Some words are confusing

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Weedygarden

Weedygarden

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Words can be fun, but some words can be confusing. Ever see or hear words that people have never figured out? Have words that still confuse you? I do.

Idea or ideal?

Accept or Except?

Sale or sell?

Affect or effect?

When I watch videos or see posts, I see that some people have never figured out which is which. For me, I use affect, when many people use effect.

If something comes up in my mind for something to do, it is an idea, but to many people, it is an ideal!

If I have something that I no longer want, I list it for sale. But many people list it for sell. I will list it for sale, and sell it to the first interested person.

I can actually post videos or conversation snips where people are confused. I do not want to be a troll or a Karen and correct people, but I do not mind being corrected.

Accept: take or receive things with approval. Except: exclude someone or something. Accept vs. Except | Grammar Quizzes
 
An internet grammarian didn't like what I said so tried to show how stupid I was because of my spelling. It backfired on him as I instructed him that there were two correct spellings for that word, according to the dictionary.

Yes, spelling, grammar, and incorrect words can make it difficult to interpret the true meaning.
 
Caribou said:
An internet grammarian didn't like what I said so tried to show how stupid I was because of my spelling. It backfired on him as I instructed him that there were two correct spellings for that word, according to the dictionary.

Yes, spelling, grammar, and incorrect words can make it difficult to interpret the true meaning.
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I have gotten myself in trouble this way, thinking someone else had it wrong, but I was wrong. The word was cache, which can be a noun or a verb.
 
They drive me nuts!
Then and than - same thing.
There, their, they're, all the same word.
No there their they are not!!!
Forget about who or whom, they mated years ago.
On and on it goes. I fought it for years, it is hopeless.
Accept and except I can let slide, it won't affect my speech and I will still be able to speak with great effect.
Texting ruined it all forever.
R U hearin Me? 2 often U cant evn follow who im h8ting! Jus C me. Dont B slo!

I doubt seriously that the aliens kicking thru the ashes of our civilization, will be able to decipher that crap. :(
 
I sometimes get frustrated with peoples posts. I then try to post something and with all the blue underlines from autocorrect, and red lines from misspelling, that I have to go back and correct, I feel too chastised to complain about others. The worst is when I find my mistakes after I've posted.
 
(before) How did it affect you?
(after) Is that the effect it had on you?

I'm sorry, I think a person is not bright if they list something for sell.
Who and whom, I am mostly a failure on those twom.
I don't get idea and ideal confused.

In the past few years I'm making a lot of mistakes in my grammar, writing, and spelling.
For most of my life it bothered me to see a comma and then the word "and".
Now I use it most of the time: "I am making mistakes in my grammar, writing, and spelling." It is called the Oxford comma.
 
The Oxford comma is how I was taught, and I loved english class, so I use it. I find my screw ups with punctuation are sometimes due to the fact that I'm typing it instead of writing it, and I don't use spellcheck.
I view affect as a verb, and effect as a noun, and use those words that way. The your, you're, their, there, they're are misspelled by many people. Possessive apostrophe is misused alot, too. I try not to correct people, unless it's something my grandkids are writing, and they need to know. Sometimes it's where you live, and what is normally said. I remember hearing in Wisconsin the word "aina", as in, "Aina that right", used as a form of ain't. My favorite cousin here uses phrases like: "And he says, ......and she says....." and says the word says with a long a sound. Mostly they think I talk funny.
 
It bothers me a little, but I don't want to be too pedantic. If I can figure out what somebody means, I'm pretty happy. Local usage often influences how someone writes and speaks. The broad range of language skills and intelligence also plays a role, remember, 1/2 the population is of below average IQ :p
 
I finally figured out when to use I and when to use me. Someone said, "I is used in the subjective case and me is used in the objective case." What does that mean? I never learned about "cases." I is used in the subject of a sentence and me is used in the predicate, or the object in a sentence. That I did study in school, how to diagram sentences. "Me and" is just wrong for a few reasons, but is used so frequently in our world. "I am enjoying this discussion about word usage. I am glad you are discussing it with me." I had a narcissistic classmate who was always correcting other people. I never corrected her, but she was big into, "Me and..." Well, she was big into ME (herself).
 
I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
On hiccough, thorough, slough, and through.
Well don't! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps.
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard but sounds like bird.
And dead: it's said like bed, not bead,
For goodness sake don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).
A moth is not a moth as in mother
Nor both as in bother, nor broth as in brother,
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear, for bear and pear.
And then there's dose and rose and lose --
Just look them up — and goose and choose
And cork and work and card and ward
And font and front and word and sword
And do and go, then thwart and cart,
Come, come! I've hardly made a start.
A dreadful Language? Why man alive!
I learned to talk it when I was five.
And yet to write it, the more I tried,
I hadn't learned it at fifty-five.
 
1600795471310.png
 
Patchouli said:
...
And yet to write it, the more I tried,
I hadn't learned it at fifty-five.
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I believe that part of that poem can be understood as being due to the way the English language has changed the way words are pronounced. I have a very old Webster's Dictionary where the introduction addresses this saying (paraphrased).

"English is a phonetic language so as the pronunciation changes the spelling should adapt."

But who reads the introductions to dictionaries anyway? (Smiley-wink)

It introduces and interesting thought to consider words like "night" may have once been pronounced "nig-hit".

Ben
 
Neb said:
I believe that part of that poem can be understood as being due to the way the English language has changed the way words are pronounced. I have a very old Webster's Dictionary where the introduction addresses this saying (paraphrased).

"English is a phonetic language so as the pronunciation changes the spelling should adapt."

But who reads the introductions to dictionaries anyway? (Smiley-wink)

It introduces and interesting thought to consider words like "night" may have once been pronounced "nig-hit".

Ben
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Interesting that you are the one to say this: Where have you been ("bean" in proper Eng.) Ben? 😂
 
Pet peeve of mine

Have anyone else noticed that trailing Ts are being dropped?

"Don't do it." has become "Doan do i"

Ben
 
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