a small silent scream from a corner of the interweb

[RhodaMorgenstern]

flak
counselling
complementary
hear, hear

As you were.........

[CaptainKirksNipples]

poor cats lamplighter!

[Lancelottie]

Colditz, check that your spellchecker isn't on US spellings. Then argue with it. That is the right spelling for the verb.

Counsel -- advise someone.
Council -- sorts the bin collection.

[SleepingLion]

It was my own fault for reading Now magazine, but even a pedant needs some brainless twaddle sometimes, surely. However, I realised my mistake when I was brought up short by the sentence 'he turned to see her friends Andrew and his wife Polly sat nearby'.

And Boris Becker confused 'affect' and 'effect' yesterday in an article for The Telegraph but at least he is writing in his second language! What excuse is there for all the native speakers who abuse it so badly?

(One of my students did point out in rather an embarrassed fashion that his end of term exam grade in English was lower than that of the Chinese students in my set...)

[werewolf]

I'm glad others feel the same about flak!

[NetworkGuy]

the ubiquitous 'loose' instead of 'lose'

Oh, yes, that drives me wild, too.

One which gets me is "Thankyou" seen over and over and ...

"I saw aerial spelt ariel"

It might have been someone who had previously worked for the BBC, where the 'house magazine' is called, yes, you guessed it, 'Ariel' !!

Something else which annoys (and heard on the BBC from time to time) is when a journalist or politician gets "who" and "which" mixed up.

I found this handy online test which they should be forced to take!

[TrillianAstra]

Can someone do a proper explanation of i.e. and e.g. for me? e.g. is an example, i.e. is an explanation? Something like that?

[gerontius]

e.g. = for example
i.e. = in other words

[SleepingLion]

i.e. - id est or that is/in other words, so it makes things clearer/more specific.

e.g. - exempli gratia, for the sake of an example, so it offers an example but doesn't list all the possible ones, iyswim.

[thumbwitch]

NG - I like that quiz! Very good.

Can I mention again the misuse of infer? one cannot infer something to anyone else - one can only imply it. The other person can infer what they like from what you have implied. And you can infer what you like from what anyone else is saying/implying to you.

[NetworkGuy]

Yes, TW, I was quite chuffed to get 9/9 especially as I only enjoyed English Language not English Literature (and my reading has usually been of spy / thriller / sci-fi so good grammar was rarely guaranteed if the publishers believed the book would sell with minimal correction!)

I was trying to think of some of the examples I had heard, but because they are so clearly wrong I just shout obscenities mutter at the radio about the poor English and then put them out of my head! I suppose I should get back to my 24x7 recording of output so I can put a compilation together and send it to BBC's Feedback radio programme.

[RustyBear]

I get annoyed by people who use the word 'interweb' as if the Internet and the World Wide Web were the same thing...

[TrillianAstra]

So if you imply something it is you intention that the listener should infer a partocular meaning from what you have said.

[thumbwitch]

In theory, Trillian - but they might infer something completely different, depending on how obliquely you imply it.
Some people infer all sorts of things that they're not supposed to - depending on how their own thought processes work (and in some cases how paranoid they are)

[TrillianAstra]

Yep, got it, but the theory is correct - to imply is to intend that the other will infer.

at 'how paranoid they are'

[yellowvan]

"To bold a word. embolden surely?

[meltedmarsbars]

My poor dh would not last 30 seconds on here - the poor sod is an undiagnosed dyslexic with appalling spelling and grammar.

Literacy is a modern human thing - spelling is less than a couple of hundred years old.

Give us a break! It is not the end of the world to misuse our language!

[glasgowlass]

9/9 on that test! I'm very happy.

[NetworkGuy]

Yes yellowvan 'embolden' is correct. Now try fitting a couple of dozen possible options in a menu, and you will see why single, short words are commonly used.

I suppose you could say "the group in pedants' corner politely request a change to the website"

"depending on how their own thought processes work (and in some cases how paranoid they are)"

meltedmarsbars - while explaining one has dyslexia might be embarrassing, I think in a forum (where the written word rules) it is worth the explanation, and other people should show some discretion.

Yes, live and let live, language evolves, but some errors get more and more exaggerated unless brought back into line at some stage. Some phrases have developed such as "my bad" which could leave the elders baffled. I for one dislike some of the 'street' language and sadly, because of the limits on message length, things like Twitter could encourage silly shorthand like "m8" etc.

[meltedmarsbars]

my bad? eh? Am I an "elder" because I do not understand that!

[thumbwitch]

GOD I hate "my bad"!!!
ARGH!

[aquavit]

Love - LOVE - 'illegible for the competition'.

Surely 'oh fay' and 'wala' are jokes, albeit twatty ones?

But perhaps I give too much credit.

[pegotty]

My ex-H and I were exchanging emails trying to agree on dates for our separate holidays with our children when he accused me of presenting him with a 'fate a complete.'

[thumbwitch]

[nancydrewrocks]

"Alot" It is TWO words.
Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[NetworkGuy]

well, mmb, older than 13

so yes, you're an elder