*taps on mike* This thing on?

[tree_talking]

*clears throat*

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SPELLING KIND:

You pore over books.

You pour syrup on pancakes.

Do not get these two confused. It could result in Unfortunate Circumstances of the Sticky book kind.

A "Whig" is a member of a colonial political party. They opposed autocratic rule. Daniel Webster was a "Whig".

A "wig" is a hairpiece.

Do not get those two confused. I often imagine that you are wearing a colonial gentleman on your head. While this may be funny, it does not make sense.

Comments

[vegablack62.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your advice. I confuse the pore and pour myself. Isn't that sad? This was fun to read.

[jennlee2.livejournal.com]

Bravo!

And my own pet peeve:

You lose weight.

Your dog runs loose off leash.

[billfl.livejournal.com]

You're making fun of me because I often have Millard Fillmore on my head, aren't you? *sniff*

P.S.: Mine (other than loose/lose) is whne someone writes "Should OF", instead of "Should HAVE".

[libbi.livejournal.com]

Hee, I read a blog written by someone who kept going on and on about her marvellous, exclusive education and all round spiffiness. She kept using long words and phrases and getting it just slightly wrong, e.g. 'wholly Trifecta' Bless. *titters*

[h311ybean]

I know this is a PSA, but can I still give you an "Amen!!!"?

I'm also bothered by the whole flair/flare mixup, which occurs even in books published by reputable outfits in the United States.

Note to authors and editors: You do things with flair, while you wear things that flare!

[lalenapeike.livejournal.com]

Nice announcement.

One of my favorites that I just keep seeing:

The phrase "for all intensive purposes" written instead of "for all intents and purposes"

It always cracks me up!

[frontdoorangel.livejournal.com]

Ha! Don't forget- congratulations. Some people seem to honestly believe there's a D in there. Oh, ever since I started playing world of warcraft, I'm just appalled on a daily basis by the general chat that goes on at the bottom of the screen. I know some of the kids are young but, the spelling is just god awful.

I don't consider myself much of a grammar/spelling freak, but, a little effort goes a long way with these kinds of things. Most of these kids aren't even trying...and for God's sake when did "nite" become acceptable? I see that all the time.

[silica-sandra.livejournal.com]

It's really funny that you posted this. I'm not sure how much you've been keeping up with me, but I'm a pre-service English teacher right now earning my Masters degree and yesterday in my Teaching Grammar and Usage class we went over homophones and homonyms and how they can be confusing for students. We got to put on comedy skits about them to help point out the differences - it was fun times. We also talked about it in light of teaching English Language Learners, who can really struggle with it...and can see from the outside all the more clearly how absolutely silly it is that we have totally different words that sound the same, and in some cases are spelled the same.

English is very, very funny!

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

I think I once saw a most excellent text-only animated icon which ran down quite a lot of these pet peeves of spelling and grammar.

[bookworm1225.livejournal.com]

Here's another one to add to your list: rein/reign.

Lately, I'm seeing many people talking about things like "'reigning' in their enthusiasm." *tsks*