It's "the worsT", not "the worse"

'Of' instead of 'have' is defiantly the worse common error and I am ashamed to say that I always assume that the miscreant in question is just thick as opposed to, say, dyslexic. A more niche one is 'on mass', and every single time there is a thread about driving loads of people talk about using their 'breaks'.

People getting mixed up with brought and bought is one of the worst for me, also discusting instead of disgusting.
There is no way half the people who claim to be dyslexic actually are. The more we ignore bad spelling and grammar the worse it will get. I’m happy for my wrong spelling or grammar to be pointed out as it’s the only way we learn.

Totally disagree.

Niggardly is NOT an archaic word and it's a perfectly good word.

I just couldn't disagree more.

Nor in mine!

Nor in mine!

You don’t need to have “immaculate grammar” to know the correct version of your/you’re which is really not a complicated concept and is taught at primary school level. Same applies to there/their/they’re, yet these mistakes are depressingly common.

I think your post is the first time I’ve read that word in more than a decade, and the time before that was probably in a Dickens novel.

it was outdated decades ago.

Surely the very fact that they are “depressingly common” tells you that not everyone finds the difference as simple to discern as you do.

Yes. It's when professional or official people don't know how to speak - that's when it gets irritating.

On the BBC I've heard 'froo' for through, and 'fink' for think from continuity announcers. They used to employ trained actors for this job - who on earth are they employing now?

I'm not just making an 'academic' point - they are sometimes difficult to understand.

(Just to be clear: I'm not complaining about accents - you can have an accent and speak perfectly clearly by making the required effort that actors have to make .)

Another pet hate of mine is people who make no effort or concession to the fact they're speaking on a phone, or into a tannoy etc. Slow down, make sure your mouth is in the right place for the mic and be clearer in your speech. I would have thought that was obvious, but I hear lots of announcements etc where the speaker is basically mumbling.

YANBU, and it's "AS OPPOSED TO", not just "opposed to".

Ah the old “Chester draws”

It's not outdated in my world! It's used often - say, when we have a meal out and someone might find the portion of chips etc niggardly.

I really dislike this idea that words are outdated - they're in the dictionary, you can look them up, so increase your vocab.

The writer Will Self was/is a great enthusiast for unusual words and his novels are full of them. Good for him.

Do you want to impoverish the language?

I was just reading about Dr Johnson and his dictionary and the influence it had on the English language. Words and language matter hugely to me and I won't have people telling me that some are 'not used any more'. Speak only for your own social circle - it doesn't apply to mine!

Birth and berth getting mixed up is quite funny though - e.g. 2 birth caravan for sale. Did their kids really enter the world in there?

having reviewed a lot of documents in my time I find a lot of people haven’t a clue about the difference between principal and principle and affect and effect.

Are you happy to live by the principle of making things a 'race to the bottom'?

I'm not!

That definitely is the ‘worse’ 🤣🤣

Ect instead of etc. people spell it wrong (on MN all the time) and they even say it! Ectetera is really hard to say so why not say it the correct way.

I’ve seen adverts for Chester draws 😂 Wrong in every way possible.

*definitely
*worst

I reckon it’ll survive somehow.

No one is claiming that "worse" isn't a word.

That isn’t what I said.

I’m still trying to get past the ‘of’ instead of ‘have’ and ‘your’ instead of ‘you’re’… And these are from people whose first language is English!!

My vocabulary is just fine, thanks love. However, I would suggest that your circle is a pretty niche one. If someone is speaking to a broad group and wishes to be understood well by them, they should tailor their vocab to their audience. This is Communication 101.

I mean, you COULD try diffusing a bomb but you might end up with a very different outcome.

"A wide birth" always looks funny. Makes me think of childbearing hips.

Also, so many people seem to get advice and advise the wrong way around. I can sort of understand that as advice has the "s" around whereas advise (with an actual s) has more of a "z" sound. Although it shouldn't be hard to relearn.

I have popped into Pedants' Corner a few times moaning about people not finishing words properly. For example "a chill morning" (chilled, surely?) or "he is bias" (biased) or "first come, first serve" (served). The more this stuff gets repeated online, the easiest it is for people to assume these are the correct versions.

Also rising in popularity is "great full" instead of grateful. It makes me think "no you don't mean that you are full of greatness, you are full of gratitude ... think about it".

Nervously checking post for grammar and spelling!