ect is not short for et cetera

[BlueMountainHusky]

It is etc. not bloody ect.

ECT is electroconvulsive therapy.

I have seen it on this web site literally hundreds of times this week alone.

It's like a contagious form of ignorance that is spreading like a plague.

Is it unreasonable to be driven nuts by the sheer number of people who think it's just ect.

If I don't come back, I have seen it again and my head has exploded.

@Anonymous48

I think I've found my people!

Yes, I seen those things and it makes me cringe!

How about "she text me"? It's texted!

By the way, I have seen people type things like "it needs washed" instead of "it needs to be washed" and it looks so wrong to me. I didn't realize that was a regional thing. I have never heard people speak like that in real life. Where would that be common?

Seen them did you? Seen any auxiliary verbs at the same time?

Some people are unreasonably annoyed by spelling mistakes and we can't help it. We find it hard to believe that other people don't want to know the correct spelling and aren't grateful when we point it out.

I have learned to relax though. I have to let it go. If the phrase is understandable then that it is good enough. But I get distressed when sentences are ambiguous or don't make sense - for example, if a word has been missed out.

Anonymous: Scotland I believe, where things that need gone go in the bucket Please correct me if I'm wrong

When I read "would of", I actually correct it in my head because it annoys me that much.
I also can't stand "I could have wrote this" "I would have saw it" argh!

@UselessASD

Please stick to pedants corner for this sort of post. There are many reasons that posts may not be in standard English and it gets quite tedious seeing sneering threads like this one.

I agree @UselessASD. I wouldn't want to see bad spelling in a newspaper or book but from people posting on a forum it doesn't bother me as there may be any number of reasons for it and one can usually get the gist of what is meant.

@FlibbertyGibbitt

“I seen that the other day “ … just no.

I say this on purpose to my mum just to wind her up.

'They will be the posters like me who:
Spend a lot of time on Pedants' Corner chatting about linguistics and shit.
Don't see why posters whose English may not be perfect should feel humiliated by some twat who needs to look Dunning-Kruger up and learn how to use punctuation before they start on other people.
Has lost count how many times a week this type of smug, superior thread is started (but looks forward immensely to pointing out that hubris does indeed lead to hamartia wink)'

Well said (and ROFL at 'seen any auxiliary verbs?')

Unique means one of a kind. The only one.

It is not the same as unusual.

If you want to choose a unique baby name you will need to make it up.

@Geamhradh

Seen them did you?
Seen any auxiliary verbs at the same time?

Just one of my biggest pet peeves! I have a friend who says "I seen" instead of "I saw" all the time and I can't stand it!

It could be a problem with autocorrect etc

@Anonymous48

I think I've found my people!

Yes, I seen those things and it makes me cringe!

How about "she text me"? It's texted!

By the way, I have seen people type things like "it needs washed" instead of "it needs to be washed" and it looks so wrong to me. I didn't realize that was a regional thing. I have never heard people speak like that in real life. Where would that be common?

Since 'text' was only ever used as a noun until about 15-20 years ago I don't think you can complain if people choose their own ways to conjugate it as a verb.

I only gave up moaning about it being used as a verb about 5 years ago.

So much if it is either regional dialect or autocorrect. Busy mums often type in a hurry and don't read back!

@FatFredsFriedEgg, all verb neologisms are regular though, so yes, texted is the correct form.

Geamhradh

If the section isn’t for threads like these I might like reading threads in Pedants Corner. I suppose these discrete threads are better than breaking into a thread to correct spelling or grammar.

To those that can’t stand incorrect spelling on MN
I need to be so careful with spelling irl as they were not corrected when I was at school that I let things go a bit on SM including MN. I know my stuff If I post with advice. I name change quite a lot so not much under this name. I make some of your listed mistakes so if you didn’t respect me and stopped reading that’s a shame. My typing isn’t great either so I can see starts of sentences in this post that should have a capital letter, but it won’t move to the correct place to correct it. I’m sure there are other mistakes as well.

@BlueMountainHusky

It is etc. not bloody ect.

ECT is electroconvulsive therapy.

I have seen it on this web site literally hundreds of times this week alone.

It's like a contagious form of ignorance that is spreading like a plague.

Is it unreasonable to be driven nuts by the sheer number of people who think it's just ect.

If I don't come back, I have seen it again and my head has exploded.

Is it unreasonable to be driven nuts by the sheer number of people who think it's just ect. YANBU, however YABU to omit a question mark after a question.

I agree. I am inclined to pay attention to detail so these errors really irritate me. Is it laziness or lack of education?

And people reigning in things.

Well @Geamhradh has also made some mistakes

@MyMoneyIsAllSpent

I agree. I am inclined to pay attention to detail so these errors really irritate me. Is it laziness or lack of education?

Both.

@MyMoneyIsAllSpent
In my case I know the correct forms, but it takes time as my spelling was not corrected. I’m careful when it’s important such as at work. I’ll let others decide whether I lazy for not monitoring myself on MN.

I hate all the Americanisms. I keep seeing people referring to buying groceries! I know we used to have greengrocers but if I went to buy food I would say ‘I’m doing my shopping at the supermarket’ or ‘at the shop’ or ‘at shop name’ AIBU to think groceries sounds very American and people are watching too many box sets?

Sorry I am lazy, not I lazy

Walla.

One that I can't stand is his instead of he's
I see it a lot

@PyjamaMamma

Yes, but I can see why people do it: I’ve noticed during lockdowns (ie online school lessons!) that lots of people pronounce it ekcetera, so if it were spelled like that it would make sense that the ‘c’ comes before the ‘t’?

Which brings me to the question: is it meant to be pronounced ekcetera? I come from a Romance language speaking country and we pronounce it as written, with a ‘t’ but it made me wonder.

No, the Latin is 'et cetera', so you start with 'et'. In England we then say 'cetera' with a soft 'c', so it sounds like 'et setera'. However, if you went to my old school you would have heard the Latin master saying 'et cetera' with a hard c, sounding like et ketera. If you are starting with et you are right. Sorry if someone else has already written this answer.