don't and change grammer to grammar)


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## Northstar (Oct 16, 2013)

DJL329 said:


> AlanF said:
> 
> 
> > The British English usage is the ending "ice" for the noun and "ise" for the verb. E.g., I would advise you that the advice is to practise the practice of grammar. *Americans use "ise" in all cases.*
> ...



Alan...I think you meant to write that Americans use "ice" not "ise" for the word practice. (I'm from the US) Americans always use practice, not practise. (Even as I tried to write practise the spellcheck keeps trying to correct me). I wonder if the spellcheck does that if you live in the UK?

DJL...Americans never use the word "practise"...so in the US there would be no "correct usage" of each...unless you mean that it would be correct to use "practise" when communicating with a Brit.


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## Sporgon (Oct 16, 2013)

J.R. said:


> For me English is a fourth language



Wow, I'd have never guessed that ! Your written English is better than mine, and I'm as English as a Red London Bus, or Fox Hunting, depending upon how politically correct I choose to be


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## Northstar (Oct 16, 2013)

Sporgon said:


> J.R. said:
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> 
> > For me English is a fourth language
> ...



Agreed on your command of the English language, nice job for a fourth language!

I would have guessed you were a Texan, J.R. is a common name in Texas. 

I only speak two languages....English and American...but I'm working on a third - Canadian(but not the French part) :


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## tron (Oct 16, 2013)

Northstar said:


> Sporgon said:
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 When you learn Australian you will speak four languages ;D


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## Northstar (Oct 16, 2013)

tron said:


> Northstar said:
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> > Sporgon said:
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Ha ha! I'll make that a long term goal....g'day mate!


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## CarlTN (Oct 16, 2013)

ajfotofilmagem said:


> CarlTN said:
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> 
> > AlanF said:
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Thanks for the suggestion and your thoughts! You're correct the image sells more than the music...so why does there need to be "music" at all in her case? Certainly since the early '80's and MTV, the video was always more important than the music itself...so that's nothing new. I've seen the video, I wasn't overly impressed. In my opinion Miley is lacking in the upper body area a bit much to be called "hot"...also she's a bit too lean and stringy for my taste (she lacks muscle size along with that rounded smoothness that many men like a lady to have...some men like women to look like little skinny boys, but I don't. Hugging women like that, feels like you're hugging a young boy who runs track or something...wow is that a turnoff!). Again, just hearing her voice speak is enough to give me "low t", let alone that "singing" that sounds kind of like a chorus of belt sanders grinding away at a doorknob. And you didn't mention Katy Perry. Nowadays in "pop culture", the worst thing you can ever be thought of as...is an "adult". Perry is soon to hit 30 years old, yet she seems to have a baby girl complex where she likes to appear in pigtails. It's kind of not age appropriate for her anymore...perhaps when she hits 40 or 50 she'll outgrow it. But based on her current music, nobody will remember her or anything she's ever done, by the time she hits 32. "Roar" is just pure garbage...That's the difference between these two "stars", and Madonna...her best music will always stand the test of time.


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## takesome1 (Oct 16, 2013)

CarlTN said:


> ajfotofilmagem said:
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I am confused now;
This thread went from lose or loose to just loose women.


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## CarlTN (Oct 16, 2013)

takesome1 said:


> I am confused now;
> This thread went from lose or loose to just loose women.



Haha, not really...I just felt like complaining about pop culture. Not trying to hijack the thread. There are plenty of grammatical errors I still don't like, but at the moment I don't have time to list any others. I really also don't like many of the popular sayings and phrases that are said so often these days. 

Here's one: *"at the end of the day"....*as in..."At the end of the day the President felt he needed to focus more on how much of the taxpayers' money he's wasting by constantly taking air force one all over the globe at his every whim, while at the same time preaching about how much man-made pollution contributes to climate change...and how he would be happy to be exempted from his own carbon tax proposals...because that's just how he rolls. We're happy that you in the white house press corps never challenge him on these issues. This concludes the news conference." 

It's one of those phrases that is said constantly by commentators and officials on news tv broadcasts, and it's now the end of the day for that phrase, in my opinion!


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## takesome1 (Oct 16, 2013)

CarlTN said:


> takesome1 said:
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> > I am confused now;
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Yes they do say that. Thanks for pointing it out, now when I hear the phrase it will annoy me to.

I would rather talk about the loose women, they don't annoy me.


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## Grumbaki (Oct 17, 2013)

Your kidding me right? Their's much worst cases 

Even though I'm not a native speaker, I'm so tired of the moosh that english as a lingua franca became that I often resort to some level of old timey english with some latin locutions on top.
My chinglish wielding counterpart shan't fathom my thoughs! 

German words that got into a niche of english langage are pretty nice for confusing your counterpart. But it's a bit over zeistgeist-y

In my native language (french) we have a specialized oldschool dictionary that is highly respected even though it stopped evoluting in the 1800's (Littré)...is there anything like that for english? I'd be interested!


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## Kelt0901 (Oct 18, 2013)

tron said:


> Northstar said:
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> > Sporgon said:
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Would that be old Australian or current Australian, when I grew up the Australian language was referred to as “strine”. My grandchildren didn’t know what it meant.


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## CarlTN (Oct 25, 2013)

takesome1 said:


> I would rather talk about the loose women, they don't annoy me.



Ahahaha...touché.


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## Sella174 (Oct 28, 2013)

Here in South Africa I've noticed that the word "borrow" has largely been, shall we say, replaced by the other end of the relationship ... "lend" and "loan". As in:

"My I lend your lens."
"I lent his lens."
"I will loan a lens from him."


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## CarlTN (Oct 28, 2013)

Sella174 said:


> Here in South Africa I've noticed that the word "borrow" has largely been, shall we say, replaced by the other end of the relationship ... "lend" and "loan". As in:
> 
> "My I lend your lens."
> "I lent his lens."
> "I will loan a lens from him."



That's cute, because it is giving the person who is doing the taking or borrowing, the credit for also owning the thing...and being generous enough to let someone borrow it! How nice of them!


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## 9VIII (Oct 28, 2013)

I can't wait for the day a virus is released on the internet to spell check every word typed out in a non-secure application.

I know it wouldn't fix the problem in the title, but it would still be a big improvement.


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## 9VIII (Oct 28, 2013)

J.R. said:


> For me English is a fourth language and the way it is used in my country, as long as you understand what the speaker / poster is trying to convey, it is usually enough.
> 
> Canonrumors is a forum where the users are spread all across the world - some with good English and some with not so good English. I feel that there should be some leeway as long as one can understand what a poster is trying to convey. That said, I've seen many native English speakers who have worse English language skills than myself
> 
> I would bet that nobody is going to stop posting on the forum simply because they did not know the nuance of a language.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fair_Lady

Many of those posting on this thread are probably familiar with the movie already, but if you aren't I suggest giving it a look.

(Looks like I linked to the stage play and not the movie, either one should do though.)


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## AcutancePhotography (Oct 29, 2013)

"_Irregardless_" of the lose/loose issue, one of my favourite peeves to pet is the intermingling of the words _envy_ and _Jealous_. While related, they don't mean the same thing.

But in some dictionaries they are listed as meaning the same. (facepalm).

And lets not even think about the word _irony_. I am convinced that no one on the Internets Tubes seems to know really what that means. ;D


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## mackguyver (Oct 29, 2013)

Since this thread is still kicking, I'll add my latest and most annoying one - *Curated*. Last time I checked, this was something done by highly skilled people at museums, you know, curators. But now, you see it *everywhere *and you have "curated" MP3 playlists, "highly curated" collections of photos or items for sale at certain websites. Please. If a computer or some idiot in their pajamas is doing it, it isn't curated. Even Google has it in their definition:

cu·rate
ˈkyo͝oˌrāt/
verb
past tense: curated; past participle: curated
1. select, organize, and look after the items in (a collection or exhibition).
"both exhibitions are curated by the museum's director"
select acts to perform at (a music festival).
"in past years the festival has been curated by the likes of David Bowie"
select, organize, and present (suitable content, typically for online or computational use).
*"nearly every major news organization is using Twitter’s new lists feature to curate tweets about the earthquake"*

Okay, venting over


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## Famateur (Oct 29, 2013)

AcutancePhotography said:


> "_Irregardless_"



LOL. Nice!



AcutancePhotography said:


> And lets not even think about the word _irony_. I am convinced that no one on the Internets Tubes seems to know really what that means. ;D



Agreed! It seems that most people should use "coincidental" rather than "ironic". Irony is Oedipus vowing to bring to justice the man who killed the king, not knowing at the time that it was himself all along.


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## Kernuak (Oct 29, 2013)

AcutancePhotography said:


> And lets not even think about the word _irony_. I am convinced that no one on the Internets Tubes seems to know really what that means. ;D



It's ironic isn't it, that they don't understand the proper use of irony. 
Actually, that leads me back to cannot and the link to the German translation. While both languages tend to concatenate words to form new words, I think overall, modern German tends to concatenate more than modern English, although I haven't really done a comparison and my German vocabulary is pretty small.


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## AmbientLight (Oct 29, 2013)

Kernuak said:


> AcutancePhotography said:
> 
> 
> > And lets not even think about the word _irony_. I am convinced that no one on the Internets Tubes seems to know really what that means. ;D
> ...



In my case I use both English and German quite a lot and indeed there is a certain resistance to concatenation in the English language, which is unknown in German. It is best exemplified by using "-" in between combined words. Even more of a pronounced difference are common combinations such as lens cap, which are separated completely, while in German you would have an Objektivdeckel. In German you can combine two words spontaneously to make up something new and this new construct hopefully becomes a useful expression. Zeitgeist for example has become a rather famous word combination curiously more in English-speaking areas than in German-speaking areas. It also seems to me that it is not exactly en vogue any longer, being perhaps zeitgeistlos.


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## Larry (Oct 29, 2013)

I feel that my being perfect in every regard obliges (or is it "obligates"?) me to post. 

"I could care less!" is only appropriate if delivered dripping with sarcasm( or is it "sarcazm"?), ...thus signifying to those with a clue that exactly the opposite is in fact the case.

I'm surprised (or am I "surprized"?) that no one has mentioned the grammaration which has become my increasingly infuriating pet peeve.

What it is, is the redundant use of the word "is" as in the first part of this sentence. No one says "My name is, is Bill", or "My Bentley is, is black".

But people in increasing numbers, including supposedly knowledgeable personalities such as news anchors, politicians, advertisers, and the U.S. president, seem quite willing to say "The trouble with that is, is such-and-such".

OK, so maybe these types aren't really "supposed" (as in "believed") to be knowledgable anymore, but In my childhood days it was more or less expected ;-)

I can't (as in "can not") speak for the rest of the world, ...but the "Dumbing of America" continues apace. (...and the "pace" is increasing. )

One hand-basket is never going to suffice.

I believe "can not" is perfectly legit, since I can not-do a great many things , even at the same time. ;D

I can not-jump over the moon at the same time as I can not-dance a minuet. Can't you?

Same goes for "won't". I will not-type a great deal more on this subject. There, done! (... and at record speed, if I do say so myself!).


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## Valvebounce (Oct 29, 2013)

Hi Folks
One I hate is axed! As in I was axed a question, or is it aksed, ;D I hope no one axes me a question as I fear the pain of an axe strike! :

Cheers Graham.


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## gmrza (Oct 29, 2013)

Sella174 said:


> Here in South Africa I've noticed that the word "borrow" has largely been, shall we say, replaced by the other end of the relationship ... "lend" and "loan". As in:
> 
> "My I lend your lens."
> "I lent his lens."
> "I will loan a lens from him."



That is taken from Afrikaans, because the Afrikaans word "leen" means either lend or borrow. The difference is contextual.


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## DJL329 (Oct 29, 2013)

Northstar said:


> DJL329 said:
> 
> 
> > AlanF said:
> ...



No, I thought he was saying that Americans always say advise, even when they _mean_ advice.


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## Jim Saunders (Oct 29, 2013)

I suppose my thing is pronouns; They're such simple things that I can't understand why people get them wrong - that drives me crazy!

Jim


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## AdamJ (Oct 30, 2013)

Personally, I'm not really bothered by other people's poor English usage or grammar, provided they get their intended meaning across. In any case, language is constantly evolving so many examples of what we consider bad English now might well enter dictionaries some time in the future. One example is 'miniscule', which is spelt that way so often that it has entered many dictionaries as an official variant of 'minuscule.' And that's fine. Just like the law, language is our servant, not vice versa.

Anyway, to give this thread a photographic flavour, and in case anyone cares about getting it right, please note that 'lens' is a singular noun. If you want to describe something that a lens has, it is _lens's_, not_ lens'_. The plural equivalent is _lenses'_. Similarly, someone's name ending with an 's' is singular, e.g. Mr Harris's, Miss Perkins's, not Mr Harris' or Miss Perkins'. I mention it because, although it seems right to me that popular, enduring spelling variants should enter the dictionary, I don't think bad grammar should be passed into official usage quite so readily.


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## takesome1 (Oct 30, 2013)

AdamJ said:


> Personally, I'm not really bothered by other people's poor English usage or grammar, provided they get their intended meaning across.



+1 

In our text and twitter generation why do we blame the education system?
When listening to the news sometimes the anchor starts reading off twitter "so and so wrote @bs and #wth". 
Maybe I have turned in to my dad but all I can say is stf... and turn the channel.

In the third grade my teacher would have hit my knuckles with a ruler if I had written anything like this.


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## LSV (Oct 30, 2013)

Jim Saunders said:


> I suppose my thing is pronouns; They're such simple things that I can't understand why people get them wrong - that drives me crazy!
> 
> Jim



Using uppercase after a semi-colon may also drive some people crazy.


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## Hillsilly (Oct 30, 2013)

Kelt0901 said:


> Would that be old Australian or current Australian, when I grew up the Australian language was referred to as “strine”. My grandchildren didn’t know what it meant.


Strewth! That's not true blue. We need Kev07 back with some detailed programmatic specificity to ensure no grandchildren are given the rough end of the pineapple when it comes to learning about our heritage. They deserve a fair shake of the sauce bottle, too. Ok...Got ta zip.

(I know Ruddy isn't the best example, but at least he's a high profile person who tried. I always felt very patriotic when reports filtered back from international conferences that the translators couldn't translate his speeches into English.)


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## Hillsilly (Oct 30, 2013)

By the way, love this thread. I thought it was serious for a moment until I realised that most of the people professing their knowledge of English were clearly wrong. Not sure what the subversive intention is by giving people incorrect grammatical information, but very entertaining anyway.

IMHO, outside of a formal environment, getting upset at someone's spelling is pointless. Firstly, as long as they get their message across, who cares how they do it. Secondly, poor spelling and grammar is more likely a language, cultural or educational matter. Telling someone to get the spelling in order isn't going to automatically make them better at it. Instead, its just going to discourage them from being an active participant here. And I know that is nobody's intention or desire. Maybe there are better ways to help people? Perhaps find a polite way to point it out in a thread where you see a problem? At work I often come across people who aren't as good at communicating as they want to be. FWIW, my current favourite solution is Toastmasters.


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## GaryJ (Oct 30, 2013)

what about less and fewer ,less in size and fewer in number,how often do we hear the phrase eg: less people entered the turnstiles than last year[for example]the mental image generated is boggling.


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## Kwanon (Oct 30, 2013)

You can't teach all foreigners correct english by yourself because you posted this...
Get over it. 
If anything it will bother you even more after you posted this.
Maybe you should teach us english through Skype or something.


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## Pandypix (Oct 30, 2013)

Americans have such a colorful language, English is a colourful language also. Same but different.


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## AlanF (Oct 30, 2013)

Hillsilly said:


> By the way, love this thread. I thought it was serious for a moment until I realised that most of the people professing their knowledge of English were clearly wrong. Not sure what the subversive intention is by giving people incorrect grammatical information, but very entertaining anyway.
> 
> IMHO, outside of a formal environment, getting upset at someone's spelling is pointless. Firstly, as long as they get their message across, who cares how they do it. Secondly, poor spelling and grammar is more likely a language, cultural or educational matter. Telling someone to get the spelling in order isn't going to automatically make them better at it. Instead, its just going to discourage them from being an active participant here. And I know that is nobody's intention or desire. Maybe there are better ways to help people? Perhaps find a polite way to point it out in a thread where you see a problem? At work I often come across people who aren't as good at communicating as they want to be. FWIW, my current favourite solution is Toastmasters.



Correct spelling is there for many good reasons, including informal environments: searching the internet, for example, is that more difficult if words are spelled incorrectly; and selling or buying on eBay etc are more difficult if the seller or buyer spells incorrectly (I recall someone selling software for the commonly misspelled words so you could increase your chances of finding a bargain!). 

I opened this thread not because of being upset but, as you wished it to be, as a polite way of instruction for the most commonly misspelled word. It is very interesting how it has developed a life of its own.


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## Hillsilly (Oct 30, 2013)

I seem to spend a lot of time trying to decipher text messages. I appreciate what you're saying.


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## Northstar (Oct 30, 2013)

Kwanon said:


> You can't teach all foreigners correct english by yourself because you posted this...
> Get over it.
> If anything it will bother you even more after you posted this.
> Maybe you should teach us english through Skype or something.



I think most people that speak English as their first language are very tolerant and understanding of those that speak English as their second or third language....I know I am.

My annoyance(and maybe others) comes from people that were born, raised, and educated in a country like the US, where English is the primary language, but yet somehow they have never learned to write properly. 

With Google, the internet, free libraries, and free k-12 public schools, there is no excuse for not understanding basics like your and you're....to and too...their, they're, and there. If you didn't learn it in school, then learn it as an adult. These words are used all the time when writing....all the time. 

Why keep making the same mistake over and over again for the rest of your life? It's more disappointing than annoying that someone is ok with that.


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## mackguyver (Oct 30, 2013)

Kwanon said:


> You can't teach all foreigners correct english by yourself because you posted this...
> Get over it.
> If anything it will bother you even more after you posted this.
> Maybe you should teach us english through Skype or something.


Keeping with the theme of this thread, I'd like to inform you that English is always spelled with a capital "E". I agree with Northstar that most native English speakers are very tolerant of English as a second language (ESEL) speakers, and most ESEL speakers are always trying to improve their English skills. The same holds true for native English speakers learning other languages.

Of course some people are just intolerant jerks.


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## daltech (Oct 30, 2013)

ajfotofilmagem said:


> Here in Brazil we speak Portuguese. Currently, all countries speaking Portuguese are undergoing an agreement to unify the rules of spelling. I understand English, but not enough to write correctly, then translate by Google, then fix several times. The conjugation of verbs in Portuguese has no equivalent words in English. In English someone can say: I DO. YOU DO. HE DOES. In Portuguese we say:
> EU FAÇO
> TU FAZES
> ELE FAZ
> ...



I'm French, you forgot the plural equivalent in English, 'We do', 'You do' (Same as singular) and 'They do' ;-)

I agree with some of the comments in regards to perhaps a part of the population not caring for grammar, it's a fact that some people don't care, I know, 'I do' ;-) I'm not perfect, far from it, but I try.


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## Famateur (Oct 30, 2013)

One that I've been noticing more and more lately, particularly in advertising, is using an adjective when an adverb would be more appropriate. Here's an example from a radio advertisement this morning:

"Start your day *delicious *at Paradise Bakery."

Does that mean I should _be _delicious today? Should I _feel _delicious today? If my day should have a delicious start, it would start delicious*ly*.


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## cayenne (Oct 30, 2013)

Famateur said:


> One that I've been noticing more and more lately, particularly in advertising, is using an adjective when an adverb would be more appropriate. Here's an example from a radio advertisement this morning:
> 
> "Start your day *delicious *at Paradise Bakery."
> 
> Does that mean I should _be _delicious today? Should I _feel _delicious today? If my day should have a delicious start, it would start delicious*ly*.



It means they got their advertising dollars worth out of you.

You *NOTICED *and remembered it....

C


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## Pandypix (Oct 31, 2013)

Advertisers often misspell the city I live near, Wollongong (pronounced as wool on gong) Woolongong does not exist. This spelling may be intentional, however I will avoid products that use this type of advertising. Sydney / Sidney I don't think anyone would think this was clever advertising.


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## deleteme (Oct 31, 2013)

Ever since English has been spoken and written people have been complaining about its misuse. 
I used to be one of those people but I yield to the understanding that it WILL change whether I like it or not.

Just think how much it has changed since Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address. The people of that day would be both amazed and despairing of how the language had changed. Not to mention being astonished that we wasted time taking pictures of our food and our cats.


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## sagittariansrock (Oct 31, 2013)

AlanF said:


> Many of us English monoglots admire greatly the non-English speakers' ability to write in our language. There is one misspelling, however, that is becoming the norm in CR: loose for lose. "Loose", with two os means the opposite of tight. E.g., my lens cap is loose and sometimes falls off. The verb you use when you can't find something is "lose", with one o. E.g., I will lose my lens cap if it becomes loose and falls off.



Unfortunately, "loose" might officially (if informally) come to mean "lose". I was "literally" shocked to learn that the Oxford English Dictionary had changed the definition of "literally" to include "used for emphasis, while not being true" just because too many people are (erroneously, I thought) using it:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/literally
(look for the _informal_ meaning)


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## AlanF (Oct 31, 2013)

Another example: bad grammar, idiom and spelling spoiling a phish, received this morning.

Tax Return Notification
Dear taxpayer,
I am sending this e-mail to announce you: After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined the you are eligible to receive a tax refund of : 247.29 GBP

In order for us to return the excess payment, you need to send a request to HM Revenue & Customs after which the fund will be credited to your specified bank account.
Please click "Get Started" below to claime your refund:


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## Valvebounce (Oct 31, 2013)

Hi folks.
I think one of the main points that needs reiterating is that to "get their message across" does indeed require the correct use of grammar and use of the correct words. Miss spelling thier will not harm the meaning or context of a sentence as much as using there instead.

How many of you get part way through a question posted here or elsewhere and loose interest in trying to decipher the meaning because of poor grammar! 

What is going to happen when our arithmetic rules get as mangled as our language, someone will get under or over paid, then the new bridge will fall down! : ;D

Incidentally where exactly did we get learning "The three R's" for Reading Writing and Arithmetic.  

Cheers Graham. 



Hillsilly said:


> By the way, love this thread. I thought it was serious for a moment until I realised that most of the people professing their knowledge of English were clearly wrong. Not sure what the subversive intention is by giving people incorrect grammatical information, but very entertaining anyway.
> 
> IMHO, outside of a formal environment, getting upset at someone's spelling is pointless. Firstly, as long as they get their message across, who cares how they do it. Secondly, poor spelling and grammar is more likely a language, cultural or educational matter. Telling someone to get the spelling in order isn't going to automatically make them better at it. Instead, its just going to discourage them from being an active participant here. And I know that is nobody's intention or desire. Maybe there are better ways to help people? Perhaps find a polite way to point it out in a thread where you see a problem? At work I often come across people who aren't as good at communicating as they want to be. FWIW, my current favourite solution is Toastmasters.


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## AlanF (Oct 31, 2013)

Lose, not loose!


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## bchernicoff (Oct 31, 2013)

I didn't read all the comments on this post, but this page is incredibly useful for these sort of common errors:

https://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html


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