Which spelling mistakes really grate with you?

[TheTecknician]

Maybe it should be 'what', not 'which'. Anyways..

-aircrafts. Grrr! The plural of aircraft is 'aircraft', not 'aircrafts'. Even aviation companies make this mistake. No excuse.

BTW, I know spelling isn't easy for some so let's keep this light hearted.

Defiantly instead of definitely.

Reindeers. The plural of reindeer is reindeer. Every single Christmas this winds me up!

I had a boss once who actually wrote it down like that. It caused much laughter because we're supposed to be journalists.
Yet another error that spellcheck won't catch and a perfect illustration of the dangers of relying on it.

On local SM today:

• Rubbish left behind after a 'fun fare'.
• A spaded dog.

On our local page today

Loose when someone actually means "lose"

I understand this is grammar rather than spelling error, but there seems to be a growing number of people confused by "who's" and "whose".

I confess I have to think on that one.

The one that seems to have me bamboozled in the last couple of weeks is: is it "any more" or "anymore"?

My computer keeps telling me to join the words together, but my (perhaps perimenopausal) brain keeps telling me I never have before. I can't say I've ever really given it much consideration, but it seems to have been a phrase I've used a lot in the last couple of weeks and I just don't know which is right now! (I actually went to use it instead of "now" at the end of that sentence, but chickened out!)

Help!

@BumpyWinds , any more.

Both are correct when used in the correct context.

Any more usually refers to quantities.
‘Have you got any more of that nice bread?’
‘I don’t think I need to buy any more jeans. I have lots already.’

Anymore is used in a different sense, as an adverb to do with time.
‘I’m not going to babysit for them anymore.’

@BumpyWinds

"Who's" is an abbreviation of "Who is", so would be used "Who's on night shift tomorrow?". Whereas "whose" is possessive, so you might say "Whose turn is it for night shift tomorrow?"

I did see (on a news website) the revolting "...the little girl, who's parents were nowhere to be found" 😮

(And the actual BBC once used "reindeers" on their website. It was on the photographs page. I'm still not over it.)

Any more or anymore?

Grammar > Easily confused words > Any more or anymore?
from English Grammar Today
Any more as a determiner
We use any more as a determiner to describe ‘an indefinite quantity of something’. Any more is similar to some more. Some more is more common in affirmative statements; any more is more common in questions, in clauses with if and in sentences with negative words such as hardly, never, scarcely:
Would you like any more tea?
If you find any more books, please let us know.
She doesn’t want any more contact with him.
There are hardly any more people here than last month.
Yes, I’d like some more information about trains to Berlin, please.
Not: Yes, I’d like any more information about …
See also:
Any
Some
Some and any
Any more as an adverb
Any more is also an adverb and has the meaning of ‘no longer’ or ‘in the past but not now.’ In this meaning, we use it in end position:
We don’t go to Cornwall on holiday any more. (We used to go in the past but not now.)
The cost of electricity is not cheap any more.
Especially in American English, any more, as an adverb, can be written as one word, anymore:
He doesn’t cycle anymore.

@BumpyWinds

A trick with ‘any more’ vs anymore — if the sentence works with the words ‘any’ or ‘more’ alone then ‘any more’ is usually correct.

So ‘I don’t want to give you any more money…’ could become ‘I don’t want to give you any money…’ or ‘I don’t want to give you more money’. The sentences still make sense even if the meaning mightn’t be exactly the same.

You can’t do that with ‘anymore’ as an adverb.

You can’t say ’I’m not going there any’.
You can’t say ‘I’m not going there more’.

ETA just saw from pp’s post that anymore can be spelt any more too and that may be an American English vs British English thing. In that case you’re safer sticking to any more I guess.

This is super helpful, thank you!

I’ve just seen Oh my! written as Owe my! on Facebook 😱

‘Noone’.

Since when is it one word??

Since forever! (says Peter Noone).

The only time I will ever spell despatch dispatch is when my cold dead fingers have been prised around a pen and forced to write it.

I don’t use “gotten” but it is grammatically correct.

Your and you’re. It’s the difference between win your shit and knowing you’re shit 😀.

I have one - is it arsed or assed? I've always written 'I can't be arsed' yet all my friends write 'assed' and it confuses the shit out of me!!! Surely it's arse(d)?!

It's definitely arsed if you're a Brit or an Aussie. That's because we call our backsides arses. So half-arsed, can't be arsed.
Americans say ass for arse. I don't know if it has evolved from how they might have pronounced arse in an American accent. I wonder if ass was felt to be nicer or politer than arse.
Which is why arse is the better word, ruder and more base, IMO. Ass feels a bit namby-pamby. And 'can't be assed' looks all wrong .

True that Americans say ass. But Americans don't say ' I can't be assed.'

Sometimes I have to read posts on here twice to make sense of them when ass is used instead of arse.

There were some quite amusing responses to a thread on Style & Beauty where somebody asked for recommendations for flattering trousers for her big ass.

My name when it's on front of people