Oh bliss!!

[Ijustwanttoretire]

I have just discovered this section - I am now officially addicted to MN. I will be on here all the time, day and night. I am a pedant and proud! In fact I might make a badge saying that. I would begin by stating my pet hate - but there are so many I don't know where to start... After a think I it has to be 'could of, should of, would of'

I hate ‘very unique’, it is meaningless. Surely if something is unique it is one of a kind?

Onto
Onto
Onto
Does not exist in the English language.

What does this mean?

Bizarre comment. Onto exists for sure. It's a preposition. It's sometimes used incorrectly where there should be an "on to" but it definitely exists.

Would of/could of.

I'm not so bothered when I read it. My mum says it. I feel like she says it with extra emphasis on the "of". It makes me cringe inside.

Onto doesn't exist in my dictionary. I just doubled checked.

Into is a word. 'On to' is(are!) two separate words.

In the chemist today, each shelf had a sticker on describing what each one was for: ear's, eye's, cough's and cold's and so on. Although, they did spell diarrhoea correctly ( I had to use spell check)

I’ve just checked ‘on to’ in the full online OED and whilst the entry is on to, they cite a lot of examples of it being onto. I’m pretty sure the Writers and Editors Dictionary says it should always be on to, but I’m not exactly clear with what the OED is actually saying. I think it’s onto when you could use upon?

@Myimaginarycathasfleas there is a scene in Family Guy where Stewie Griffin bemoans people who use “a whole nother.” Seth MacFarlane definitely belongs in Pedants’ Corner.

I drive past a sign that says “Fresh Layed Eggs,” every day. Makes me want to crash my car in to it, tbh. 😖

On route.

Looking a Stairgate
Double bed
Fireguard
Childminder
FOR, FOR, FOR, you're looking FOR
Is this just a Northern Irish thing?

I was stood..

NO YOU WERE NOT. You were standing, unless someone stood you there like a candlestick.

Ditto ‘we were sat’

The pedants’ revolt cartoon is my screensaver.

Cambridge English Dictionary thinks “onto” is a word (preposition I think).

Yes, you might say "I put the box onto the table" but "I put a dress on to go to a party" because in the first the verb is "to put" which takes a preposition (could be replaced with behind, beyond, underneath) and in the second, the verb is "to put on" so you keep "on" separate from "to."

I would still always change that to on to. Most publishers house style is to have it as two words.

Most publishers’ ...

And what is the issue with double bed, fireguard and childminder?

I love Pedants’ Corner.

MrsFezziwig

Double bed is two words. Some people write "doublebed".

Back to "onto" - it is not correct to write this. In the US it seems to have made its way into published works, though.

Here it is always correct to write "on to." I think many people think that since "into" is a word, then "onto" must also be one.

The following has just appeared on a thread:

hitting him on the arm and leaving a red roar lump

I await your comments.

The Stairgate, double bed and fireguard are the most requested items on our local helping hands FB page.
Very few people here in NI seem to realise they're looking FOR A something, they'll say they're looking A, eg, electrician, plumber...

hitting him on the arm and leaving a red roar lump

This has turned me into a red-faced roaring lump! Does that count?

This is a good one (or bad one, if you like):

she has gone to the endth degree

Thanks, TheMustress - have never come across double bed as one word - I’m not a frequenter of FB selling pages & I don’t think I’ll be starting any time soon!

On the other hand, if the OED gives both “on to” and “onto” as acceptable variants, then I’m siding with them. I’ve been using “onto” for 60 years, and the OED cites an example from the 1700s, so I disagree that it is “always correct” to write “on to”.

Thanks for the discussion though, as it has prompted me to reactivate my login for the OED.

I don't know if this is more of a dialect one but at school I would hear 'I'll learn it to you' instead of teach.