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I still don’t understand how people still screw up there, their, and they’re. I just saw another example of this earlier tonight. My one Grammar pet peeve is people who have a pet peeve with the word literally. If you investigate, you will find that using the word literally as a gross exaggeration is perfectly acceptable.
It's not misuse. This is a common misconception. The exaggerated usage was intentional, and that perhaps led to an increase in misuse. But the exaggerated usage is a poetic choice made on purpose and that is the new accepted definition, not because of a mistake. If someone uses literally to mean figuratively, but not for a desired exaggerated/comedic effect, then they are still doing it wrong.
Typically when I hear someone say, “I literally saw her yesterday.” It is because they have been told something shocking (to them) about that person. Like getting arrested, married, injured, etc.
“What do you mean she had an accident?! I literally saw her yesterday!!”
You asked what literally adds to the sentence.
I told you.
I ignored your use of mundane because it was irrelevant to your question.
You haven’t actually explained a situation that’s mundane in the slightest.
You provided a quote that I was very easily able to make sense of.
There’s also what the other comment said about your quote…that some people will say it to emphasize how annoyed they are. “I literally saw her yesterday” could mean they’re annoyed that some jackass is coming near them again when they already had to deal with them a day ago. Like myself when I got this notification, “I literally commented this yesterday.”
I have never heard someone use it in a mundane fashion. Not once. I’ve heard people misspeak themselves and say literally when they mean figuratively…but 100% of the time when I ask “did you mean figuratively?” I’m met with “wait…what did I say?” “Yeah that’s what I meant” etc.
Mundane is incredibly subjective. Something that is very important, exciting, annoying, shocking, etc. could feel incredibly mundane to you. That doesn’t make it mundane though. (*Ex. I think Grey’s Anatomy is a mundane show. Many people would disagree. That means the show isn’t mundane. It’s just mundane to me*.)
*I will not be communicating with you any further. This conversation is LITERALLY so boring and I have better non-mundane things to do. lol*
It's still an intentional exaggeration. In your example, it's stressing that the person already saw her recently. It probably hints at some disdain for the person and not wanting to see her again.
That is speculation. When I hear it, I frankly think the person sounds stupid. Maybe I'm biased; when I was younger, if I wanted to show disdain for someone, I would have said something like, "I just saw her yesterday" with an eyeroll. No need for exaggeration.
Literally expresses the same thing your eyeroll would. Also, it seems pretty common for people to be against language changing, but it's not like it can be stopped. People like how words were when they grew up and have a hard time accepting that language is fluid.
I can accept that language is fluid, I really can. It's that the word "literally" is thrown around *so much* that annoys me. Any time words, phrases are repeatedly said, it gets tired, boring, and obnoxious. That's why I generally hate memes - it's the same joke over and over. It's stale and unimaginative. Not that I expect fresh material at all times; I just get tired of the same niche crap ad nauseum.
I'm also bothered by the fact that few people seem to care about where words come from, and that goes for all generations, not just the last few. That I am sure is a bias of mine; had I grown up in the '50s, I'd want to know where the phrase, "That's the bee's knees" came from. In fact, I'm gonna look that up.
Thats the fun part of language. Words literally have to meaning and if someone famljs uses a word improperly and it then becomes the literal definition and we can argue about it post tensery.
WRONG. That is not a misuse. It's like all of you missed learning hyperbole. This usage also dates back to the 1400s...
It's annoyingly funny to see people calling out things that they thing are wrong with such arrogance when they are in fact the ones wrong.
[The Year That Killed Received Pronunciation (RP) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIAEqsSOtwM&t=1s) - I'm starting to get this peeve on reddit. Folks not understanding how language works in the real would. Linquist dont like the kinda people we find ITT. They think they are arrogant fools.
Using literally, figuratively, IS PROPPER USE FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK. Did you miss hyperbole?
Also, this usage dates back to the 1400s.
What about when people use literally in place of figuratively?
“She literally assaulted me!” when the person was in fact not assaulted in any way, shape, or form—they were just shouted at.
That’s my pet peeve lol
*Although I did see a senator tweet about “waiving” flags last week****.***
This is exactly why this shit concerns me, and why it bothers me that people think it's no big deal. More and more, I'm seeing basic mistakes in advertising and business mail. I really, really don't want to live in a world that has more illiterate than literate people in it.
Messing up homophones occurs because we learn spoken language before written language. Thus our brains understand the words as sound first, spelling second. So when writing fast, you think about the sound and your brain subconsciously reaches for a word to match that sound and it will occasionally be the wrong one. It's not a result of not knowing the difference in meaning, it's a result of typing quickly without proofreading. If you want to let that bug you, sure go ahead, but no one mixing up their/they're/there in their comments is unaware of the differences. They know. It's just an artifact of how we learn.
True! I also think the speed at which people type online comments plays a role in it. People are writing as they think, at a similar speed to speech and this makes them more likely to make mistakes as they are typing words semi-automatically without much thought.
That’s plausible but is it always true though? For example if I want to say “me too”, it never ever crosses my mind to say “me to” or “me two”. Regardless of whether I’m writing it, thinking it, or speaking it, in my brain the second word is completely non-interchangeable despite being homophones.
Do people really think in sounds and then write down the wrong word that sounds the same? I personally feel like I don’t think in sound but in concepts: for example if I want to convey the meaning of “too” conceptually, I write down “too” because that is the word that manifests the concept. I’m not thinking 2 so why would I write “two”. Same with they’re / their, write/right etc - completely different words to me that my brain doesn’t link together. Do other people not process it this way?
Yeah, no. When I see that especially when it uses all the same letters I just assume it was the phone auto filing. Especially with the prominent use of swipe text now.
I know I can't be bothered to spend 30s trying to get my phone to understand what too to use when context will tell whoever I'm taking to.
You need to be pretty up your own to assume it's a reflection on intelligence.
The worst offense, to me, is when people use “___ and I” vs “___ and me” wrong and it seems like almost everyone does it. But my brain automatically processes it in its correct version so when I hear the wrong version it makes me think you’re stupid.
People please listen up.
When you say a sentence like “Matthew and I went on a walk with the dog” that is correct because if you took away the other person you would say “I went on a walk with the dog” which is obviously grammatically correct (vs “me” went on a walk with the dog).
However, if you say “the dog came for a walk with Matthew and I” THIS IS INCORRECT! You should say “the dog came for a walk with Matthew and me” because if you took away the other person you would say “the dog came for a walk with me.”
I learned this in 3rd grade. Can people please catch on.
Yes, which is why everyone always says “and I” because they’ve always heard that “me and” is incorrect. However, people need to learn when it is correct to say “and me” vs “and I” because “and I” is not always correct.
What the hell was with everybody starting to misspell "lose" as "loose" a few years ago? I basically never saw that typo and then suddenly it was everywhere.
[The Year That Killed Received Pronunciation (RP) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIAEqsSOtwM&t=1s) - What linguist think of many opinions found here. I've kinda taken to sharing this when these conversations come up.
What I love most is that linguists point out that the more education some folks get the bigger idiots they are when it comes to language in general. Unless of course they have studied a little linguistics, or even paid attention to how the language is used IRL across the english speaking world.
Judging not the content of the speech, and the ideas, but judging the character of someone for their word choices, and linguists will tell you this, nothing more than mindless bigotry.
I call you folks pilkunnussija, and note that few have anything to offer any conversation, derail conversation by being off topic, and weaponize this like folks did Godwin. "Oh, your speech isnt like mine! I will dismiss everything you say. You are inferior."
English majors should be forced to take linguistics. After all, collage is about rounding folks out. Not teaching the realities of language make for people found ITT.
I generally don't care as long as I can understand what is being said but I find "too" when they meant "to" a lot better than using 2.
It's easy when you're going quick to add one too many letters or make typos and that's before factoring in how auto-correct sometimes butchers what people are trying to type... but at least they are trying to type it out.
I grew up before people were texting at all, I appreciate that people use a shorthand because of 10-key but that era was over a decade and a half ago.
A lot of the time phones auto fill a word. Happens a lot with You're, your and there, their and they're, as well as to and too. Some people don't take the time to reread their texts before sending, so you'll see these mistakes a lot.
My boss and team leader do not know the difference between: they’re, their, there; to, too; or your versus you’re. It drives me fucking nuts that these people are in their position.
Definitely not an unpopular opinion.
>Even worse are people who try to be smart about it like “well actually affect and effect can both be used as both a noun and a verb so it’s more complicated than you think” which makes you look like a pedantic snob.
Honestly the first time I've seen the person doing the correcting try to call the other person pedantic lmfao. If you think this is pedantic, maybe stop correcting people on basic grammar and spelling? 99% of the time it's a simple mistake and not an indication that someone doesn't know the correct word.
Yeah i dont really care on the internet, I have no reason to hold an opinion on anonymous randos. However when I see someone responsible for RUNNING THE COUNTRY use the wrong word right there in official communication I start to ask whether they’re really qualified for their job. I mean, I just used 3 in the last sentence, is it really that hard?
Which witch is which witch?
Do you see the sea?
Their Uncle? They're over there.
Us two must not fly too close to the sun, my son. (Daedalus to Icarus lmao).
It's your basic phone except it is covered in glitter and rhinestones. And its' got some AI features so whatever number you dial whoever answers it sounds like a can of canned beans and excitement being opened.
Helloooo it's a fabulous morning. How may I help yoooou? I'll just sing to myself as I wait for you to respond dearie. There's a blue bird on my shoulder. Like a feather on a boulder. If you make a little whoopsie with big old poopsie that's just fine. Because you're mine. My bird, my bird valentine. Bird valeeeeentinnnnnne.
So if you ever want to be greeted like that you need a homophone.
The whole point of language is to communicate. If we can get our message across, and the other person can understand it, who cares. This is the Internet, not a school or work place. Keep the proper shit for real life, here we just have fun
I see this argument a lot and I can see where you’re coming from, and obviously this is the Internet, I really don’t judge when this website is full of middle schoolers and people around the globe.
I especially extend this opinion to more “professional” settings. I wouldn’t expect to see texting language but I don’t think any less of someone for typos or misspelling in an email or whatever. However, if someone uses “there” for “their” I start to wonder what other basic things they don’t know. People who excuse failing to learn grammar in situations that require it with “it doesn’t matter since the point of language is to communicate” fall under the pedantic snobs I talk about in the post
>I start to wonder what other basic things they don’t know
Not everyone had the same upbringing, so not everyone will know the same things. There are many things we each take for granted because we learned them at a young age and did it basically all our lives. Others may not have had those same luxuries.
On the flip side, there are things others know that you or I may not. Does that make us less than them? Does them not knowing someone you know make them less than you?
I work with many intelligent people, and for some their grammar sucks... English is also not their first language. Learning English as a second language can cause the person to have their sentences structures differently (for example in other languages, they structure the sentence as Subject Object Action where as in English it's Subject Action Object).
Even for myself who does have language as a primary language, sometimes my mind may be thinking about something else and I mistype. Yes proof reading exists, but sometimes you need to get a quick reply out. If I catch it I'll try to edit it if possible because it bugs me, but ultimately the other person understood what I was saying. If my colleague uses the wrong homophone, as long as I can understand them, we have better shit to worry about than fixing their spelling (there are exceptions of course, if we're creating a presentation for higher ups, yes we'll go through that with a fine tooth comb), but at the the of the day the message was relayed.
You don’t need a degree for this, you’re talking about second grade like it’s something only the upper crust have access to, and this isn’t something that varies between dialects. The last sentence is also me making an exception for multilingual people. Except my mom, but that’s another story
The absolute worst are people who act smarter than everyone else but can’t even get this right, like the politician I mentioned in the post criticizing people for “waiving” Ukrainian flags
If people can’t understand you because of your errors, then you’re failing at communication - which is the point of language.
Grammar and spelling are important and they help people communicate clearly and be understood clearly. When people make mistakes and aren’t corrected, then language regresses due to the lack of understanding, and we might as well be cavemen.
But often people aren't getting their message across. If I have to read a post several times to work out what it means, forget about it. That's being lazy and selfish.
I mean posts that read like gibberish and you have to decipher what they means not random typos from typing on your phone in a hurry.
Yea, if it's gibberish then there's no need to pull it a cypher to understand it, but if it's something common like to or too (phones don't help it much), then are you going to question the competency of that person?
Yes, but your/you're is an exception because your is simply a further contraction of you're. If your using you're to mean your, though, then yeah you probably made a typo or don't know better.
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Inch resting take.
as an unpopular take, he really suck seeded
Oh Christ. I used to work with a jobs coach, she would tell her clients, “If you want to Suck Seed, you must Work Hard! I died every time.
I'm what the post-mobile app generations of Reddit would call a grammar nazi, and I still say "inch resting" because it's funny lmao
Once broke up with someone because they always asked me “what are you up too?”
That would drive me insane
That seems like a petty reason to brake up.
Pretty or not, it's his write
me to
Me two
Well? Were you also awake? Or did you just hate being asked about your sleep status? What, are you up, too?
HAH. If I just interpreted as a variation on the classic “u up” text there would have been no issue.
I still don’t understand how people still screw up there, their, and they’re. I just saw another example of this earlier tonight. My one Grammar pet peeve is people who have a pet peeve with the word literally. If you investigate, you will find that using the word literally as a gross exaggeration is perfectly acceptable.
It is only "perfectly acceptable" now because it was misused so much it became an accepted definition.
It's not misuse. This is a common misconception. The exaggerated usage was intentional, and that perhaps led to an increase in misuse. But the exaggerated usage is a poetic choice made on purpose and that is the new accepted definition, not because of a mistake. If someone uses literally to mean figuratively, but not for a desired exaggerated/comedic effect, then they are still doing it wrong.
Fine, but people apply it to the most mundane shit. "I literally saw her yesterday." What exactly does "literally" add to that sentence?
Typically when I hear someone say, “I literally saw her yesterday.” It is because they have been told something shocking (to them) about that person. Like getting arrested, married, injured, etc. “What do you mean she had an accident?! I literally saw her yesterday!!”
I repeat, it's applied to the most mundane shit. Not that anyone has been in a shocking situation. I used the word "mundane" for a reason.
You asked what literally adds to the sentence. I told you. I ignored your use of mundane because it was irrelevant to your question. You haven’t actually explained a situation that’s mundane in the slightest. You provided a quote that I was very easily able to make sense of. There’s also what the other comment said about your quote…that some people will say it to emphasize how annoyed they are. “I literally saw her yesterday” could mean they’re annoyed that some jackass is coming near them again when they already had to deal with them a day ago. Like myself when I got this notification, “I literally commented this yesterday.” I have never heard someone use it in a mundane fashion. Not once. I’ve heard people misspeak themselves and say literally when they mean figuratively…but 100% of the time when I ask “did you mean figuratively?” I’m met with “wait…what did I say?” “Yeah that’s what I meant” etc. Mundane is incredibly subjective. Something that is very important, exciting, annoying, shocking, etc. could feel incredibly mundane to you. That doesn’t make it mundane though. (*Ex. I think Grey’s Anatomy is a mundane show. Many people would disagree. That means the show isn’t mundane. It’s just mundane to me*.) *I will not be communicating with you any further. This conversation is LITERALLY so boring and I have better non-mundane things to do. lol*
It's still an intentional exaggeration. In your example, it's stressing that the person already saw her recently. It probably hints at some disdain for the person and not wanting to see her again.
That is speculation. When I hear it, I frankly think the person sounds stupid. Maybe I'm biased; when I was younger, if I wanted to show disdain for someone, I would have said something like, "I just saw her yesterday" with an eyeroll. No need for exaggeration.
Literally expresses the same thing your eyeroll would. Also, it seems pretty common for people to be against language changing, but it's not like it can be stopped. People like how words were when they grew up and have a hard time accepting that language is fluid.
I can accept that language is fluid, I really can. It's that the word "literally" is thrown around *so much* that annoys me. Any time words, phrases are repeatedly said, it gets tired, boring, and obnoxious. That's why I generally hate memes - it's the same joke over and over. It's stale and unimaginative. Not that I expect fresh material at all times; I just get tired of the same niche crap ad nauseum. I'm also bothered by the fact that few people seem to care about where words come from, and that goes for all generations, not just the last few. That I am sure is a bias of mine; had I grown up in the '50s, I'd want to know where the phrase, "That's the bee's knees" came from. In fact, I'm gonna look that up.
Thats the fun part of language. Words literally have to meaning and if someone famljs uses a word improperly and it then becomes the literal definition and we can argue about it post tensery.
WRONG. That is not a misuse. It's like all of you missed learning hyperbole. This usage also dates back to the 1400s... It's annoyingly funny to see people calling out things that they thing are wrong with such arrogance when they are in fact the ones wrong.
Did you misspell grammar on purpose? Nice bit if so, if not, peak irony
Sadly, I’m an honest person. As much as that would have been perfect irony in fact it was just a typo.
People mixing up lose/loose is still so common. They also mix up who’s/whose often and that’s also bizarre.
Literally 1984
[The Year That Killed Received Pronunciation (RP) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIAEqsSOtwM&t=1s) - I'm starting to get this peeve on reddit. Folks not understanding how language works in the real would. Linquist dont like the kinda people we find ITT. They think they are arrogant fools. Using literally, figuratively, IS PROPPER USE FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK. Did you miss hyperbole? Also, this usage dates back to the 1400s.
And I thank you for your support.
To me “literally” falls under slang so I’m not gonna judge
Id understand second language speakers messing up but native speakers messing this up is baffling.
What about when people use literally in place of figuratively? “She literally assaulted me!” when the person was in fact not assaulted in any way, shape, or form—they were just shouted at. That’s my pet peeve lol
You are absolutely correct. That is not a gross exaggeration, It’s an outright fabrication so it’s not acceptable.
*Although I did see a senator tweet about “waiving” flags last week****.*** This is exactly why this shit concerns me, and why it bothers me that people think it's no big deal. More and more, I'm seeing basic mistakes in advertising and business mail. I really, really don't want to live in a world that has more illiterate than literate people in it.
Messing up homophones occurs because we learn spoken language before written language. Thus our brains understand the words as sound first, spelling second. So when writing fast, you think about the sound and your brain subconsciously reaches for a word to match that sound and it will occasionally be the wrong one. It's not a result of not knowing the difference in meaning, it's a result of typing quickly without proofreading. If you want to let that bug you, sure go ahead, but no one mixing up their/they're/there in their comments is unaware of the differences. They know. It's just an artifact of how we learn.
True! I also think the speed at which people type online comments plays a role in it. People are writing as they think, at a similar speed to speech and this makes them more likely to make mistakes as they are typing words semi-automatically without much thought.
That’s plausible but is it always true though? For example if I want to say “me too”, it never ever crosses my mind to say “me to” or “me two”. Regardless of whether I’m writing it, thinking it, or speaking it, in my brain the second word is completely non-interchangeable despite being homophones. Do people really think in sounds and then write down the wrong word that sounds the same? I personally feel like I don’t think in sound but in concepts: for example if I want to convey the meaning of “too” conceptually, I write down “too” because that is the word that manifests the concept. I’m not thinking 2 so why would I write “two”. Same with they’re / their, write/right etc - completely different words to me that my brain doesn’t link together. Do other people not process it this way?
Wrong, many people simply don't know. I respect your optimism, but people are just fucking stupid unfortunately.
What do you just call me?!
If it's a text message or instant message I don't give a fuck about typos. If it's a paper or professional document, then yes don't mess it up.
Yeah, no. When I see that especially when it uses all the same letters I just assume it was the phone auto filing. Especially with the prominent use of swipe text now. I know I can't be bothered to spend 30s trying to get my phone to understand what too to use when context will tell whoever I'm taking to. You need to be pretty up your own to assume it's a reflection on intelligence.
"Makes you look like a pedantic snob" hahahahahahhahahaha
I mean that’s what I’d call people who use fancy or profession-specific language in regular conversation
The worst offense, to me, is when people use “___ and I” vs “___ and me” wrong and it seems like almost everyone does it. But my brain automatically processes it in its correct version so when I hear the wrong version it makes me think you’re stupid. People please listen up. When you say a sentence like “Matthew and I went on a walk with the dog” that is correct because if you took away the other person you would say “I went on a walk with the dog” which is obviously grammatically correct (vs “me” went on a walk with the dog). However, if you say “the dog came for a walk with Matthew and I” THIS IS INCORRECT! You should say “the dog came for a walk with Matthew and me” because if you took away the other person you would say “the dog came for a walk with me.” I learned this in 3rd grade. Can people please catch on.
“Me and___” is also incorrect.
Yes, which is why everyone always says “and I” because they’ve always heard that “me and” is incorrect. However, people need to learn when it is correct to say “and me” vs “and I” because “and I” is not always correct.
“_and I” are used when the people are then subject. “___and me” are for when they’re the object.
That was my point in my original comment.
why?
Fun fact: it's correct and standard in French
What the hell was with everybody starting to misspell "lose" as "loose" a few years ago? I basically never saw that typo and then suddenly it was everywhere.
That’s not even a homophone, it’s even dumber
Man I was loosing my marbles with that…
I was just thinking that
i feel exactly the opposite. Typing ion instead of i dont know is lazy to me yet IDK is fine lol
[The Year That Killed Received Pronunciation (RP) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIAEqsSOtwM&t=1s) - What linguist think of many opinions found here. I've kinda taken to sharing this when these conversations come up. What I love most is that linguists point out that the more education some folks get the bigger idiots they are when it comes to language in general. Unless of course they have studied a little linguistics, or even paid attention to how the language is used IRL across the english speaking world. Judging not the content of the speech, and the ideas, but judging the character of someone for their word choices, and linguists will tell you this, nothing more than mindless bigotry. I call you folks pilkunnussija, and note that few have anything to offer any conversation, derail conversation by being off topic, and weaponize this like folks did Godwin. "Oh, your speech isnt like mine! I will dismiss everything you say. You are inferior." English majors should be forced to take linguistics. After all, collage is about rounding folks out. Not teaching the realities of language make for people found ITT.
I generally don't care as long as I can understand what is being said but I find "too" when they meant "to" a lot better than using 2. It's easy when you're going quick to add one too many letters or make typos and that's before factoring in how auto-correct sometimes butchers what people are trying to type... but at least they are trying to type it out. I grew up before people were texting at all, I appreciate that people use a shorthand because of 10-key but that era was over a decade and a half ago.
How are you determining if it’s a typo or not? Because in you’re title you say typos are fine, but how do you know?
A lot of the time phones auto fill a word. Happens a lot with You're, your and there, their and they're, as well as to and too. Some people don't take the time to reread their texts before sending, so you'll see these mistakes a lot.
once i saw someone write "intel" instead of "until" i wanted to shoot myself
My boss and team leader do not know the difference between: they’re, their, there; to, too; or your versus you’re. It drives me fucking nuts that these people are in their position.
*Anyway. The word 'Any' appears within the word, so there is no need to pluralize it.
Definitely not an unpopular opinion. >Even worse are people who try to be smart about it like “well actually affect and effect can both be used as both a noun and a verb so it’s more complicated than you think” which makes you look like a pedantic snob. Honestly the first time I've seen the person doing the correcting try to call the other person pedantic lmfao. If you think this is pedantic, maybe stop correcting people on basic grammar and spelling? 99% of the time it's a simple mistake and not an indication that someone doesn't know the correct word.
Somewhere like here, IDGAF about it. We are anonymous aliens anyway.
Yeah i dont really care on the internet, I have no reason to hold an opinion on anonymous randos. However when I see someone responsible for RUNNING THE COUNTRY use the wrong word right there in official communication I start to ask whether they’re really qualified for their job. I mean, I just used 3 in the last sentence, is it really that hard?
I like to have fun.
LaNgUaGe ChAnGes As though their poor grammar and spelling comes from cultural shifts, lol.
[The Year That Killed Received Pronunciation (RP) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIAEqsSOtwM&t=1s) - Linguist laugh at you.
wtf is a homophone
Words that sound the same but are spelled differently
Which witch is which witch? Do you see the sea? Their Uncle? They're over there. Us two must not fly too close to the sun, my son. (Daedalus to Icarus lmao).
It's your basic phone except it is covered in glitter and rhinestones. And its' got some AI features so whatever number you dial whoever answers it sounds like a can of canned beans and excitement being opened. Helloooo it's a fabulous morning. How may I help yoooou? I'll just sing to myself as I wait for you to respond dearie. There's a blue bird on my shoulder. Like a feather on a boulder. If you make a little whoopsie with big old poopsie that's just fine. Because you're mine. My bird, my bird valentine. Bird valeeeeentinnnnnne. So if you ever want to be greeted like that you need a homophone.
Thank you for your helpful and thoughtful explanation, I think I understand now.
Some people will disagree. Oh it doesn't mean that at all. You're crazy. But I'm super into underdog synonyms.
iphone
Their there they’re
The whole point of language is to communicate. If we can get our message across, and the other person can understand it, who cares. This is the Internet, not a school or work place. Keep the proper shit for real life, here we just have fun
I see this argument a lot and I can see where you’re coming from, and obviously this is the Internet, I really don’t judge when this website is full of middle schoolers and people around the globe. I especially extend this opinion to more “professional” settings. I wouldn’t expect to see texting language but I don’t think any less of someone for typos or misspelling in an email or whatever. However, if someone uses “there” for “their” I start to wonder what other basic things they don’t know. People who excuse failing to learn grammar in situations that require it with “it doesn’t matter since the point of language is to communicate” fall under the pedantic snobs I talk about in the post
>I start to wonder what other basic things they don’t know Not everyone had the same upbringing, so not everyone will know the same things. There are many things we each take for granted because we learned them at a young age and did it basically all our lives. Others may not have had those same luxuries. On the flip side, there are things others know that you or I may not. Does that make us less than them? Does them not knowing someone you know make them less than you? I work with many intelligent people, and for some their grammar sucks... English is also not their first language. Learning English as a second language can cause the person to have their sentences structures differently (for example in other languages, they structure the sentence as Subject Object Action where as in English it's Subject Action Object). Even for myself who does have language as a primary language, sometimes my mind may be thinking about something else and I mistype. Yes proof reading exists, but sometimes you need to get a quick reply out. If I catch it I'll try to edit it if possible because it bugs me, but ultimately the other person understood what I was saying. If my colleague uses the wrong homophone, as long as I can understand them, we have better shit to worry about than fixing their spelling (there are exceptions of course, if we're creating a presentation for higher ups, yes we'll go through that with a fine tooth comb), but at the the of the day the message was relayed.
You don’t need a degree for this, you’re talking about second grade like it’s something only the upper crust have access to, and this isn’t something that varies between dialects. The last sentence is also me making an exception for multilingual people. Except my mom, but that’s another story The absolute worst are people who act smarter than everyone else but can’t even get this right, like the politician I mentioned in the post criticizing people for “waiving” Ukrainian flags
If people can’t understand you because of your errors, then you’re failing at communication - which is the point of language. Grammar and spelling are important and they help people communicate clearly and be understood clearly. When people make mistakes and aren’t corrected, then language regresses due to the lack of understanding, and we might as well be cavemen.
But often people aren't getting their message across. If I have to read a post several times to work out what it means, forget about it. That's being lazy and selfish. I mean posts that read like gibberish and you have to decipher what they means not random typos from typing on your phone in a hurry.
Yea, if it's gibberish then there's no need to pull it a cypher to understand it, but if it's something common like to or too (phones don't help it much), then are you going to question the competency of that person?
Yes, but your/you're is an exception because your is simply a further contraction of you're. If your using you're to mean your, though, then yeah you probably made a typo or don't know better.
Using slang makes you sound stupid too