Just seen my first 'spag bowl' on FB. I feel like I belong here now

[omikron]

I'm honoured.

Besides the errors of the potential applicants, hope your 'sift' went well!

Were you thinking 'sift' was a typo?

Not at all-just thought it amusing as could be misread, @lazylinguist.

Sorry all MN's: thought that this thread was originally about Malapropisms (ie, the funny, unusual quotes etc from friends/family) not a sleight or a have-a-go on those who are dyslexic/ESL etc.

gymraes are you unfamiliar with the use of the word ‘sift’ in a recruitment context?

@Basketofkittens

I semi recently had to write (or wanted to, I suppose) several job applications in German.

I realised (after about the 3rd..) that I had labeled the attached CV Lesbenlauf instead of Lebenslauf.
Lebenslauf means CV (literal: life's run, passing, flow etc).
Lesben however means lesbians. So... A lesbian run/flow...

@gymraes, this thread is certainly not "have a go on those who are dyslexic/ESL", as you put it. A tedious and cliched assumption and indicates you have not RTFT. No need for the apostrophe in MNs either, since it is a plural.

A friend of mine who is not known for great English said she was scared watching her kid 'alooshenating'

Oh and my friend has 'if love could of saved you ' tattooed on her.... and my DH says 'No' instead of 'though

@gymraes
Not at all-just thought it amusing as could be misread

You’re going to have to explain as I can’t see how it would be misread? It’s very common in HR to use the phrase “paper sift” meaning to sift through all the applications to select those you want to interview.

What on earth else could it mean? As far as I know “sift: verb, to separate” is it’s only use...

Someone on my Facebook frequently posts about what she did ‘the smorning’

Just saw someone on my local chat forum recommending their cleaners. They are really contentious, apparently.

@ basketofkittens
*How do people, who cannot use correct grammar and spelling, find jobs? confused

I was doing a sift recently for an admin role and most of the applications were riddled with errors. No doubt these are the same people who apply for “hundreds” of jobs and complain they don’t even get interviews.*

I was a recruitment assistant in my past life (most of the noughties) and went through dozens of applications on weekly basis. I don't remember seeing any ridiculous spelling mistakes or errors and don't remember my manager commenting about it either (in case you think I missed them). Maybe something has changed since then.

Mind you, I don't remember seeing could of/should of back then either.

I've just read a thread where more than one poster has suggested the OP loans something FROM someone. I wonder if they know the word borrow even exists or do they swap them so they borrow something TO a friend?

Is it like being a loan parent as opposed to a lone one? Can’t imagine wanting to borrow someone else’s child.

@wetpant Mind you, I don't remember seeing could of/should of back then either.

I'm sure I never saw it back twenty odd years back either, but I assume that's because, before the internet, we largely only saw professional writing. Now we are exposed to writing by all and sundry - from the intellectuals to the uneducated. Before the internet I honestly had no idea that the level of literacy in this country is as bad as it would appear to be.

I'm agreeing with@henig about "lay down".

Boils my pee.

You can only "lay" something else. Like laying an egg.

You LIE down (or you lay yourself down).

Putting my pedantic oar in on:

disinterested for uninterested.
wavered for waived (from someone with a degree in English.
lay for lie

I can understand why you'd make a typo (like "thong" for "thing") but I can't understand the Chester Draws kind of errors.

My friend texted me to say he has eaten a whole bag of 'sweats'. Yes, I did politely correct him as he is glad to know of errors he makes, so he doesn't repeat them in future.

Is 'loan' as a verb standard? (Genuine question). I would only ever use it as a noun, and 'lend' as the verb.

'Borrow' and 'lend' are basically covered by the same word in German, sometimes, but not always, distinguished by prefixes. I wonder if it's the case in other languages too, and perhaps historically in English? Might explain some uses of 'lend'/'loan' as all-purpose (and the extension of that to 'borrow'). But then maybe not - you get people using 'learn' to mean 'teach', as well (but not the other way round). 'Bring' and 'take' can also be a bit elastic in some dialects. Bet there's a term for this phenomenon.

On a different subject: I can't help feeling it's a good thing that more people are writing these days than would have in the past, and am a bit reluctant to discourage that via over-zealous criticism of people's spelling/grammar. I think the numbers of people who actively revel in ignorance are quite small.

Lend and borrow are the same word in Welsh, too.

A quick Google suggests that "loan" can be either verb or noun.

Oh, that's interesting re Welsh. I bet this is an influence somewhere.

I'll cite 'loan' (as presumably it was a noun before it was a verb?) next time someone complains about 'action' or 'gift' having been turned into verbs

pearpicking a friend's 6 year old wrote in a story about somebody having "a nurly night" which I thought was very sweet.

My DB used to be the football captain at his school and had some responsibility for putting teams together. He used to "think tactfully" when deciding who to play in which position. It took me a while to realise he wasn't thinking about their feelings about being picked/dropped, but was actually thinking tactically!

I often wonder where the use of an apostrophe for regular plurals has come from. I don't remember seeing it at all until a few years ago, and now it seems to be everywhere. It might be (as a pp said) just that social media means many more people are writing and being read, unedited, rather than a sign of declining literacy levels.

Discrete for discreet really irritates me though.

I once saw a Facebook post requesting a double bed and matters. Also one selling clothing in pervert condition, although I'm pretty sure this one was an aurocorrect error.

Some of these are funny little misheard things but the ones where you're blatantly being cruel about people who probably have learning difficulties.... it's a good job you're all so perfect hey or the world would probably crumble!

I would have BROUGHT some!