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I'll add another: when people write "Should of" instead of "should have." Oh, one more: "For all intensive purposes" instead of "for all intents and purposes."
Honestly, I think most of the blame lies with an over-reliance on software to catch and correct grammar mistakes. It often doesn't work well.
Edit: I have a boss that has atrocious spelling and grammar. Every single email he sends out seems to have been typed by a 3rd grader. I know I'm not the only one who has a very hard time taking him seriously. Right or wrong, his bad grammar makes us question the decisions he makes.
This is part of the problem, and you are correct that the programs do not work that well, and in my estimation, they are more incorrect than correct. I have tons of lines from students' papers that I have kept that went through the infamous "spell check" that are hilarious. But my fav one of all time is this one: "I will always remember my father in the mornings. He would get up early, shower and dress, but the smell of his colon is what woke me up as he came into my bedroom to kiss me goodbye." SO THANKS Microsoft for that one!
Who knew grammar was like religion? No one can agree on what's right and what's wrong, and yet everyone thinks they're right, and thinks they're better for being right too.
Use of proper grammar in writing is not more important than poverty or hunger or world peace or whatever Major Social Issue one can think of. One has nothing to do with the other.
This is a Writing forum, and within this subset of life, yes, adherence to standards are important. Just because there are such terrible things as hunger or poverty doesn't mean we just chuck all thought and art out the window and run out and try to save the world.
To be fair, this thread was originally posted in the "Politics & Other Controversies" forum... so that's where the comment came from originally, because in the context of that forum it seemed petty. Hence the reason it was moved, LOL.
To be fair, this thread was originally posted in the "Politics & Other Controversies" forum... so that's where the comment came from originally, because in the context of that forum it seemed petty. Hence the reason it was moved, LOL.
Oh, I didn't realize that! Yes, in that context the comment was appropriate.
"You want food? Well, dammit, PROVE you know the proper use of an apostrophe, and we'll feed you! Otherwise, be on your way!"
I try not to judge people on their grammar/spelling, especially when they're posting on the Internet... but as anyone who knows me is aware, I'm a self-proclaimed and proud "grammar & spelling Nazi." I did get my undergraduate degree in English (and have tutored English/ESL for many years), so it's something I cannot ignore even when I try.
My biggest pet-peeve is probably apostrophe abuse, for example "Book's and CD's on sale, we take credit card's." If I see a sign like that in a place of business, it just makes me go Another one I hate is "would of / could of" - it's HAVE, not OF!!! The misuse of homophones your/you're & there/their/they're are bad too, and I often wonder if the teachers suck or the kids aren't paying attention. Either way, it seems to be getting worse these days.
P.S. If you have a learning or processing disability, English isn't your first language, or any other legitimate reason for making these mistakes, you are excused from my rant.
I do think that most of the growth in the inability to write correctly has to do with the decline of reading. So many people are addicted to TV and movies or small bits of "reading" on the Internet. Their minds don't retain the language or the spelling as you do once you've seen it in writing.
I have a young friend who just finished her master's degree in English and has been hired to teach English at a middle school. Referring to her husband, she often finishes sentences with, "for Kenny and I" instead of "for Kenny and me." It's like nails on a blackboard for me to hear her say that, particularly because she was an English major and should know better. Would I be out of line to gently point this error out to her? Normally, she uses correct grammar.
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I have a young friend who just finished her master's degree in English and has been hired to teach English at a middle school. Referring to her husband, she often finishes sentences with, "for Kenny and I" instead of "for Kenny and me." It's like nails on a blackboard for me to hear her say that, particularly because she was an English major and should know better. Would I be out of line to gently point this error out to her? Normally, she uses correct grammar.
I would correct her, because she will be teaching and she will pass the mistake on to her students. That may be one of the reasons for the mistakes that generated this thread. I would also suggest that she take whatever book she will be using to teach grammar and read it from cover to cover. Then she should start over and read it again.
Just because you have not heard her make other errors does not mean she does not make them.
I suspect this is what she heard growing up. It makes you want to climb the wall because you not only know that it is incorrect, it sounds wrong to you.
To whoever it was who was 32 flavors of butt-hurt over the misuse of the word "ain't," you're wrong. The word "ain't" is the spelling of a common term of speech, which means any of the following: am not, is not, are not, have not, has not, do not, did not, does not. The most common uses are am not, is not, and are not. Check Merriam-Webster, dictionary.com, freedictionary.com, wikipedia, macmillandictionary, and dictionary.reverso for reference.
If you're going to criticize someone for their erroneous usage of the language, you'd better damned well check to make sure you're right.
Also, to the OP: It's dumbed-down, not dumb-downed. Again - don't be freakin on someone else's goofs if you can't get them right yourself.
More on-topic: yes, these things bug me. I agree somewhat about the dumbing-down of the English language. I've learned some schools don't put any emphasis on spelling; it's taught, but more as an aside than a requisite. Phonics is secondary, grammar is tertiary. I doubt the average 6th-grader in this generation knows what the word "diphthong" means; even fewer likely know how to spell it.
I find people make a lot of excuses for poor grammar, poor sentence structure, misuse of words, misspellings, etc. etc. The biggest issue I see with the excuses, is that they forget one important factor, about language and life: you should endeavor to learn what the rules ARE, before attempting to break them. People who use "ur" and "o i c" - I have to wonder how long it will be, before they forget that they're misspelling the word "your" and the phrase "oh, I see."
It's considered literary license to break the rules of English, only among those who know what the rules are. If you don't know the rules, it's in your best interest to learn them. Then, you can justify breaking them, by claiming proudly "I done breaked it on porpoise." And then, people will remark on how clever you are. If you don't know the rules, and you say "I done breaked it on porpoise," then people will remark on how ignorant and low-rent you are.
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SO THANKS Microsoft for that one! 
Another one I hate is "would of / could of" - it's HAVE, not OF!!! The misuse of homophones your/you're & there/their/they're are bad too, and I often wonder if the teachers suck or the kids aren't paying attention. Either way, it seems to be getting worse these days.
