Using the incorrect word has always been a pet peeve ... of mine, of Mr. Ralph's and of course Kate. In fact, she wouldn't date a young man in high school because he couldn't or wouldn't use the proper there or their. So funny!
This little graphic is even better than my favorite book, Eats Shoots and Leaves!
I have a few friends who were not born into English speaking families and am always amazed at how they can even learn our language. Just those ten examples above!! Then when you add slang into the mix ... YIKES!
We hosted a high school girl one summer from Spain. Yolanda. She always carried a little spiral notepad .... mainly to write down slang words and what they meant. I remember saying we could drive over to the coast one Saturday or maybe on Sunday if the weather is iffy. She loved IFFY! Because we weren't sure IF the weather would be good or IF the weather might be too rainy.
I'm still learning English. I'm in love with my thesaurus. I do think learning Chinese would be tougher. The same words can have different meanings just by the tone and loudness of your voice.
BTW--"I seen it" and "I haven't went", drive me nutsy-cuckoo!!
ReplyDeleteOh there are SOOOO many that make me cringe.
DeleteI love, love this post----especially the "ten reasons...". Mixing up 'then' and' than annoys me. It's a wonder any of us learn to writer with all the rules to remember and spelling variations.
ReplyDelete