Grammar, Spelling Errors And Word Meanings - Some Understandable, Some Not ...

[joko]

Many common grammar and spelling mistakes are understandable - such as there, they're and their, and should of rather than should have - because you can see the reason why the mix ups happen with those examples.

But there are some that seem to be getting more and more common - such as then and than, and weary and wary ...

I just cannot understand those two... the words are somewhat similar but do not sound the same, are not spelled the same and do not mean the same thing ... so how come so many unrelated people seem to be making the same errors?
It's not just a typo, or lack of care because they are on an internet forum either - they actually don't know the difference!

I thought it was more of an American thing, but recently I have noticed young Brits doing it too ... but even my 36 year old friend, whose job it is to proof read and adjust legal documents, said weary to mean wary...!

I am no grammar expert, but these are pretty basic, aren't they?

Have these ones always been mistaken, or is it a fairly new thing?
I am 41 and have never really noticed it happen much before the last say 8 years or so.

Thanks

[boxtops]

It could be to do with the fact that people use spell checkers these days (and the wrong word still shows up), and they they never had spelling lessons as we did.

The dreaded pacific for specific is so common.....

but I agree, they don't know the difference.

[Tilly2]

I have not seen 'than' and 'then' mixed up. Have you got an example of this?

[jno]

I wonder that too. But maybe other people do pronounce such words to sound more alike than I do? I say weery and wairy very clearly (to my own ears) but others, perhaps speaking other dialects, may not.

[bookbinder]

I think that this is representative of a general lowering of standards in many walks of life. It may also have some connection with textspeak. Anyone who comments on mistakes of grammar, spelling, and so on is sometimes told, 'does it matter as long as the meaning is clear?' Well, yes, it does matter, because a simple spelling mistake can alter the meaning of a sentence. If you want to be understood, you have to be clear in what you say.

[yogasun]

Haven't experienced the then and than mix up but definitely the weary/wary.

[sandyRoe]

I was sitting in the reception area of a lawyers office once and he came out of his rooms, gave a letter to his typist, and told her: 'It's Mr Singh with a H.
Thinking back, she probably retyped it: Dear Mr Sing with a H

[yogasun]

I agree bookbinder. Have noticed that nearly all young people put 'Your such a star' or equivalent and never use 'you're'
It really irritates me but I seem to be in the minority.

[joko]

i think the wary/weary thing might be because people are saying the first bit of weary as wear ... as in to wear clothes.


tilly - I see the then and than on a lot of websites and forums - I don't keep track of them - but just recently I saw it on a Hillsborough poster someone had made on Facebook - he had written then 3 times, instead of than - there was also some other error that a few others pointed out - so he could correct it as it was a nice little poster - but i was the only one that seem to point out this glaring error.
He didn't seem to understand at first until he obviously double checked.

If you Google - 'using then instead of than' a few pages of examples and others complaining comes up.
(I tried to add a link but it was 5-6 lines long!)

[DaisyNonna]

Was listening to the radio earlier, a man commenting on the Lance Armstrong interview said his answers were ingenious when I think he meant ingenuous.

[ummmm]

I 'used' to say 'use' instead of 'used' until Mick Talbot pointed it out to me :-)

[joko]

i have seen people write 'use' to mean 'yous'! haha

[Bert]

You have to wonder that the people who make these mistakes must never read books or magazines. Surely, if they did they would notice that "its" is quite often seen without an apostrophe. How often people of TripAdvisor ask for "advise" - I was told in school to remember "advice" and "advise" so I would know when to use "practice" and "practise" etc ["practise" just underlined on this UK website]. I had a well-educated colleague who wrote "except" for "accept", which I could hardly believe, but I've seen it elsewhere. And I hear "underestimate" and "understate" used where "overestimate" and "overstate" were meant. For example, "The economic and political repercussions of such discoveries cannot be understated." [Nigel Lawson, Daily Mail, of shale gas] and "I don't think we can underestimate the impact he had on the western world." [John McLaughlin (jazz guitarist) of Ravi Shankar.]

[Bert]

I don't know whether the spellchecker is part of my computer or part of the website. Also, I meant to type "people on TripAdvisor", but my fingers wrongly decided to type "people of TripAdvisor". Then my eyes let me down and read what my brain thought I'd typed when I checked what I had written.

[joko]

lol doc

[atalanta]

What about
"Misunderestimate"
?

[society]

Whether is dialect or not, I think most people don't know the differences. In my opinion it's all about education, and how knowledgeable one is.

Serious question
Is this phrase correct? - "Have these ones always "

[tearinghair]

I often hear people say 'wonder' when they mean 'wander' - for example 'We'll go and have a wonder round'.

[Svejk]

TH,perhaps they were golfers.

[brionon]

The Weather reporter yester-eve spoke of Cold Temperatures-I thought it should be LOW temps. Am I right ?