Quick and Crucial Grammar Lesson -

[staxxy]

Should've, would've, could've - contractions of should have, would have, and could have. As in "I would have come, but I had to wash my cat".

IT IS NEVER SHOULD OF, WOULD OF, OR COULD OF. DESPITE HOW IT SOUNDS.

Your, you're, and yore-

Your means "belongs to you". As in, "your vest", "your cat", "your car", "your plans", "your mom". Things that are yours are not mine.

You're is a contraction of YOU ARE. As in "you're here", "you're coming, right?", "you're my best friend".

Yore means "long ago" as in "in the days of yore, when the earth was young and the sky was new".

PLEASE STOP USING YOUR WHEN YOU ACTUALLY MEAN YOU'RE. THEY ARE NOT NOW, NOR HAVE THEY EVER BEEN, INTERCHANGABLE.

Comments

[ziggycash.livejournal.com]

fuck you grammar nazi i dont like punctuation1 im ushering in a new reign of lazy people that realise grammar is nonsense especially since most of the rules of english grammar are broken anyways

1m +eh r0x0rs

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

*beats you with a dictionary*

[enymph.livejournal.com]

I think you need a stomping up and down staxxy icon for these posts. ;)

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

I really do.

[dj-spider.livejournal.com]

*applauds*

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

*bows*

[glittergirly69.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I'm guilty of bad grammar myself, however it is my journal.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

doesn't mean you can't learn. ;)

[airlinepilot.livejournal.com]

The Elements of Style Illustrated (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1594200696/qid=1131376628/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-1944208-7003305?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

mmmmmm Strunk and White goodness. :D

[arachane.livejournal.com]

:P

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

BWHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[erischild.livejournal.com]

Amen Sister.

Yes, the rules of language are a construct of abstracts, but there is none the less a system within which this construct operates.

One can be a beautiful butterfly and ignore the rules that "are not real anyway," but those of us who are actually literate will still think you are an idiot or an asshole who can't be bothered to learn how to write good. (yes, I know "good" should be replaced by "well" in this case. This is one of the advantages to knowing the rules, I can bend them to make a point. It's called a "creative license." If you don't see a problem, you have creative-rusty-training-wheels, and should probably just walk from here.)

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

yeah. It gives me a serious case of "my *what*?" when someone uses your when they mean you're.

[poh.livejournal.com]

I don't know what your talking about.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

*drags you behind the barn to beat you with a dictionary*

[domichan.livejournal.com]

Let's not forget that "lose" and "loose" are not interchangeable. Gah!

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

true.

It is easy to lose loose change. ;)

that one I can chalk up to "typo" more often though, so it bothers me far less.

But if you forget the apostrophe and the e, that's not a typo that's bad grammar.

and there is NO EXCUSE for the "would of" crap. GAH!!!

[icprncs.livejournal.com]

I am begining to think that these particular battles are already lost.

Illiteracy has become a mark a pride for certain segments of our society. *sigh* It's no wonder I can't make a living without working at least two jobs.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

which is never going to stop me from being annoyed by it. *sigh*

[faeredelune.livejournal.com]

Dear Goddess, I hope those of us with a combination of poor typing skills and a pop-up killer that freezes the screen as we type un-beknownst to us gain some amount of forgiveness and leniency. *quakes in pointy-toed boots and applies spell check for good measure*

I have noticed that I often miss the 'r' in 'your' - it's actually a weak pressure on the keyboard problem and something I have trouble catching when/if I scan the comment before hitting the post comment button. But - heh - I can't say that I use 'you' instead of 'you're.' *relieved smile*

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

you are not guilty of either of these transgressions, in my experience, lady.

These are the two that really bug me. Dropping the 'r' in "your" now and then is merely a typo, and is totally forgiveable. :D

[euterpe35.livejournal.com]

I just block people who IM me and can't be bothered to use Real^tm English.

However, when an established friend uses improper spelling and grammar, I usually just let it slide.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

far too many of my established friends are using these two for me to just let it slide. It is a bad habit and it is SPREADING.

I refuse to be idle while I see my friends in decline.

[ex-guaparel.livejournal.com]

This post makes me love you.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

Hee. *feels the love*

[patty-puke.livejournal.com]

the "your" thing drives me BATTY more than any other grammar error. it's SO simple to learn. if i don't know the person, i instantly make a snap judgement that they are stupid when i see that.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

yeah, I have to admit that it gives me a heavy amount of bias with regards to the intelligence of the perpetrator as well.

[spookygrrrly.livejournal.com]

I know that I am a frequent grammer offender at times the "your" and "you're" tend to get interchanged. Also I tend to interchange wear and were. Though for me it isn't that I don't know the differance..it's that I don't proof read LJ posts before hitting send. Lazy? Yeah I know.

Though I did read an article a couple years ago (I have no idea what the source material was since I didn't save it) that was discussing gramatical errors such as the ones you mentioned when typing. It seems that the faster a person types the more likely you will make simple grammatical errors more frequently. They think it comes from the fact that when you are typing in your head you "hear" you're and your brain types in your because it is faster due to having less characters. Interesting idea I thought.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

this is why I use an interface to post. It won't actually put anything on the internet before spell checking.

and I am perfectly willing to go back and edit my posts if I catch a typo (or if anyone else catches one for me), and have on many occassions.

None of us are perfect, but we can help each other be better. :D

[xany.livejournal.com]

their their.

its okay.

try not too get to excited over this.

;-)

[michaelzmommy.livejournal.com]

it's like fingernails on a chalkboard!

[michaelzmommy.livejournal.com]

Here's one for you...

Posted at the playground of the campus apartment where we live:

"This playground is for Wahle residence and their guests."

Can you find the misused word? This is an official posting from the university, and apparently NOBODY bothered to check it!!!

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

I believe the problem here to be Residence vs residents.

It is not very often that a building has someone over for tea.

[bammbammrawks.livejournal.com]

I have found that the "IM speak" = yer, works well f yer n2 that sort of thing

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

*twitch* I have built a very special hell for people who use L337 speak.

High Horse Cowgirl Moment

[burgunder.livejournal.com]

You, go teach English to people who can't read or write at all, to whom your and you're are completely irrelevant because they can't fill out job applications or read the forms the nurses hand them at the hospital when their daughter is injured. They need your help and skills.

Re: High Horse Cowgirl Moment

[eukarya.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[ouranophobe.livejournal.com]

Heh. Staxxy == Ms. Pink? (http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=171) *grin*

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

oh, HELL YES!!!

I know what I want to be for halloween NEXT YEAR...

[dove.livejournal.com]

These posts come up pretty regularly around here, but the problem - *I* think - is that those for who it is intended don't pay attention or give a crap. Grrr.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

it is not often that I am the one yelling about it, however.

I figure if people pay attention when I yell about death, behaving badly, or dating rules, maybe they will pay attention when I yell about grammar.

[lady-equine.livejournal.com]

There is more than one journal on my friends list that I simply do not read any more, because it is too painful to parse their indifference to the rules of writing. Bleh!

If I don't know someone who fails in basic grammar when posting, I just move along. I feel that they are not worth my time...not to read, not to correct.

Thank you for this post. It is nice to see someone else driven batty by the your, you're, there, their, and they're issues.

I make mistakes, sure, but at least I try.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

yeah, there are a few journals that I just *can't* read very often for this very reason.

If I do read them, I do correct them. And we all get irritated by it after a while.

[noiseinmyhead.livejournal.com]

How bout shudda-wudda-cudda?


*ducks*

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

I dunno... I think those are more okay with me, because they are not pretending to be anything other than an idiom. ;)

[darkphoenixrisn.livejournal.com]

Amen! Preach it, sister!

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

*thumps the Strunk and White*

*gestures for the Choir to sing*

[batboymaxx.livejournal.com]

*stands up and applauds*

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

*bows* :D