pet peeve please tell me I'm not alone.

[MattDMC]

Does anyone else get frustrated when going through buy/sell boards that nobody knows the difference between sell and sale?

For example
Huge collection for sell!"

or

"Have to sale my entire collection!"

I see these misused 100 times a day and it just makes me die a little inside.
People do realize they are two different words right?

I can understand people getting confused with their there they're and to too two but sale and sell should be pretty simple as they sound different from each other. You should just be able to read the sentence and you'd know if you used the correct "sale" or "sell".

Sorry long day just nitpicking a little bit

[rchurchward]

Trust me, as an English teacher, public forums make my brain hurt.

[habsheaven]

I can't say that it bothers me enough to actually complain, but I do notice it quite often as well.

[andrewhoya]

Drives me nuts. I have sympathy for our international members, though. Most are Americans, however.

[JWinn]

No, your not alone Matt.

The "sell/sale" example is but one of many ways people err when posting. And its not limited to just posters on message boards.

But it can be funny.

My local paper, the Denver Post, has an online edition. The people who write for the paper make this kind of mistake on a daily basis. Yes, the people who are paid to write, as a profession, clearly did not make it thru basic English. Sad, but it is true.

What's funny about it is when it happens, it almost always draws comments from the people who post in the respond sections. And while berating the Post for it's uneducated writers, they make similar mistakes and prove they are no better than the writers.

I learned a long time ago when I first started communicating this way that if your going to correct someone else's grammar, or English, you better be perfect yourself.

Too many times I have watched a discussion turn from it's original topic into one about grammar, and everyone trying to prove how much smarter they are than everyone else.

And I share the peeve also. It's frustrating to read the NEWSPAPER, and have to wade thru the writer's mistakes and figure out what he or she is trying to say.

I tend to give everyone else, like people here, and people who post on AOL, The Post, or any message board, a pass. I mean, if professionals, who get paid to write for a living can't get it right, well, how can I expect anyone else to get it right?

As long as I understand what they are trying to say, I let it pass without comment.

Sure make you wonder though. I often think someone is just a kid, and doesn't know the difference between SALE and SELL yet. Then I come to find out they are 25 or 30, or even older.

I blame it on texting. Something I have yet to learn.

What drives me nuts is everyone who thinks U, UR, and the like are words.

[andrewhoya]

No, your not alone Matt.

The "sell/sale" example is but one of many ways people err when posting. And its not limited to just posters on message boards.

But it can be funny.

My local paper, the Denver Post, has an online edition. The people who write for the paper make this kind of mistake on a daily basis. Yes, the people who are paid to write, as a profession, clearly did not make it thru basic English. Sad, but it is true.

What's funny about it is when it happens, it almost always draws comments from the people who post in the respond sections. And while berating the Post for it's uneducated writers, they make similar mistakes and prove they are no better than the writers.

I learned a long time ago when I first started communicating this way that if your going to correct someone else's grammar, or English, you better be perfect yourself.

Too many times I have watched a discussion turn from it's original topic into one about grammar, and everyone trying to prove how much smarter they are than everyone else.

And I share the peeve also. It's frustrating to read the NEWSPAPER, and have to wade thru the writer's mistakes and figure out what he or she is trying to say.

I tend to give everyone else, like people here, and people who post on AOL, The Post, or any message board, a pass. I mean, if professionals, who get paid to write for a living can't get it right, well, how can I expect anyone else to get it right?

As long as I understand what they are trying to say, I let it pass without comment.

Sure make you wonder though. I often think someone is just a kid, and doesn't know the difference between SALE and SELL yet. Then I come to find out they are 25 or 30, or even older.

I blame it on texting. Something I have yet to learn.

What drives me nuts is everyone who thinks U, UR, and the like are words.

You're.

[MattDMC]

You're.

your two phunny

[JWinn]

You're.

U R 2 Much!

[WilyWestbrook0]

Trust me, as an English teacher, public forums make my brain hurt.

Same here, although I am technically still just a sub at this point. :)

[97/98 SPX BK]

Thank you so much for starting this thread! Some valid points are being made here like many of our members being from foreign countries. I really feel for the English teachers here. I'm certainly not perfect but I do know the difference between your and you're, to too and two, there, their, and they're, etc. That's another one I see pretty frequently - "ect." rather than "etc." The word is "etcetera" or "et cetera".

I totally agree with the person who blames texting for a lot of this illiteracy. Our exposure to websites like craigslist and ebay are not helping things either. I'm convinced my IQ has dropped substantially since I began frequenting these sites but I love cards!

As far as I can tell SCF doesn't like us posting websites here but if you search google for Merriam Webster you'll find a site (not sight) that can really help out if you suspect that you might be misusing a word. If you don't feel like going to another website to learn what you should have learned in school at least take the time to watch the movie Idiocracy. It will show you what our society is heading toward :)