When did everyone start writing 'where' instead of 'were'?

[HardStareBear]

It seems to be everywhere at the moment. In my accent they sound completely different. I know that they're more similar sounding in other accents, but 'were' is a word that we see frequently in books, magazines etc. so why do people think that it is written 'where'?

Been instead of Being really gets on my tits.

They sound completely different.

Somewhere around when they started saying somethink instead of something 😒

But the worst has to be mixing up the singular and plural of womAn/womEn.

Particularly if it's a woman herself - just makes me despair.

Autocorrect maybe? My phone always corrects "were" to "we're" whatever the context. It refuses to believe "were" exists.
Maybe if you weren't sure, and your phone kept correcting "were" to "we're", you'd think "were" wasn't right, and change to "where"?

You’ve got me saying them out loud and yes, they do sound a little different.

What accent do you have?

To me, where is pronounced to rhyme with air, and were is pronounced to rhyme with her, and they sound very different.

But maybe in some accents they both sort of sound like whir (like something is whirring)?

There’s definitely an English regional accent where they sound identical, or virtually, but (non-Brit) I can’t think which.

They sound exactly the same in my accent but I haven't noticed them being used incorrectly when written down.

Probably about the same time they started writing 'your' instead of 'you're'.

I've noticed too. It's not even a homophone, it's an entirely different word!

I suspect too that it's down to autocorrect.

This also changes whose to who's, which particularly bugs me. One day, we'll have seen these errors so often they'll become the correct version and what is actually correct will fade into history.

Im dyslexic too
I understand the difference between them also but don't forget there are different levels of severity with dyslexia so keep that in mind
yesI get that but not all of us. It was the "the dyslexics" comment, suggesting we're all the same that made me point out I know the difference.
I'm probably a bit prickly about it from years of being labelled thick because I'm dyslexic. Sorry if it came across as snippy.

One of my DCs does it, he's not dyslexic but is dyspraxic and has a language impairment. Also there/their/they're and weather/whether. I proofread for him and explain every single time and it just doesn't go in. I feel really sorry for him. It's shit as an adult having to have this stuff pointed out over and over, he can't help it, he wants to be able to spell.

I agree that autocorrect might be exacerbating an existing problem here, just as tech is causing handwriting skills to deteriorate.

I've always been able to spell. I was a hyperlexic child, so can't remember a time when I couldn't read, and reading widely and constantly meant I could spell pretty much anything.

But not everyone has this advantage. I'm not great with numbers and often get the calculator out for quite simple sums. If we communicated through arithmetic, I'd make a lot of errors too. So if spelling for some people is like maths is for me, I try not to judge too much.

They might sound the same to you but to others they are totally different words that don't sound the same or even rhyme

I see no end of shit like this, unfortunately. The more people defensively argue it doesn't matter, the more in danger we are of losing the correct version of written English. I really hate it.

and "his" instead of "he's".

It's just super sloppy. I think the sorts of things people are reading have changed. Those of us who grew up pre-internet only had access to books, magazines and newspapers. OK so Just 17 wasn't exactly amazing literature, but it had been written by a journalist and checked by a proofreader and editor. Nowadays anyone can stick material online through social media and there's no professional checking. The standard of written English from many of these accounts is dire. And that's all that many teens - mine included - are exposed to, apart from books they are reading in school.

I honestly believe the majority of people seem to think lose is spelled loose.

Struggled my whole life with those and other similar sounding ones, lose/loose etc, I read a lot and used to have extra tuition at school on them but I still struggle, grammarly tends to pick it up for me these days though.

I don't think there was ever an era where the majority of the population wrote particularly well. I spent some (heart-breaking) hours reading an archive of notes left by women leaving their babies as foundlings. Plenty of mistakes to have annoyed you all had mumsnet been around at the time.

It's just that now the lower orders are leaving their poorly written missives where you can see them.

Nobody is saying it doesn't matter. (Though arguably, on SM it matters a lot less than elsewhere)

They're giving explanations which explain why it happens. Valid ones.

Yet commas and paragraphing aren't important to you. Why is that?

Could it be, that similarly to autocorrect changing me "his" to "he's", your phone doesn't like formatting?

This is my pet hate