To wonder how people make it to adulthood without knowing

[Staffy1]

That a Christmas tree decoration is called a "bauble", not "ball ball"? Or how they make it through junior school without knowing the difference between "his" and "he's"? What happens in schools these days and don't people ever read anything?

[quote BunsyGirl]@Janegrey333 That’s one of his subjects!!![/quote]
How did I guess?! 😛

@Janegrey333

They hear the sound reign, rein, rain. It all sounds the same.

Surely if the word is in context, only “rein” makes sense. It’s a riding metaphor. How can “reign” or “rain” be contenders?

If you haven't read the word, then no, you wouldn't necessarily know. You might know that Rain, Reign and Rein are three distinct things, but you might not know that the spelling varies depending on the context.

When children are leaning to identify figures of speech, particularly metaphors, some are faced with the same issue. They learn the difference when it is explained to them, preferably by a teacher of English.

...are learning...

I have a friend who has managed to make it through SIXTY THREE YEARS and still not know the difference between lose and loose.
Makes me want to scream. I’m afraid she’d be highly insulted if I came right out and corrected her. But dear god I want to.

Dont know if it's already been said, haven't read the entire thread. But I hate it when people say ' I could care less' instead of 'I couldn't care less' 🙄...so basically you care then

But metaphors are often ambiguous, aren't they?

Someone earlier in the thread said that 'reign in' made sense to them as they thought 'reign' implied 'rule' and so it had to do with someone ruling on something.

There are loads of false explanations like that, and with some of them, we don't even know what the 'correct' explanation is any more.

Not everyone likes reading and if you don't read these are all easy things to mishear. But some of them are still funny.

Does it matter? It makes some people feel sneery and good about their superior spelling and vocabulary etc.
Tell me it doesn't matter, because my 6yo's spelling is atrocious, hates reading even though he can, and on track to become like his father, who made it through university without reading a book in his life.

@Plussizejumpsuit

I'm dyslexic but had loads of help when I was younger so my spelling and grammar are fairly good. A lot better than the stuff I see online! So I don't like to make fun. But I've seen some crackers. There was one recently and op was saying b day for bidet.

@Plussizejumpsuit Your post makes me so happy. My youngest cousin was what they all thought was just stupid, dumb as a stump. Did poorly in school for years. Then someone thought to test him and lo & behold he was dyslexic. They worked & worked with him - he went on to university and graduated! Now he’s a beloved teacher. So proud of that kid. Too many people sell too many others far too short.

@DreamTheMoors

I have a friend who has managed to make it through SIXTY THREE YEARS and still not know the difference between lose and loose. Makes me want to scream. I’m afraid she’d be highly insulted if I came right out and corrected her. But dear god I want to.

That is one of the most frequent errors on Mumsnet. I just don’t continue reading a post if I come across it or one of the other usual suspects. Many posters do likewise - and have said as much. Don’t forget a thread on this very issue appears weekly, probably.

@DreamTheMoors, that's so lovely.

@MilkGoatee

I just wish people instead of complaining about "damn autocorrect" would just switch off their autocorrect. Not only does it change words to something completely different (and it's a bugger to use if you occasionally write in other languages than English) it will also correct to wrong uses if you've mis-written something a few times in a row. (So if you've written definately once or twice, then it will henceforth change it to that even if you spell it correctly.)

Everyone complaining about autocorrect act like once it’s done it’s written in stone.

First, you should always proofread everything before you post or send it.
Second, it’s simple to correct autocorrect. You just backspace & type in the correct word as you would do with any misspelling.
It’s hardly necessary to turn the whole thing off.

@Janegrey333

But she’s not on mumsnet. She’s my friend, whom I message back & forth with many times a week. I love her but she doesn’t take criticism well - from anyone, or even perceived criticism. Not even from her own family.
She’s kind & generous but insecure and you can’t even tell her a button is missing or shoelace is untied without her taking offense - and I can’t see correcting her grammar having a happy ending.

[quote DreamTheMoors]@Janegrey333

But she’s not on mumsnet. She’s my friend, whom I message back & forth with many times a week. I love her but she doesn’t take criticism well - from anyone, or even perceived criticism. Not even from her own family.
She’s kind & generous but insecure and you can’t even tell her a button is missing or shoelace is untied without her taking offense - and I can’t see correcting her grammar having a happy ending.[/quote]
Ah, but you must realise that for some, Mumsnet is the be all and end all. No shame could be greater than - shock! - having a random nobody silently refuse to read your MN post.

In real life, I should think your friend is insecure because she's had a rough time of it.

Thank you, @SarahAndQuack - yes I’m noticing that.
I think her insecurities come from self esteem issues, which is a shame. She’s truly a lovely person.

@NeedToKnow101

So much of literacy fluency is being read to at home as a child. If that doesn't happen you start school with a much smaller vocabulary, and the gap continues to widen if you don't get into the reading habit.

That's why we need libraries, and really a national programme to encourage reading to babies and small children. When I had DS new parents were all given a couple of books by a reading charity, and encouraged to join a library. Apparently the numbers of parents reading to babies and children has dropped, which is so sad.

@NeedToKnow101 I totally agree with you. Reading and talking to your child from babyhood is so important, and I think sadly just doesn’t happen in some homes.

[quote DreamTheMoors]@Janegrey333

But she’s not on mumsnet. She’s my friend, whom I message back & forth with many times a week. I love her but she doesn’t take criticism well - from anyone, or even perceived criticism. Not even from her own family.
She’s kind & generous but insecure and you can’t even tell her a button is missing or shoelace is untied without her taking offense - and I can’t see correcting her grammar having a happy ending.[/quote]
You sound like a lovely friend.

All my life (and my husband too) we thought the time warp was

It's just a jump to the left
And then a step to the right
With your hands on your hips
you bend your knees in time

Only connect taught us it is actually.... you bring your knees in tight

I am not sure I will ever be able to sing the right lyrics but all these years of belting out the time warp in the middle of the family discos and I have been singing it wrong

@Europilgrim

And I read this in a book the other day (Ok, I admit it, it was Jeffrey Archer ) "He was Bristol's answer to Cary Grant". Does JA not know how to use that expression or is it some sort of in-joke? Hmm...maybe he reads mumsnet and could answer?

I give in - what’s wrong with this??

What about 'brought' instead of 'bought'? I often sit on my hands when I see that on FB. I wouldn't correct someone but it does drive me nuts. No Mark you didnt 'brought' the wardrobe last year, you 'bought' it.

As a kid I was baffled as to where the Wrekin was. Everywhere I went the bus appeared to go there

@Notarealmum

Cary Grant was from Bristol.

Amount and number, less and fewer. I wouldn’t say anything out loud but my head instantly corrects every time, which is often.

What about 'brought' instead of 'bought'?

I think that is regional too. Centred around Birmingham. Verbally anyway.