Thursday, October 23, 2008

More Pet Peeves, a Dead Battery, and a New Sofa

Pet Peeves, part II

Its really annoying too me when people can’t seam two get there spelling write on some very common words.  It really isn’t that hard too keep them strait.  Yet these words are interchanged all of the thyme. ***

  • They’re, Their, There: They are, belongs to them, and a place.  They’re going to get their books over there.
  • Here, hear: This place, listen.  You can hear the ocean from over here.
  • You’re, your: You are, belongs to you.  You’re going to get in trouble if you don’t clean your room.
  • Too, to, two: Also, a preposition or part of an infinitive, and a number.  I’m going to get two ice cream cones, too!
  • Its, it’s: belonging to it, it is.  It’s a shame that the groundhog saw its shadow.
  • Pitcher, picture: Liquid storage device, photograph or painting.  If you take my picture, I’ll make you a pitcher of lemonade.
  • Who’s, whose: Who is or who has, possession.  Who’s going to do whose dishes?

Also:

  • Further vs. farther: In addition to, more distance. * Further more, the concert is farther than I want to drive.
  • Then vs. than: part of a conditional phrase or indication of time, used when making comparisons (often accompanies more, less, or fewer).  If you get me a soda then I will give you more jellybeans than Jimmy.
  • Affect vs. effect: verb, noun.  ** Will the effect of a declining stock market affect my pay raise?
  • Please don’t bear testimony or speak in the name of my son.  I don’t have one, and even if I did, I don’t think I’d want anyone speaking in his name without consulting me first.

* Except when used as an adjective, either further or farther can indicate more time or distance. Farther always indicates distance (think: ‘more far’).  ** In most cases the way we use the words today; affect is also used rarely as a noun, and effect as a verb.  But those cases are very rare. *** There are nine spelling errors in the first paragraph of this post.  How many did you catch?

Battery Dies, Finally!

The battery on my razor finally died today.  So it lasted for four months on a single charge.  Amazing.

New Sofa!

It sounds like we might have more people coming for movie night this week than I originally thought would be able to make it.  So I accelerated part of my living room makeover schedule slightly and bought a sofa last night to create tiered stadium seating.  I picked it up this afternoon and it’s now sitting on a temporary platform until I have the time to build and carpet the real one.  With the addition of this sofa, I should have comfortable seating for around 14-15 people easily, more if we all pretend to be good friends.

5 comments:

Adams Family said...

Ah!! I started reading your blog and couldn't figure out what your problem was. At first I just thought you were having an off literary day. (If that is correct English.) I always mess up on then and than and Rob always corrects me.

Cheryl H said...

Incorrect spelling and usage drives me insane too, Doug. I guess maybe the rest of the world just isn't as smart as you. ;)

Colleen said...

I'm so with you on the spelling. That stuff drives me nuts. (And I got all ten.) :)

bwarby said...

The worst is when those kinds of errors are in things that are supposed to be authoritative, like scholarly journal articles, or text books.

Drew said...

YAY for grammar pet peeve post! I have so many of them too, and I've been considering blogging about them for some time now. Let's hear it for apostrophes! Everyone should know how and when they are to be used.

New sofa=cool.

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