Yes, cat I have noticed exactly what you describe. People who live in glass houses applies to me, however. I have my fair share of typos *out there* that made it thru spellcheck and proofing . Always extremely grateful when someone takes the time to make me aware.

Writing on this forum comes with a lil pressure because you can't edit. I have several typos here that absolutely make me cringe but I hit submit and there's nothin' I can do about it, no choice but to just let it go.

Yes!! I have coffee with my mother every week and our entertainment is to take the local small town paper and find the errors in it! When my husband passed away, they goofed on the obituary. Instead of printing that we were "united in marriage" on ___ date, they printed "untied in marriage" I would not let them reprint the correction because my husband had a great sense of humor but I did make them give it to me free and not charge me $60 some dollars like their normal fee. He would have been proud of me for that one!

Oh yes, and misplaced/extra apostrophes drive me nuts. Why do people keep putting them in plurals? I know that I make my share of errors, and like funcolors I cringe when I realize after I hit submit that I made a boo boo.

terriks, thing is after all these years on the GW I make a lot of the same errors over and over again. After I hit submit and read my posted post I can't believe, for example, that I misplaced an apostrophe or went comma crazy yet again!

I'm with you! Casual posting on a discussion forum is one thing, but the spelling and grammatical errors on what are suppose to be "professional" sources make me cringe.

Missing commas in a series make me cringe. E.g. Larry, Curley and Moe s/b be Larry, Curley, and Moe. I know that "now" the comma is optional, but it is incorrect for reasons of clarity.

And this makes me crazy--I hear announcers and commentators on radio or TV use "that" instead of "who" all the time. E.g. John is the one that will decorate your house. S/b John is the one who will decorate your house. I yell at the TV âÂÂwho" is for people; "that" is for things.

I'm not a professional writer or commentator so I can make those errors. I try to put it in perspective as I realize that there are more important things in life that need to be corrected.

Okay, I've gotten that off my chest. Thank you for the opportunity.

Oh yes, and misplaced/extra apostrophes drive me nuts.

Terriks, did you see the Catalog Living take on this mistake?

Here is a link that might be useful: Gary and Elaine - Feeling Possessive

Yes! I seem to live in a world of grammatical errors and typographic mistakes. I'm now trying not to focus on such things. DH is a pilot. He's very organized and precise, as a pilot should be, and he lives in a world of imprecision and sloppiness because he notices every single instance. I've realized I can't fix all the errors I see, and I'm attempting to live in a world of birds and blue skies instead. I recommend it.

Okay, now that Palimpest has us all confessing to things that drive us crazy, here is mine.

The word VOILA is typed and said as wallah all over blogland. It drives me crazy. (Ok, maybe a short trip!) I guess most of these people have never heard of the word Voila. I am sure spell check would not pick up wallah.

mustangs--When you see the lack of a comma in a series (Larry, Curly and Moe), it's possible that the writer is a professional who uses the Associated Press style of writing. The AP style does not use a comma before the conjuction. I write and edit for a living, and I use the AP style. Most newspapers and news websites do, too.

To illustrate the reality that mistakes are easy to make, I just wrote that I'm a professional writer and editor, and I misspelled "conjunction"--very embarrassing. :-)

I'm an editor and writer, so writing errors often leap out at me. Plural nouns with apostrophes particularly make me cringe... I just can't help it.

And of course, I make my own share of errors, typos, and spelling mistakes, too. Always painful!

Yes, kkay, plural nouns with apostrophes also drive me crazy. If I drive by a house owned by, say, Mr. and Mrs. Brown, and they have a sign on their mailbox that reads, The Brown's, I will point out the sign to whomever is in the car with me and start ranting. Of course, the person in the car with me then will think I'm nuts.

Or, how about this time of year, when everyone is trying to loose weight?

grrr....

Have you seen this? My biggest pet peeve is the misuse of "me" and "I", as in "This is the favorite color of my husband and I."

Here is a link that might be useful: apostropheabuse

Although I have made my share of typos I notice errors too, probably because my folks were sticklers for proper spelling and grammar. I especially notice it's versus its errors, and of course mixups between there, they're and their. I don't think there is much of an excuse for those types of errors in a professional context (websites, store signs, newspapers and so on.) My sister once pulled a Sharpie out of her purse to fix a sign at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago! We were cracking up and almost hoping to get caught so that someone would fix the (permanent) sign.

I love the apostrophe abuse website. I found another kindred spirit at The Oatmeal. I'm also with you on the "me" and "I" front, but my biggest peeve is the misuse of "myself". Apparently, people think that they sound smarter if they (wrongly) use myself instead of me. For instance when someone says "you can give the report to Bob or myself". Grrrr!

or this?

Here is a link that might be useful: apostrophecatastrophes

Olychick--I'm going to bookmark it!

jboling ... thanks for the AP style note. I was just going to point that out myself. Ironically, I get annoyed when I see the "Oxford comma" in a sentence.

I'm also on board with an annoyance of apostrophes where it should be simply plural, although I have a horrible habit of writing the wrong it's/its.

Random capitalization also bugs me (i.e. Banana) and my current biggest peeve is people saying or writing "heighth" instead of height.

Good vent post!

Jobling, The AP style was mentioned As I wrote--I know that "now" the comma is optional, so I did acknowledge it. However, it still bothers me for points of clarity and intent. Let's say that 3 childred will inherit an estate. Jane, Robert and Sally. Does that mean Jane will get 50% and Robert and Sally will get the other half (25% each)?

Too funny!
To reiterate, I was not calling attention to posts on this site.

and my current biggest peeve is people saying or writing "heighth" instead of height.

My DH is with you on that one! Drives him nuts.

Well, technically, mustangs, if there were a chance of a misunderstanding, you should write around it to make it clear: Jane, Robert and Sally will each inherit equal parts of the estate.

I think the point though, is that if you are following AP Style, which Jobling pointed out is what most newspapers, magazines and websites use, it's not that the comma is optional, it's that it is wrong to have it there.

There is an apostrophe error that I see frequently in newspaper text, including the New York Times. I see it so regularly that I have come to believe it must appear in a writing style book somewhere:

John is a friend of Bill's.

Inwardly I scream, "no, no, no, John is Bill's friend or John is a friend of Bill, but John is not a friend of Bill's."

mustangs--As wi-sailorgirl points out, the AP style for commas in a series wouldn't lead to any misunderstanding if the sentence is written well. The AP style was developed for the purpose of clarity, particularly in news, where tight, succinct writing is a must. I think adding a comma before the conjunction duplicates the purpose of the conjunction and is completely unnecessary.

Then again, I used to be a newspaper reporter and editor, and the AP stylebook was like a bible to me. :-)

"Then again, I used to be a newspaper reporter and editor, and the AP stylebook was like a bible to me. :-)"

Right on! I got my first AP Stylebook as present in high school. I still have it but it's obviously a bit outdated these days. Now I have it on my phone (and I'm certain the first one I had didn't even have an entry for iPhone!)

Ah, if only "tight, succinct" writing were the norm! As another writer and editor (in science and technology), I use punctuation solely to avoid confusion. I am not a slave to the comma and often omit it when its use would have no particular benefit; however, like mustangs, I deplore its loss before the conjunction. All too frequently, I must re-read sentences (even in the newspaper) to make sense of them when the final comma is missing.

I love commas. I love dashes. I love colons and semi-colons. I love paragraphs. I love caps. I love anything that breaks up an overwhelming wall of letters.

Just because I'm not always sure how to use them doesn't stop me from trying.

:)

What drive me nuts is when reading real estate listings (I am an agent) someone will invariably write "parkay" floors. I always think of how awfully slippery they must be! They also misspell other commonly used words in our field and I am afraid that the new versions will somehow take hold. Think of good old duct tape. It is now duck tape and commonly labeled that way.
I typo all the time and even had to go back to the word "typo" to correct it, lol. However, I do try to catch mine. I see people on FB all the time who seem to make no attempt at spelling or grammar. Frequently they are in college or recently graduated, so you would think they'd have learned by now (my peers' children). I think by the time I was 10 or so, I had a pretty decent grip on the English language. I hate to sound crotchety, but kids these days......

I do my best with our sons (7.5 & 9), but it is an uphill battle with all the errors I catch while watching tv, surfing the web, reading professionally made signs, etc... The younger generation is bombarded with poor examples everywhere they look!

Never underestimate the power of a well-placed comma:

"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

;)

BTW, if I'm on a commercial website and I see a spelling or punctuation error, I click on to the next website. I always figure if they can't pay attention to the details in their copy, they're not going to pay attention to the details in their product.

dianalo, I am also in the real estate business, and I have seen some doozies! One of my favorites was Carrion instead of Corian counters. (who wants rotting animal flesh for countertops?) Another gem was coiffured ceilings - would you need to give them regular haircuts?

These guys are my heroes.
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: Typo Eradication Advancement League

Dee, I love them!

Heighth also makes me crazy. Where did that come from? It's not a word, people! Just because width ends in "th" doesn't mean height has to end in "th".

And don't get me started on the apostrophe thing. I am thinking of hanging the cartoon in the link below on the wall at work.

Here is a link that might be useful: