Spelling Errors! Its LOSE not LOOSE

[Anonymous Freak]

It's = Contraction of "It" and "is"
Its = possessive, example: The dog's tail is wagging. Its tail is wagging.

I always liked "It's wagging its tail." Shows both uses rather clearly.

Other examples:

"The two gentlement went too far going to the fair."

"He was close to the door he had to close so he could change his clothes."

"I wasn't allowed to read that aloud."

"They're going over there to get their keys."

 

[Doctor Q]

It's nice to see affect and effect used correctly on occassion.

One good effect of literacy is that it will affect your ability to learn.​

Just remember that effect is a noun; affect is a verb.

Perhaps the language would be better off if we threw one word away and used only the other (as many already do). After all, the meanings are closely related and others words work perfectly well as both noun and verb, even with unrelated meanings. Example: defect. Which is odd, since the noun defect applies to something that is not working perfectly well!

 

[gauchogolfer]

Just remember that effect is a noun; affect is a verb.

I know that you know, Dr.Q, but 'effect' can also be a verb. "We must effect the change we wish to see in the world."

But I didn't need to bring it up. Sorry. I was trying to head off even more confusion.

 

[MrSmith]

By itself, kana leads to the same types of mistakes, so it's no good that way. Kanji prevents those mistakes with some kana to tie it together.

How so? There is only one way to write tomodachi in hiragana or katakana, and every first grader could write it. In English there are various phonemes for each sound. In this case, why not frend?

 

[Doctor Q]

I was trying to head off even more confusion.

Me too, which is why I didn't mention that less-frequent use. But I suppose you are right, that we have to give people all the facts or we're not giving a complete lesson. If I was teaching this in a classroom, however, I'd save that for Lesson II.

 

[aquajet]

Another common one that deserves mention: effect/affect. Both can function as either a noun or a verb (in a couple of different senses), although affect as a noun is a term used in psychology. Affecting is an interesting case in that it can function as an adjective. Let's look at some examples:

effect as a noun:

•Too much cheesecake can have a negative effect on your bowels.

•We ate cheesecake while watching the train pass and observing the Doppler effect.

•Please pick up your personal effects from the kitchen after finishing your cheesecake.

effect as a verb:

•Eating too much cheesecake can effect a stomach ache.

affect as a verb:

•Eating too much cheesecake can adversely affect your bowels.

•I will continue to affect a desire for cheesecake throughout these examples. In reality, I can't stand the stuff.

affecting as an adjective:

•After a nearly fatal accident, watching him make a cheesecake was a highly affecting moment. I was thrilled to see him up and about again.

Edit: Looks like Q beat me to it.

 

[bousozoku]

How so? There is only one way to write tomodachi in hiragana or katakana, and every first grader could write it. In English there are various phonemes for each sound. In this case, why not frend?

There is only one correct way to write tomodachi but there are many variations of incorrect ways to write it. Write the kana for tomodachi incorrectly and try to convert it to kanji and you're definitely not going to get what you want and you'll know it right away. As kana, there is no "spell" checking and it's actually more problematic than the Roman alphabet with a spell checker.

 

[MrSmith]

There is only one correct way to write tomodachi but there are many variations of incorrect ways to write it. Write the kana for tomodachi incorrectly and try to convert it to kanji and you're definitely not going to get what you want and you'll know it right away. As kana, there is no "spell" checking and it's actually more problematic than the Roman alphabet with a spell checker.

There is only one symbol for the sound to, one for mo, etc., and if you know how the word sounds (tomodachi, not tomadachi, say) then you can spell it without problem. You don't have to worry about choosing the correct digraph or other nonsensical combination like ough.

You are correct that if you don't know hiragana then a spell-checker isn't going to help you find it, but that's a spurious argument because you wouldn't be writing Japanese in the first place if you didn't know how to write kana.

Wow. I'm becoming a whiz at [(/)I]

 

[Links]

just a vent on usage of...

among
and
between

This kind of usage bugs me.
"We went to the pine forest and found him between the trees."
"He divided his money between 6 of his best friends"

1. Between is used in speaking of only two things, people, etc.:: we must choose between two equally unattractive alternatives.

Among is used for collective and undefined relations of usually three or more:
| agreement on landscaping was reached among all the neighbors.

But where there are more than two parties involved, between may be used to express one-to-one relationships of pairs within the group or the sense 'shared by':
| there is close friendship between the members of the club; | diplomatic relations between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

2 : Between you and I, | between you and he, etc., are incorrect; between should be followed only by the objective case: | between you and me, | between you and him, etc.

 

[Doctor Q]

Here's one that drives me crazy: further vs. farther.

But not the way other people misuse them. It's me. I can never remember which is which, so I avoid both of them. Shame on me!

I can always look them up, nod my head, and follow the directions, and people are always happy to remind me of the rule, but when it comes time to use one of them, I've usually forgotten once again!

 

[bousozoku]

There is only one symbol for the sound to, one for mo, etc., and if you know how the word sounds (tomodachi, not tomadachi, say) then you can spell it without problem. You don't have to worry about choosing the correct digraph or other nonsensical combination like ough.

You are correct that if you don't know hiragana then a spell-checker isn't going to help you find it, but that's a spurious argument because you wouldn't be writing Japanese in the first place if you didn't know how to write kana.

Wow. I'm becoming a whiz at [(/)I]

Well, not precisely a spurious argument. Little children don't know how to write kana necessarily but they can speak Japanese. Imagine if the western world suddenly needed to learn to read and write Japanese? Can you say "spelling errors"? Someone told me that they were going to sing Carrie Okie that night and I started to ask who she was and then, I realised that they were talking about kara oke.

 

[imacintel]

Words Americans can't spell:

- Definitely
- Ridiculous
- The correct form of "lose/loose"
Ooooh, this is going to get letters...

Don't worry about the British English v. American English spellings, they don't count. It's the above three that really get my goat.

Canadian English?


Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

 

[MrSmith]

Well, not precisely a spurious argument. Little children don't know how to write kana necessarily but they can speak Japanese. Imagine if the western world suddenly needed to learn to read and write Japanese? Can you say "spelling errors"? Someone told me that they were going to sing Carrie Okie that night and I started to ask who she was and then, I realised that they were talking about kara oke.

Exactly. The problem lies with English spelling, not kana. To all intents and purposes kana is error-free. There are various systems for writing Japanese with English letters (e.g. the Hepburn system) and these are error free because there is a 1-to-1 relationship with the kana they represent. Yes, if someone doesn't know how to speak a language then they shouldn't try to write it.

Are we going round in circles here?

 

[bousozoku]

Exactly. The problem lies with English spelling, not kana. To all intents and purposes kana is error-free. There are various systems for writing Japanese with English letters (e.g. the Hepburn system) and these are error free because there is a 1-to-1 relationship with the kana they represent. Yes, if someone doesn't know how to speak a language then they shouldn't try to write it.

Are we going round in circles here?

Yes, you are. Anyway, I know when to stop flogging the decomposing equine so I'm going to leave it alone now.

 

[annk]

Which and that.

One evening at dinner when I was in high school, my mother asked if I knew the difference between which and that. I didn't but she gave me a couple sentences to remember. I still have to stop and think and go through the sentences when I need to write something, but at least I have a way to do it.

("She likes books that make her laugh" = she likes books that make her laugh, but we don't know anything about her opinion of any other books)

("She likes books which make her laugh" = she likes all books, and books make her laugh)

 

[Doctor Q]

Good examples, annk. I think of it in mathematical terms (no surprise there): that adds a condition producing a subset, which identifies an equality or existing subset. I usually put a comma before which but not before that.

"books that make her laugh": {x ∊ books | x makes her laugh}

"books, which make her laugh": books ⊆ things that make her laugh​

Since I used the phrase "things that make her laugh" in the second definition, we can apply my that definition and get

books ⊆ {x ∊ things | x makes her laugh}​

which is of course a perfectly reasonable way to say that she laughs at all books. If those sets are equal, not a proper subset, then don't bother tickling her.

If English were as nice as mathematics, we'd be a lot better off, but we'd need more math symbols on our keyboards!

 

[mooncaine]

I know that you know, Dr.Q, but 'effect' can also be a verb. "We must effect the change we wish to see in the world."

But I didn't need to bring it up. Sorry. I was trying to head off even more confusion.

To add further confusion, "affect" can be used as a noun, as in the discipline of psychology: "The patient displayed a notable lack of affect in response to the stimuli." This usage is also seen in discussions of Seasonal Affect Disorder.

 

[mooncaine]

If English were as nice as mathematics, we'd be a lot better off, but we'd need more math symbols on our keyboards!

Since I began working with computers and the Internet, I came to view language as code: we put the code in, and the other person's brain is the machine that must parse the code and act upon it.

If our writing has errors, then our code is buggy. Sure, some brains can manage to overcome the bugs and move on, but almost all brains slow down in the presence of bugs, if they are well-trained brains, and that means the bugs are causing problems that could have been avoided.

Meanwhile, the other brains, which are not well-trained, tend to miss important meanings in the code and, therefore, they produce errors and faults. They also tend to be slower at producing code of their own.

Moreover, since the untrained brains do not know the difference between buggy code and proper code, they continue to spew out yet more buggy code of their own, further slowing down systems of communication.

Fix the bugs in your code and you'll have the best chance of achieving the desired effect in the most brains.

 

[Doctor Q]

You're a good technical philosopher, mooncaine.

Another thought on the topic: It'll be a great day when our computers have algorithms sophisticated enough to recognize, parse, and correclty interpret written and spoken speech, with all its nuances and ambiguities, as well as we humans can already do in childhood.

 

[mediababy]

Corporate sites & Universities

I love it when I see this more now on corporate sites. (Incorrect usage of loose | lose ).
My other favorite is when I see message boards in front of universities & they have incorrect spelling.

Fox news subtitles are notorious for it as well.

The downfall of the United States.

 

[bousozoku]

I love it when I see this more now on corporate sites. (Incorrect usage of loose | lose ).
My other favorite is when I see message boards in front of universities & they have incorrect spelling.

Fox news subtitles are notorious for it as well.

The downfall of the United States.

I'm always surprised at how Fox News Channel and their local affiliates seem to be under-educated on English, but over-educated on marketing. That said, all of the Orlando area channels seem to be under-educated.

 

[Doctor Q]

Heres a wierd websight, too accomodate you're intrest in mispelings: 100 most often misspelled words in English.

 

[0098386]

It's also rumour, humour, honour, colour, analyse, virtualise, etc. WHERE DID THE Z COME FROM? "THE Z APPRECIATION SOCIETY"? - but we don't go into that

 

[skunk]

WHERE DID THE Z COME FROM?

16th and 17th century English, as it happens.

 

[annk]

It's also rumour, humour, honour, colour, analyse, virtualise, etc. WHERE DID THE Z COME FROM? "THE Z APPRECIATION SOCIETY"? - but we don't go into that

I think the Great Vowel Shift™ is pretty spooky (and fascinating). I know it happened over a period of time, but it reminds me of my text book in 9th grade history class, which stated that feudalism ended on August 4th, XXXX (can't remember the year). I thought that was very funny.