to tell you it is downright and not "damn right"?!

[Needanewhat]

As in, "she was being downright rude" NOT "she was being damn right rude".

I see this one all the time on Facebook groups at the moment and it's silently doing my head in. Why?!

The one I see on Instagram a lot at the moment is 'breath' for 'breathe'.

'Just remember to breath'
'And... Breath... '

It's from multiple people as well weirdly.

This may be part of a shift to 'alot', 'abit', 'infact' etc. being legitimately one word (alongside still being two). 'Another' used to be two words, i guess (and we can still say 'an other', just in a different context). I noticed the other day that my spellchecker on Word thinks 'anymore' is one word and doesn't like it as two.

@Providora

Posters in threads like this are often accused of being, sneering, classist, etc. Is it possible that some are well meaning and just want to help another person out, in the same way you might gently tell a stranger they've got loo paper stuck to their shoe?

I'll put it out there. Has anyone reading this used 'alot' and 'abit' before, and just discovered that they're actually not words? Did you find it useful to learn that in an anonymous chat forum, rather than continue to make the mistake forever?

No, they’re not well meaning and trying to help, as evinced by the language on this thread alone:

Does my head in
Irks me
Drives me crackers
Winds me up
Makes me want to scream
Drives me bananas
Bakes my beans

It’s smug twattery from the same type of people who start the same thread every week.

I think good grammar and spelling come as a direct result of doing masses of, and likely enjoying, reading. If you don't read, you rely too much on your ear to puzzle out how phrases you've heard in passing are spelt.
When I hear/see people making those sorts of mistakes I simply chalk them up as someone who's not a reader.

@JorisBonson

Writing "ect". The word is etcetera, not ectcetera.

It's actually two words 'et cetera'

Agree I think you should be more focused on why you react this way to something so small.

Don't worry, I don't lose sleep over it.

@Providora

Posters in threads like this are often accused of being, sneering, classist, etc. Is it possible that some are well meaning and just want to help another person out, in the same way you might gently tell a stranger they've got loo paper stuck to their shoe?

I'll put it out there. Has anyone reading this used 'alot' and 'abit' before, and just discovered that they're actually not words? Did you find it useful to learn that in an anonymous chat forum, rather than continue to make the mistake forever?

It is bad manners though, I just think grammar correcters were badly brought up!

There’s a word for these misheard phrases: eggcorns

Really interesting, I didn't know that.

It's actually two words 'et cetera'

😂

@Needanewhat

I obviously know it is petty!

Damn right

@ItsAlwaysAFriendNeverMe

It's Groundhog Day on MN.

Certainly is. Ditto the 'what small things make you angry' 'what things do you think about that no one else does' cue people saying 'I always wonder what my pet thinks about' I'm soooo zany

"Damn right" is very effective in the right contexts. For example, Theme From Shaft (1971):

Isaac Hayes: Who's the black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks?
Ladies: Shaft!
Isaac: DAMN RIGHT!

But yes, a bit urgh on FB etc.

It is bad manners though, I just think grammar correcters were badly brought up!

Fair enough. I admit to pulling someone up once, but I did it by private message and only because she'd posted in a thread much like this one to say "my spelling and grammer are really good". I tried to be kind about it but in hindsight it was probably a dick move.

I think this one is a bit more excusable because "damn right!" is an expression in its own right. "Damn right rude" does sound/look a bit off though, I agree.

Another one I see really often is "step foot". It is SET FOOT though again it is understandable because you do step with your feet!

The thing is the people who could really do with learning something from these sort of threads will never click on them because they DGAF. So it is just full of us pedants working ourselves into a lather.

Damn right" is very effective in the right contexts.

I'm not saying it isn't correct as a phrase. I'm just saying it isn't correct when people are using it in place of downright.

I see a lot of job applications and am always shocked by the general standard of writing in them, particularly by recent graduates. My own cousin sent me a CV and cover letter to look over for her the other day and it was so badly written I couldn't believe it. She has an English degree!

It isn't bad spelling I object to particularly so much as bad sentence structure and incorrect use of phrases.

And no I don't get "angry" over it. But I do think that when people don't read books it shows.

I did some work with some secondary school children a few years back who were having difficulties with literacy - once they started reading more their standard of writing improved tenfold.

Dyslexia obviously an exception.

I also saw a facebook post somebody had shared the other day about a woman who is now receiving potentially life saving treatment for a condition that was picked up through a routine screening apt she’d been putting off. All very important stuff, encouraging women to go for this particular type of screening, until she wrote, ‘I wouldn’t of known if I hadn’t of went.’ I just couldn’t go on after that.

So, this woman could have died without this screening, yet you were more concerned about her grammar? Nice.

It doesn't annoy me when I see mistakes, but then I often incorrectly use words or miss parts of sentences out. A lot of it is to do with not reading things through properly (probably partly due to having ADHD).

However what does annoy me is how people sneer and judge.

That's not to say I wouldn't appreciate someone pointing out my errors. I'd certainly like to be made aware so I can correct and learn.

I can't work it out, what is waalaaah

@BelleBlueBell it's 'voilà'

'Adverse to' used instead of 'averse to'. 'Faze' being confused with 'phase'. Words mean things!

And I'm well-mannered enough not to point these things out to people (except when I have the opportunity to edit their text at work, mmm) but threads like this are a useful place to vent. If I happened to learn something from reading them, I'd be glad.

Phonics is to blame. Kids have been taught to say what they hear instead of knowing what they're saying.

A lot of it is to do with not reading things through properly (probably partly due to having ADHD).

As it happens, I also have ADHD.

Phonics is to blame. Kids have been taught to say what they hear instead of knowing what they're saying.

Mmm not sure I agree with that - a lot of people I see these errors from would not have been taught with a phonics based reading system.

In any case, as long as you're reading (lots) with your child (including from books that would be way above their own reading level), using phonics is neither here nor there.

@groovergirl

"Damn right" is very effective in the right contexts. For example, Theme From Shaft (1971):

Isaac Hayes: Who's the black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks?
Ladies: Shaft!
Isaac: DAMN RIGHT!

But yes, a bit urgh on FB etc.

But that's the correct use of the phrase, as an exclamation not as a mistake for the word downright.

I don't think the OP is unaware that damn right is correct in the proper context.

@TheWeeDonkeyIsMySpiritAnimal

I can't work it out, what is waalaaah

@BelleBlueBell it's 'voilà'

Thank you,

I've been trying to puzzle it out, all I could think was that as it was in a Mrs Hinch group it might be wall art

I've been trying to puzzle it out, all I could think was that as it was in a Mrs Hinch group it might be wall art

🤣