Here’s something for those who don’t want to be judged by their grammatical faux pas…
Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb
1. Your vs. You’re
2. It’s vs. Its
3. There vs. Their
About the author
Here’s something for those who don’t want to be judged by their grammatical faux pas…
Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb
1. Your vs. You’re
2. It’s vs. Its
3. There vs. Their
Tom Stanley, author of “The Millionaire Next Door” and “The Millionaire Mind”:
“Talkers are a dime a dozen, but writers are experts.”
It is imperative that we write competently if we want to be taken seriously by certain segments of our potential markets.
If you have never read his books, “Networking with the Affluent” and “Selling to the Affluent” RUN don’t walk to your local bookstore and pick up a copy.
He is a master at networking and niche selling, which is a favorite topic for us new schoolers.
Michael
http://www.wlgweb.com
http://www.grmbeyond.com
Here’s another that drives me absolutely batty:
Then vs. Than
I can’t tell you how many times I see sentences like: “The product will benefit you more then you know.”
AAACCCKKK!! Makes my eyes hurt…literally!
My mother , who learned english as a second language, would correct my grammar all the time and still does. She was an interpreter for many years and loves english when spoken properly, or any language for that matter.
She instilled in me the practice of writing and speaking correctly and it has stuck. We correct each other all the time in my family and always have a dictionary handy.
In business it’s imperative to write well. Little mistakes make you look less polished.
It also makes you look like you didn’t take the time
or care to overlook your work.
Another grammatical error i have seen:
‘Should of’ or ‘Could of’ instead of ‘Should’ve’ or
‘Could’ve’.
Now I better hit PREVIEW to see if I made any mistakes! 🙂
This is great! As a network marketer AND someone who owns their own editorial services company, I see many grammatical and typographical errors in training materials, PowerPoint presentations, and Web pages that could easily be avoided. I’m committed to seeing the profession of network marketing be…professional!
Another one:
“Could of” instead of “could’ve”
“Egregious”, huh?
-Alex The Canuck @ NMC (a.k.a. “Marketing Comrade”
I teach English as a Second Language as my primary job and these errors jump off the page. I am also very aware that others may be judging my writing. The best example I have seen lately was written by a native English speaker. This young life guard had to attend a “swim meat”. I shudder at the thought of what that may mean. Certainly, if you are sending out emails or blogging, you want your readers to focus on your message, not your grammar. It never hurts to have a second set of eyes read what you write. I hope I haven’t used any commas inappropriately!
I couldn’t agree more. I encourage people to start a blog if they are good at writing. If they are not good at writing, I discourage it since it won’t put their best foot forward.
While I am professinal and act, speak and write in a professional manner – I personally do not get hung-up on “extreme professionalism”.
“Marketer” is a part of Network Marketer and sometimes we break grammatical rules on purpose (and by accident).
If the Presidents of the US can mispell and misread State of the Union Adresses – why can’t we and still maintain our credibility.
Tom Stanley, author of “The Millionaire Next Door” and “The Millionaire Mind”:
“Talkers are a dime a dozen, but writers are experts.”
Actually what he said was “talkers are hawkers but writers are experts.”
Michael
http://www.wlgweb.com
http://www.grmbeyond.com
http://michael.networkmarketingcentral.com
Here in the UK, so many people say “different to” instead of “different from” that it has almost become accepted – and I hate it because it is incorrect!
Lose and Loose
I swear, we are going to have get rid of the word “lose” (as in “I lose my keys everyday) and just succumb to the word “loose” (as in “the screw is loose on my hairdryer.) Seems everyone is using “loose” in place of the word lose. I think it portrays a misuse of the English language.
The “me, myself and I” drives me to tears.
I have seen high-level executives use ‘Call my assictant or myself’. NUTS!
K2, you sure opened Pandora’s box up on this one!
Charlie
http://www.chowe.com
Forgive them, for they know not what they say.
Mrs. Thompson, in 7th grade English, was strict and precise, and I still appreciate learning the rules of proper communication from her.
The errors of others jump out at me in technicolor, and yet I know too well that I make plenty of my own, darn. Our biggest piece of the circle of knowledge is what we don’t know we don’t know, right?
But then there’s this weird joy I get from using excess punctuation and bending the rules of grammar to (hopefully) make the written word more conversational — forever throwing in dashes and dots, starting sentences with “And” or “But”, etc., ostensibly for that purpose. (Yup, that’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.)
So I’d better refrain from shuddering when someone uses the word loose when they mean lose.
We all know something, but thank goodness we don’t all know the same thing, huh? That would be downright dull.
Dianne
I new that paying attension in skool wood be impotent one day.
The English language is something that has always fascinated me. It was my best subject in school.
When referred to it should always be capitalized. The English language.
Could of instead of could have, would of instead of would have, should of instead of should have…
You get the picture. Makes me crazy.
Also makes me crazy when people are supposed to be writing as a business person, but they don’t even capitalize their name. Proper names should ALWAYS be capitalized. (Unless, of course, google takes the name YOU put capital letters on and makes it lower case.)
The use of the word irregardless is defined as “an erroneous redundancy for regardless”. Simply use regardless.
OK – I’ll shut up now. 😉
Roxanne Green
Be A Mentor With A Servant’s Heart!!
How about choose and chose?
I love to talk but my wonderful husband is my editor in chief when it comes to the written word. He is an English wiz. I’m so glad God gave me a such a complimentary counterpart.
There are many times I wish I could have taken a comment back that made me look dumb. So what do you do?
Nancy Carlson
http://www.perfectmombusiness.com
Ok here is one for debate.
optimisation vs. optimization
Dictionary.com says this for optimisation (note how it is not spelled that way in the definitions)??
“optimisation
noun
the act of rendering optimal; “the simultaneous optimization of growth and profitability”; “in an optimization problem we seek values of the variables that lead to an optimal value of the function that is to be optimized”; “to promote the optimization and diversification of agricultural products”
This one baffles me and I am seeing it everywhere.
Wendy Leal
http://www.ScentedCandle.biz
The best one to date.
Church’s Chicken Sign reads:
“Famlee’s Nite”
Nothing but laughs, all around.
It deives me crazy when adults say, “Me and my wife . . .”
— Walter Reade (from Appleton, WI)
Walter@NMC
http://www.NuOpportunity.com
Wendy – That optimization thing is one of dozens of wordz that appear with a “z” in the States but with an “s” in the UK. You could call it Americanization but we call it Americanisation).
Daniel
in the UK 🙂
I think the one that annoys me the most is when people say they are going to sale something instead of sell something. Is this a regional thing?
Nicole Bandes
http://www.ilovesendoutcards.com
“Accept” vs “Except”
That is another set that always gets me. Also, I am often puzzled by “lay” and “lie”.
Working internationally, one must also be conscious of spellings in various countries. The British and Canadian use of “ou” where in the U.S. it is just “o”. For example favorite vs favourite and neighbor vs neighbour. My question is, do I write these my way or the reader’s way?
My husband and I always double check each other’s important email and letters before we send them. Our children are learning to ask each other, or us, for writing help.
We have all heard that “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” If that first introduction is via the written word, then I believe it must be your best. Taking the time to preview shows you care; about yourself, about your ideas, and most importantly about your reader. Your reader needs to know you care.
By the way, does anyone know why the seasons are no longer capitalized? I remember learning Summer, Spring, etc., but now I continually see summer, spring, etc. Are we just getting lazy?
Kathy
http://www.joyful.networkmarketingcentral.com
I work in the marketing department at a community college. It was an eye-opening experience for me, shortly after I started here, to see many of the mistakes mentioned in this blog coming from people with doctorate degrees.
Here are two more I often have to correct. First, the use of “her and I,” instead of “she and I.” Take out the “and I” and see if the sentence even sounds right.
Second, the spelling of accommodation. I see it with only one ‘m’ almost as often as with two. This is a fairly common mistake on travel and hotel websites.
Finally:
“If the Presidents of the US can mispell and misread State of the Union Adresses – why can’t we and still maintain our credibility.”
I guess you have to consider the credibility of individual presidents. Some have it. Some don’t. Some lose it along the way. Personally, I try to hold myself to a higher standard than many elected officials.
I don’t think that a prepostion is a bad thing to end a sentence with.