Why don’t web designers make web pages that are easy to search, and on various devices? Houzz of course comes to mind. But the question ”is there trash pickup today?” is more quickly and easily answered on the local FB or Nextdoor, than on our city website.

“…and can't use the words "your" and "you're" properly in a sentence.”

There’s a very long list of similar examples, such as to/too, its/it’s, their/there and our/are.

Another common one on Houzz for Design Dilemmas would be ”mantle” instead of ”mantel.” They have two very different meanings, and even some pros use ”mantle.”

Why do people (mostly men, IMO) think it's cruel to neuter their male dog? Never mind ... I get it. Some stupid attachment to the male organ and thinking that the dog will mind. Nope - the dog will be much better off for it and be happier.

Why do people: put dog poo in a bag and leave the bag on the street....? Why?

Om

I've said it before, I have low expectations for my "fellow men" as a starting point. I assume nothing. No, fans, it's not an arrogance, it's the result of my cumulative experience in life.

Education is not the only solution, there are too many very crappy institutions of higher learning around that convey degrees to graduates who expected their "educatedness" (my word) would be conveyed by the wave of a magic wand, not through personal effort. And far too people who complete their education without gaining an iota of common sense.

Forgetting the tougher things for a moment, correct grammar, spelling and proper use of language are all things that take effort and, I think, should be the product of one's self-respect. How one speaks, writes and acts are among the factors that affect how others view you.

Yeah, forums like this are informal and casual. Still, the obvious errors of inattentive people are, in a way, disrespectful to others.

The two I see often in this forum that I find annoying are demonstrated in this sentence: "We were suppose to go to the park to see the duck's but it rained."

^^^using an apostrophe for a plural!!! Drives me batty. I see it on billboards in front of businesses regularly (1/2 price Tuesday's) Grrrrr

Arrogant people who do not proofread before hitting submit.^^^

ETA: Not you Jasdip

Using a gerund form incorrectly, as in "I am wanting to paint the room". No, you want to paint the room. Drives me crazy.

In regard to this post, it is regards. One would not say, ”In regards to this post”. Give your regards to Broadway.

tj

My cumulative experience in life has found people to be good.

I find that each person has some sort of cross to bear and we don’t really know the whole story.

The grammar stuff merely amuses me now. But the misinformation put out on Facebook groups, Next Door, etc. drives me nuts. No, despite what you believe, your local animal shelter may not want opened bags of dog food or blankets. So please don't offer advice if you are not certain about what you are recommending.

Here's a quote from the Cambridge dictionary about "that":

<That: relative pronoun

We use that to introduce defining relative clauses. We can use that instead of who, whom or which to refer to people, animals and things. That is more informal than who or which.>

Using "that" to refer to a person is not wrong - it is simply more informal. I was taught that it was correct to use.

As for foreign city names that people mispronounce, one of the most common is "Tijuana."

Tijuana has three syllables: Ti-Jua-Na not four and not Ti-A-Jua-Na. Mexicans pronounce it correctly, but Americans seem to want to add an extra syllable - similar to the extra syllable they add to "athlete" or "realtor" - both of which have only two syllables. It really only bothers me when newscasters mispronounce these words because they are paid to pronounce things correctly.

A lot of city names are pronounced differently in English, such as Paris, Köln/Cologne, München/Munich, Москва (Moskva)/Moscow, etc. Some American cities have different names in other countries, such as New Orleans/La Nouvelle-Orléans, Nueva York, etc. When I go to Mexico, I pronounce cities with Spanish names (such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Laredo) with their Spanish pronunciations, in order to be better understood, and I have to remember not to do this when I get back to the U.S.

One thing that does bother me is when people say "lay down" instead of "lie down." This error is just as common in UK as it is in the U.S., and I do not know who started it, but I think that a lot of common errors in English started in England, as I hear them a lot on British TV shows.

I was taught to say "Do the best you can" instead of "Do as best you can." "Best" is a superlative and should not be used with the comparative "as". One could say "Do as well as you can," if one wants to use the comparative "as".

The British always say "Try and (plus verb)" instead of "Try to (plus verb)." This is not technically incorrect, but it makes the "try" part unnecessary, since "Try and..." does not allow for the possibility of failure. Saying "Try to..." expresses more consideration and sounds more polite to me.

“…putting an apostrophe for a plural!!!”

Right…you just have to wonder why some people don’t know the difference.🤷‍♀️

Some stupid attachment to the male organ and thinking that the dog will mind.

that ^ had me rolling!! funny story...i had my great dane boy neutered last fall at a clinic in iowa (i'm in illinois). i spent the night at a hotel since it was such a long trip, and also had my female dane with me. when we returned to the hotel after picking frank up at the clinic, there was a group of men standing around the hotel entrance. i excused myself and the dogs as i approached the front door. they all exclaimed at how huge my dogs are and i got the usual, "got a saddle for that thing?" and "who's walking who?". frank was wearing a surgical recovery suit, one guy asked why he had a "coat" on. i explained that he'd just had surgery and the suit prevented him from licking his sutures. the guy went on to say he hoped he would be ok to which i replied, "oh, it was just a routine thing" at which time he asked what i had done. i told him i hesitated to answer that question given the make-up of the group he was with but i told him he'd just been neutered. he reached down to pat frank on the head and said to him, "oh, maaaan, i'm really sorry, buddy!". 🤣

Why, oh why, do people still let their dogs (and cats) outside on the 4th of July

this is one of my biggest pet peeves (no pun intended). how hard is it to make sure your pet is confined and in ZERO danger of escaping especially if you already know that pet is terrified of loud noises???

" My cumulative experience in life has found people to be good.

I find that each person has some sort of cross to bear and we don’t really know the whole story. "

What I was referring to has little to do with myself or others having or not having a cross to bear, so maybe I expressed myself poorly. I never assume people to have common sense or a reasonable ability to understand, sense or deal with issues they face until I see it myself.

I may have expressed myself poorly, as well. I wasn’t talking about an individual’s socio-economic station in life or background, either.

Mistaking the incorrect could of and would of for the correct could've and would've.

Apostropes used incorrectly for plural are rampant.

Try and irritates me for the reason Lars references above.

A fellow on a message board I follow is very knowledgeable about the topics but does the majority of his posts via voice dictation on his phone and either 1) never proofreads or 2) doesn't realize the many mistakes that occur ... broken sentences and wrong words such as (repeatedly) diffidently for definitely. Some of his posts make my eyes hurt, LOL.

I agree with a lot of these examples They are mildly annoying.

On these forums, I have a hard time getting over how many people want a new table in their dinning room. ( It's hard for me to even type it like that)

Apologies to Jasdip and others who dislike the use of "yummy," but IMHO the word nicely expresses an appreciation for delicious food. It is not a word I would use in a formal setting, although it fits the more casual style of KT discussions.

I was a technical writer and editor. I still walk around with a virtual red sharpie in my head. But the spelling and grammatical errors don’t bother me, really. I just move on. (well, except ”dinning”. Why is that the one that gets my goat? I hope, with the return to teaching phonics in school, it will go away.)

”Cross to bear”, now I’m thinking of the misheard hymn lyric ”Gladly, the cross-eyed bear”!

bpath, and now I have this ear worm.

Okay, that’s annoying.

“…well, except ”dinning”.”

LOL, bpath, I forgot about that one! ”Scones” vs ”sconces” can be funny, but I realize that can just be a typo…hopefully!🥴

Apostrophes on plurals get on my nerve. Could of , would of, is so common anymore. What are they teaching in English class?

^^^Using anymore in the positive. 😬

Any worries about actions? or just language arts gaffes?

If FB issues perplex you, why even go there. Have lived years wiyhout it and frankly have never seen what I am missing.

" Any worries about actions? or just language arts gaffes? "

For me, language, actions, attitudes and the like are all in the same bucket. Everyone starts with a clean slate and no score, I assume nothing.

I have no interest in or time for Facebook. My wife occasionally pops in to try to strain out tidbits from the torrents of irrelevancies some people she knows will post. That's not something I would have the interest or patience to do.

"Mistaking the incorrect could of and would of for the correct could've and would've."

Actually, the correct usage would be could have and would have. The reason people incorrectly use could of and would of is that they are going by the phonetic, rather than recognizing that could've and would've are contractions for could have and would have.

Suzieque to correctly type voilà on a computer -- that is, to correctly type the lowercase a with a grave -- press the Alt key and while holding it down press 0224 on the number pad (not the number keys across the top of the keyboard). On an iPad or iPhone, just press down on the a key and hold it and a little box will pop up showing different choices. Simply tap on the correct one. I don't know what to do on an iMac laptop or desktop because I don't use those.

Here are a few more symbols. For all of these, press and hold the Alt key and then press the numbers on the number pad --

• 0153 ™
• 0162 ¢
• 0163 £
• 0165 ¥
• 0167 §
• 0169 ©
• 0176 °
• 0182 ¶
• 0188 ¼
• 0189 ½
• 0190 ¾
• 0224 à
• 0232 è
• 0233 é
• 0241 ñ
• 0244 ô
• 0252 ü

I'm not sure how much any of this really irritates me more than just catching my attention. With auto correct (I turn mine off, so all mistakes are mine), trying to type on a small phone and the glitches on houzz which sometimes make editing a challenge, I usually just gloss over errors here.
One thing that continually surprises me is the misuse (very often by 'pros' on the decor forums) is the misuse of 'compliment and complement' in posts. "You need to find a tile color to compliment the cabinet color." Well, not unless you can teach your tile to talk.

Nothing irritates me online. I just shake my head and remind myself you can't fix stupid.

I don't think the ability to spell, use proper grammar and pronunciation is a good measure of intelligence. Some verbally gifted people are dumb as rocks when you look beneath the surface. Many well read people are nothing but parrots. They can cite information but have little ability to apply it. They've memorized things, not learned them. On the flip side there are people who have poor verbal and grammatical skills that are highly intelligent and are excellent at problem solving and navigating through life with an extremely high level of awareness and adaptability.

Using a gerund form incorrectly, as in "I am wanting to paint the room".

Ok, since we're doing grammar/mechanics--that usage is not a gerund, it's simply the progressive form of the verb. A gerund is when you using the "ing" form as a noun-- "Digging" in the garden is hard. And gerunds take the possessive form of the prounoun--Your digging in the garden drives me nuts. NOT You digging in the garden..... No one ever gets that right.

"I am wanting to paint the room" is perfectly correct in British English. As for lots of perceived 'errors' coming from English TV programmes, that's bizarre. The influence of American English on British English is enormously greater than vice versa. e.g 'Did you forget?' instead of 'Have you forgotten?'. 'I'll get a coffee' instead of 'I'll have a coffee'. 'Gotten' rather than 'got'. I saw an account the other day of a child who had called an ambulance by dialling 911. He'd got that from American shows. Here the number is 999. Luckily, the mikstake is now so common 911 is automatically diverted to 999. The difference between lie and lay is just as clear in British English. But people don't always speak in a way others want them too. Language changes constantly and there's no point whinging about it or trying to fossilize it. We don't speak like our parents, grandparents or great grandparents. Are we 'incorrect'?.

Why do people shopping in supermarkets park their cart on the opposite side of the aisle from the shelf they are standing in front of while searching for items? They block the entire aisle doing this. Park your cart in front of you while you are searching the shelves so others can pass by. Then do the same in the next aisle and the next aisle.

Laceyvail, I was referring to the 'form' of adding 'ing'. Not implying a true gerund, but rather the form.

"If FB issues perplex you, why even go there. Have lived years wiyhout it and frankly have never seen what I am missing."

Well, Bragu, I think you took my post too seriously. They were lighthearted questions. I'm not "perplexed" to the point of eliminating the rest of a platform that I enjoy.

I'm not a big FB fan nor do I post any more than on rare occasion, but I do read through it on most days. Of course you don't know what you're missing if you've never used it.

Because of the way I learned to read which was more or less what is called whole language these days I just glide over most stuff because my mind just adjusts it. And of course I cant spell for spit. I reread dinning room trying to figure out what the issue was..oh. Anyway I ought not say this but I did have a mental glitch when I read conveying a degree when I assume conferring was what was meant. I just got spell corrected on conferring which I had misspelt by the way. It happens. I would not normally say anything because I don't think it means much but being judgmental about others puts you in a spotlight as it were. I don't in the least mind being picked over for my vagaries and lord knows I can be vague at times. Now vague is not affiliated with vagaries(I spelt that right this time) but it would make a fun new meaning for the word vague to also mean peculiar.

I remember a poster on one of the old forums who had the most amazing freeform way of writing that I enjoyed immensely though I didn't always grasp what she meant but it was good fun. I also enjoy hearing here what people dont like. I have been nibbled on for not putting my apostrophes in my contractions and I plead guilty.

Well, Patricia, even if you feel you don't have a grasp of some technical writing details, you are a wonderful communicator/writer.

Why do some drivers ride your tail and/ or impatiently pass you, only to be stopped at a red light within a block or so?

And I do so agree about the people in stores who act like they're the only ones shopping!

And from my many years of experience teaching kids and young people, I've learned that no matter how carefully you explain, and no matter how much you emphasize or repeat instructions, there's always at least one who gets it wrong. Not everyone is always paying 100% attention.

I've typed plurals with apostrophes plenty of times, and homophones too. Sometimes I think my fingers have a mind of their own 😄

It's a good thing I obsessively proofread my writing, or there'd be many more typos.

P. S. In answer to the OP questions, lots of people have never seen the words referred to written down and may have zero knowledge of French - or any other language, seemingly.

“Why do some drivers ride your tail and/ or impatiently pass you, only to be stopped at a red light within a block or so?”

Agree!!!

Regarding shoppers who think everyone else is orbiting around them, today I went to the “Express Lane - 15 Items or Less” at the market. I had three items, and the woman in front of me had an overflowing cart. I have no problem if people go a little over the limit, but, please, not a loaded cart!

FWIW, I've had a cashier wave me and my full cart over to the express register because nobody else was in line, and I learned the hard way to decline, because of course, as soon as I did that, someone would show up behind me with the proper amount of items 😄

Hi CB ... when I saw your shopping cart story, I tried in vain to find one that I saw the other day, about a grocery cashier in the eastern city (Boston?) with two famous univs. who asked a shopper with an overloaded cart in her express lane whether she attended Harvard ... but couldn't count ... or M.M.I.M.M.I.T. ... but couldn't read?

(My uncontracted editor here at Hou-ses is active, as usual, and I left one of his(?) numerous changes unmolested. Plus, when I wwrwrowrotwrote "rrerearead" aanand went elsewhere to add or amend without hitthittihitting "space" ... it, as usual ... disappeared!)

ole (didn't hit "space" at first)

joyful

Proof reading does me no good as once it is in print my own scribbles look fine to me, Without spell check I would be toast. I used to write my posts in a word processing program back in the old days pre spell check and cut and paste. I am that bad at spelling. I could not tell you how many words I got wrong as you don't have that much time. And I am pathetic at typing. let us be charitable. But not to those who tailgate.

Often times it is not just about seeking information that require an answer and it is done. Sometimes it is about having a conversation, of sorts. Being that it is not in real time makes for awkward discussion sometimes.

One thing that I find particualry amusing is in reviews such as Amazon where a question is asked about a product and there is often someone who responds that they cant answer that question. In this case, it is about finding information and not about social media. That always just cracks me up! why did they answer just to tell us that they dont know? No one cares if you dont know!

Chloebud, most of the check out lines in our local Walmart and Kroger are self check out. Walmart has a little more room to put/leave your filled bags but Kroger does not. It's so annoying to have more than a few items, trying to bag them up and have the register machine keep telling you to place your items in the bagging area or replace your items there. Well, make more room then! I haven't really paid attention to an express lane being in either store anymore, since making most of the lanes self check lanes.

OMG Carol - you reminded me of the time a woman WENT OFF on me because I had something like 25 items in the express lane. Exact same story as you - I was patiently waiting my turn in line, and a roving store employee (manager, I think) told me to go through express. I got not even half way through loading my stuff when another customer showed up and started yelling at me. I thought we were going to have a throw down in Aisle 8. LOL.

Last time I ever did that. That was years ago too though, and now I use the self check out service which renders it all irrelevant anymore.

Thought of another 'why do people' - why do some people insist they haven't done a thing, when the evidence is staring them in the face? My and my sister's hubbies do this. I think it's because both were raised by harsh and volatile single parents and they're reverting to childhood behaviors 🤔