# ASF spelling thread



## sam76 (29 June 2005)

Okay, sit up straight and pay attention ASF students. This thread is all about reliving those horror days....school.... aarrghhhhh.... :iamwithst 

I've jotted down some quick notes on spelling. I'll post some info on punctuation down the track.

Please feel free to add contributions.

Remember those that contribute a rule or two will be exempt from having to spell correctly on this forum again  


*Adding Suffixes* (letters placed at the end of a word to make a new word eg:climb + 'ed' becomes climbed)
when a one-syllable word has *two vowels * (a,e,i,o,u), or ends in two consonants (the rest of the alphabet), just add the suffix.

sprain - sprained     break - breakage
spear - speared      hear - hearing

When a one-syllable word has only *one vowel*, double the final consonant.

scar - scarred        star - starring
trek - trekking        shop - shopping

*Drop the 'e' to add 'ing'* 

if the word ends in  a single 'e' then the 'e' is usuall dropped to add 'ing'

scare - scaring        file - filing
lose - losing            smile - smiling 

*Endings in 'able'* 

If the word is recognisable on its own, the ending will more often then not be 'able'

obtain - obtainable      pay - payable
break - breakable        afford - affordable

saying that, if the word is NOT recognisable on its own, the endings will be 'ible'

aud - audible     poss- possible
terr - terrible     elig -  eligible


----------



## tech/a (29 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*

Where were you when I needed an English teacher? about 1964.

A star in the sky I'll bet!


----------



## GreatPig (29 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*



			
				sam76 said:
			
		

> saying that, if the word is NOT recognisable on its own, the endings will be 'ible'
> 
> aud - audible     poss- possible
> terr - terrible     elig -  eligible



What about:

t - table ?  

And one thing I see regularly on all forums:

*lose* = opposite of win
*loose* = opposite of tight

So you can't loose $1000!

GP


----------



## sam76 (29 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*

lol.    I forgot to add - there are always exceptions to the rules!

eg i before e except after c.

except: either, height, leisure, their.


----------



## ghotib (29 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*



			
				sam76 said:
			
		

> lol.    I forgot to add - there are always exceptions to the rules!
> 
> eg i before e except after c.
> 
> except: either, height, leisure, their.



and:  weird

which is.

Ghoti


----------



## ghotib (29 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*



			
				sam76 said:
			
		

> Okay, sit up straight and pay attention ASF students. This thread is all about reliving those horror days....school.... aarrghhhhh.... :iamwithst
> 
> I've jotted down some quick notes on spelling. I'll post some info on punctuation down the track.
> 
> ...



Never forgetting:

1.  Any poster whose post correcting another poster's spelling or grammar contains any error whatsoever shall be consigned to subeditorial perdition.

2.  All posts correcting spelling or grammar contain errors  (unless they're posted by Me)

Ghoti


----------



## doctorj (30 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*

The thing that bugs me most - inappropriate use of any of the following:

there/their/they're

Ugh!


----------



## sam76 (30 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*



			
				ghotib said:
			
		

> Never forgetting:
> 
> 1.  Any poster whose post correcting another poster's spelling or grammar contains any error whatsoever shall be consigned to subeditorial perdition.
> 
> ...



lol, touche  Ghotib!


----------



## Joe Blow (30 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*



			
				doctorj said:
			
		

> The thing that bugs me most - inappropriate use of any of the following:
> 
> there/their/they're
> 
> Ugh!




How about your/you're?


----------



## sam76 (30 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*

ok, some quick remarks regarding punctuation.

Check this out...

1 A woman, without her man, is nothing.
2 A woman: without her, man is nothing.

makes a difference, eh?

Comma  ( , ) indicates a slight break in the sentence

semicolon ( ; ) indicates a more definite break then a comma

Colon ( : ) indicates a stronger breakthen a semicolon but a slightly weaker break then a full stop.

Full stop ( . ) I think we all know what one of these is


----------



## GreatPig (30 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*



			
				sam76 said:
			
		

> Colon ( : ) indicates a stronger breakthen a semicolon



A semicolon is used to join two independant clauses while a colon is typically used with a dependant clause (although can also be used with independant clauses). Both are less of a break than a period, but a semicolon is really more of a break than a colon.

Example of a colon with dependant clause:

_There's one certain thing that can be said about share trading: it's an easy way to lose money._

Example of a semicolon with independant clauses:

_Share trading can be risky; I have a plan to minimize losses._

Oh... and perhaps we should also mention the difference between *then* and *than*.  

Cheers,
GP


----------



## ghotib (30 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*

And then there's dependent (adjective) and dependant (noun)

Ghoti

Have I ever mentioned that I was a lead writer and editor in a previous life? It almost taught me humility


----------



## RichKid (30 June 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*

Also note the difference between:

*it's* = (it is) _eg_ It is a great day.

*its* = (belonging to) _eg_ Its head is facing you.


----------



## Joe Blow (2 July 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*



			
				Joe Blow said:
			
		

> How about your/you're?




This deserves to be expanded on a little:

“You’re” is always a contraction of “you are.” If you’ve written “you’re,” try substituting “you are.” 

If it doesn’t work, the word you want is“your.”


----------



## GreatPig (3 July 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*



			
				ghotib said:
			
		

> And then there's dependent (adjective) and dependant (noun)



Good spot, Ghotib.

While not particularly relevant here, one that gets a lot of people is the difference between the verbs "to lay" and "to lie".

Past tense and past participle of lay is laid, while past tense of lie is lay and past participle is lain (then there's the form of to lie meaning to not tell the truth, where the past tense and past participle are both lied).

I've often seen people write "She laid on the bed", which she couldn't possibly do unless she was a hen (although of course she could _get_ laid on the bed ).

GP


----------



## tech/a (3 July 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*

Fantastic---I'm going to give this link to the local school.
Might teach the teachers something.


----------



## Julia (3 July 2005)

*Re: ASF spelling thread.*

The one that gets me is:

"She went and had a good lay down".

"Because he was "tired and emotional"  he needed to have a Bex and a good lay down".

These really upset me.  Yes, I'm a complete pedant.

Another one is the use of  "100 less flowers" instead of "100 fewer flowers"
"Fewer" should be used when referring to individual items, and "less" when referring to mass, i.e."there is less water in the pool than there was yesterday".  For that matter you could say "there are fewer litres in the pool than yesterday".

This is a great thread, Joe. Let's hope we all learn something towards the better use of our language.

I have a young friend who teaches English in a Queensland public secondary school.  She asked me for the definition of a verb, a noun, and an adjective. The notion of an adverb was completely foreign to her.

Julia


----------



## TraderPro (13 June 2006)

Zdnet writes about the ten most flagrant grammar mistakes here:

"10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid"
http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020415,39273376,00.htm 

And for those of you looking to add spellcheck to your forum experience and you have Mozilla Firefox here's a spelling extension for your browser.

http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/ 

Cheers!


----------



## Prospector (13 June 2006)

This is a pet hate of mine - people who use the apostrophe incorrectly - eg 'its' 'it's' etc.

But what really gets to me is the bogan (is that how you spell bogan  )spelling we have these days of people's names - you know the type - they take a normal name and insert a y, or  'ee' - and then they get upset when you spell their name incorrectly.  Usually you see these types of names when the police give a run down of the latest arrest for drugs kind of thing!  

Kath and Kim used Eponee - get the drift?


----------



## Joe Blow (13 June 2006)

Prospector said:
			
		

> This is a pet hate of mine - people who use the apostrophe incorrectly - eg 'its' 'it's' etc.




This is a pet hate of mine as well. It's especially painful to watch when people start putting apostrophes in plurals, such as 'car's' or 'avocado's'. 

I see these all the times on signs for fruit and vege shops. (CARROT'S $2/KG).


----------



## Joe Blow (13 June 2006)

Prospector said:
			
		

> This is a pet hate of mine - people who use the apostrophe incorrectly - eg 'its' 'it's' etc.




This is a pet hate of mine as well. It's especially painful to watch when people start putting apostrophes in plurals, such as "car's" or "avocado's". 

I see these all the times on signs for fruit and vege shops. (CARROT'S $2/KG).


----------



## hypnotic (13 June 2006)

i never know when to use "license" and "licence"

and the other one is "practice" and "practise"

Yes i still haven't learnt!!!!     *ashamed*

Maybe someone here can help me out while we are on the topic.


----------



## Staybaker (13 June 2006)

One mistake that always gets my attention (in a bad way), and which is fairly common on trading forums (fora?), is when people write about "pouring over charts". Pouring what? Coffee? Presumably they mean "poring" ...   

Cheers, Staybaker.


----------



## Prospector (13 June 2006)

hypnotic said:
			
		

> i never know when to use "license" and "licence"
> 
> and the other one is "practice" and "practise"
> 
> ...



I was taught that Practice with a C is a noun - eg Doctor's practice.  Practise with an S is a verb - eg practise your tennis game.    

But I have checked on the internet and according to Websters, they are the same thing.  But I dont agree  -  :swear: I think they have taken the easy way out!


----------



## Prospector (13 June 2006)

Staybaker said:
			
		

> One mistake that always gets my attention (in a bad way), and which is fairly common on trading forums (fora?), is when people write about "pouring over charts". Pouring what? Coffee? Presumably they mean "poring" ...
> 
> Cheers, Staybaker.





Or when someone 'important' dies, "the tributes pour in"   Pour....pore.... in to where, exactly?


----------



## GreatPig (13 June 2006)

Prospector said:
			
		

> But I have checked on the internet and according to Websters, they are the same thing. But I dont agree



I think it's a regional thing. I also learnt that 'c' is the noun and 's' the verb, but "practise" is primarly British use. Apparently Americans generally use "practice" for everything.

Cheers,
GP


----------



## Dukey (6 November 2006)

*Re: ASF spelling thread - Your / You're - Arghhh!!!*

G'day all.
Now - I don't wanna be a pedantic B(*&^$^$ard !! cause I know I make plenty of mistakes...but the one that gets to me most, mainly because I see it in every second post is this....

" YOUR a funny dude Mr XYZ..." etc.

People... It's "YOU'RE a funny dude..." that's short for "YOU ARE a funny dude..."

If what you're thinking of writing is short for "you are"... then you can type "you're"; but it's NOT "your".

YOUR denotes ownership - eg. "It's your pen Mr XYZ.."

Jeeze!! No wonder everyone is whining about the standard of teachers these days!!!

OK OK - settle petal. So that's my little rant for today!! Back to work  all youse ozy stuck phorem peepul.


----------



## 2020hindsight (6 November 2006)

*Re: ASF spelling thread - Your / You're - Arghhh!!!*



			
				Dukey said:
			
		

> ...but the one that gets to me most, mainly because I see it in every second post is this...." YOUR a funny dude Mr XYZ..." etc.



HEY - HEY - Your a funny dude TOO, Dukey.!!  Their you go!! Stick that in your pipe!! Personally I think it's a case of one two many boozups and two many miles behind!!".     

To change the subject - personally I cant stand people who aren't metricated  - should be kilometres !!! pronounced "KILometres !! to rhyme with MILLimetres ...   (PS I could give a shinbone how you pronounce Kilometres, - but I know this old bloke in a retirement home who can talk about that for bludy hours lol.  Mind you, whenever they sit down for breakfast, because he used to be Managing Director of a big company, he bangs his knife and fork on the table and demands ..."THE MEETING will come to ORDER !!!" lol

PS  Like they say, the world still waits for USA to go metric - poor bugas are still measuring "3 foot 2 and 13/64 inches", sheesh.  As they say, "The USA is going metric inch by inch". lol.
adios amigos - happy hour - ideal time for a stir!.

PS btw, m8, imho, theirs been a sp8 of bad spellin L8Ly


----------



## 123enen (6 November 2006)

They're know miss steaks in this post cause we used special soft wear witch checks yore spelling.  
It is mower or lass a weigh too verify.  How ever is can knot correct arrows inn punctuation ore usage:an it will not fined words witch are miss used butt spelled rite.  
Four example; a paragraph could have mini flaws but wood bee past by the spell checker.  
And it wont catch the sentence fragment which you. 
Their fore, the massage is that proofreading is knot eliminated, it is still berry muck reek wired


----------



## 123enen (6 November 2006)

Prays the Lord for the spelling chequer
That came with our pea sea!
Mecca mistake and it puts you rite
Its so easy to ewes, you sea.

I never used to no, was it e before eye?
(Four sometimes its eye before e.)
But now I've discovered the quay to success
It's as simple as won, too, free!

Sew watt if you lose a letter or two,
The whirled won't come two an end!
Can't you sea? It's as plane as the knows on yore face
S. Chequer's my very best friend

I've always had trubble with letters that double
"Is it one or to S's?" I'd wine
But now, as I've tolled you this chequer is grate
And its hi thyme you got won, like mine.


----------



## 2020hindsight (6 November 2006)

123enen said:
			
		

> Prays the Lord for the spelling chequer
> That came with our pea sea!
> Mecca mistake and it puts you rite
> Its so easy to ewes, you sea..



Lol - 123 - I sent this business letter the other day - I said "I suggest that the total should be obtained by pro-rata-ing"  - 
Spellcheck changed it (I didnt think as I clicked "accept") and it came out as :-
"I suggest that the total should be obtained by procreating"  
Gotta watch that spellcheck lol.
PS I picked up the mistake a few weeks later - couldn't understand why they hadnt responded to my offer lol.


----------



## nelly (7 November 2006)

You already know the 'i' before 'e' ones...I also learned this.....

A NOUN is the name we give to something, a person, a place, animal, idea or thing.
An ADJECTIVE tells us about the noun, beautiful, spiky, blue or brown.
The VERB is the action being done, eat, swim, hop or run.
Doing, being  and having  are verbs as well, he is, I am, and we can spell.
The ADVERB tells us where, when or how, early late, quickly  and now.
PRONOUNS stand in for a noun, I  am Australian and we live in Georgetown.
CONJUNCTIONS join sentences together, I like the sun and  the warmer weather.
PREPOSITIONS introduce a phrase, under the umbrella Tree or in a daze.
Two types of ARTICLES highlight nouns, an abalone, a bilby and the  Darling Downs.
The DEFINITIVE ARTICLES indicate the noun is one of a kind, a lizard, a  wallaby and an imaginative mind.
An INTERJECTION expresses a feeling, ouch! wow! yuk! and is full of meaning!
Learn this poem and you will see just how easy English can be!!


If whomever is reading it and they have no trouble with comprehension I reckon the deed is done.........

Cheerful
 p.s.  You get the meaning when people use 'pour' don't you....?


----------



## Julia (7 November 2006)

nelly said:
			
		

> You already know the 'i' before 'e' ones...I also learned this.....
> 
> A NOUN is the name we give to something, a person, a place, animal, idea or thing.
> An ADJECTIVE tells us about the noun, beautiful, spiky, blue or brown.
> ...





Thanks for that, Nelly.  It could be quite useful.
I'd also mention, though, that many people just can't get hold of words like "interjection", "conjunction" etc.  I tutor adults in literacy, and have to say, e.g. "joining word" instead of "conjunction".  Everything has to come down to really simple, almost child like words.

I do agree about "your" versus "you're".  Drives me mad.  Can't honestly see why it's difficult to grasp the difference between the concept of ownership for the first and the abbreviated version of "you are" in the second.

What annoys me even more is the widespread misuse of apostrophes, especially at the fruit shop:  "banana's for sale"!!!

Julia


----------



## 2020hindsight (8 November 2006)

Julia said:
			
		

> misuse of apostrophes, especially at the fruit shop:  "banana's for sale"!!!Julia



Like the un-original fish shop competing with the fruit shop - 

the fruit shop would put up "my banana's are the GREATEST" to which the fish shop would reply " my sole's are the GREATEST"
next day ...

"my banana's are the BEST" to which the fish shop would reply " my sole's are the BEST"

finally the fruit shop twigged "My banana's ARE banana's" ? - there was no reply lol.

PS as for sentences ending in prepositions , these are things up with which I will not put!! ( as winston Churchill said )


----------



## chops_a_must (8 November 2006)

I hate postmodernists. Any words that they use should be banned. How about a full stop ceunts! Or should that be with a question mark? Interesting how _loquaciousness _ is such a long word.


----------



## Staybaker (13 November 2006)

*The Rules Of English*

1.  Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

 2.  Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

 3.  And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.

 4.  It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.

 5.  Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat).

 6.  Always avoid annoying alliteration.

 7.  Be more or less specific.

 8.  Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.

 9.  Also, too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.

 10.  No sentence fragments.  No comma splices, run-ons are bad too.

 11.  Contractions aren't helpful and shouldn't be used.

 12.  Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.

 13.  Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.

 14.  One should never generalize.

 15.  Comparisons are as bad as cliches.

 16.  Don't use no double negatives.

 17.  Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.

 18.  One-word sentences?  Eliminate.

 19.  Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.

 20.  The passive voice is to be ignored.

 21.  Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary.  Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.

 22.  Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.

 23.  Kill all exclamation points!!!!

 24.  Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.

 25.  Understatement is probably not the best way to propose earth shattering ideas.

 26.  Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.

 27.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations.  Tell me what you know."

 28.  If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times:  resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.

 29.  Puns are for children, not groan readers.

 30.  Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.

 31.  Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.

 32.  Who needs rhetorical questions?

 33.  Exaggeration is a million times worse than understatement.

 34.  Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

Cheers, Staybaker.


----------



## 2020hindsight (13 November 2006)

lol - Nice one Staybaker
and likewise Nelly's poem bak there  

I'd post a post here except it would be like "challenging a school of piranhas to a game of water polo" lol - especially considering the number of spelling errors and typos I personally make.

You know what DNA stands for don't you? - National Dyslexic Association


----------



## Realist (9 December 2006)

Prospector said:
			
		

> Or when someone 'important' dies, "the tributes pour in"   Pour....pore.... in to where, exactly?





The tributes pour in to their letterbox.

Seems logical to me...


----------



## imajica (9 December 2006)

when people use double negatives it really s**ts me!

ie- "I don't know nothing"

Springer-English  or "Bling-lish" as I like to call it!


----------



## rederob (9 December 2006)

ireelidoentnohooisupsetbibadspellink
no
notme4wotitsworth


----------



## Realist (9 December 2006)

imajica said:
			
		

> when people use double negatives it really s**ts me!
> 
> ie- "I don't know nothing"
> 
> Springer-English  or "Bling-lish" as I like to call it!




A University professor of mine said there are cases where there is a positive and a negative which results in a negative, there are cases where there are two negatives which result in a positive, there are cases where two positives result in a positive, however there are no cases where two positives result in a negative.

I said "Yeah, Right".


----------



## chops_a_must (9 December 2006)

Realist said:
			
		

> A University professor of mine said there are cases where there is a positive and a negative which results in a negative, there are cases where there are two negatives which result in a positive, there are cases where two positives result in a positive, however there are no cases where two positives result in a negative.
> 
> I said "Yeah, Right".



Truth tables. Easy.


----------



## 2020hindsight (9 December 2006)

chops_a_must said:
			
		

> Truth tables. Easy.



or as they say in HK, "two whites dont make a wong "


----------



## 2020hindsight (11 December 2006)

people who misspell "gourillas"
 I mean "gorillas" 
Also "guerillas"....(or guerrillas?)

"The gorillas ate the bananas, and
the guerillas slipped on the skins as they crept thru the jungle"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare


----------



## sam76 (11 December 2006)

How about  "I've finished them ones" or "where do you want them ones?"

nasty stuff that.


----------



## 2020hindsight (11 December 2006)

or "I love you'se all " 
still when you've just been through a boxing match I imagine your grammar lessons have been knocked into your distant memories lol


----------



## rederob (11 December 2006)

2020hindsight said:
			
		

> people who misspell "gourillas"
> I mean "gorillas"
> Also "guerillas"....(or guerrillas?)
> 
> ...



.... you can't be consistent all the time


----------



## sam76 (12 December 2006)

2020hindsight said:
			
		

> or "I love you'se all "
> still when you've just been through a boxing match I imagine your grammar lessons have been knocked into your distant memories lol




or how about "where do you'se want them ones?"

hehehe


----------



## bluelabel (3 October 2008)

Hi guys and gals,

I was reading the grammar forum and something popped into my head which I have a great frustration with, and then found this thread, which has not been used for a long time and thought it more appropriate to place my rant in here.

The letter Z.

My blood boils when I see and hear inappropriate used of the letter Z in Australia, and I feel we have Microsoft and Sesame Street to blame for this.

Firstly, when you spell realize, the word is realise.  Please check your spell check is on the correct setting,

Secondly, the letter is pronounced ZED, not ZEE as Elmo would have us believe,

Thirdly, it is not cute or fun to z your s's on the end of wordz, you are not a homey from the hood, and should give yourself more credit than that, and

Lastly, plz dnt cht 2 me lyke tis, I am not 3 years old..... (Although after writing this I feel older than my 80 year old grandmother.)

Peace whippersnappers


(Funnily enough I just spellchecked the above in Word and whippersnappers didn’t get picked up... hmmm…)


----------



## noirua (3 October 2008)

antidisestablishmentarianism

The longest word is: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis


----------



## bassmanpete (3 October 2008)

> or "I love you'se all "




Many years ago I was at the offices of a large, well known company to install some equipment. While waiting for the office manager I was reading some of the stuff on the notice board. One was a Thank You card from a young woman who had been on work experience. She wrote, amongst other things,  "Thank use all."


----------



## bassmanpete (3 October 2008)

> the letter is pronounced ZED, not ZEE as Elmo would have us believe




When I was about 6 (1950 or thereabouts) I saw the following in an American comic:

Q. What's the coldest row in the cinema? A. Z row.

To me that was Zed row and didn't make sense. I asked my dad to explain it and that's when I learnt that the Americans  say Zee.


----------



## zolow (3 October 2008)

Okay,

For me it's people who don't know the difference between 'bought' and 'brought'

'bought' = past tense of sold

'brought' = past tense of bring

Having said that I do have a tendency to capitalise in the middle of sentences - go figure.

Z


----------



## rub92me (3 October 2008)

zolow said:


> Okay,
> 
> For me it's people who don't know the difference between 'bought' and 'brought'
> 
> ...



'bought' = past tense of sold? I'm not buying that.


----------



## Julia (3 October 2008)

zolow said:


> Okay,
> 
> For me it's people who don't know the difference between 'bought' and 'brought'
> 
> ...



Don't you mean    "bought"   -   past tense of buy?


----------



## GreatPig (3 October 2008)

Julia said:


> Don't you mean    "bought"   -   past tense of buy?



Not a good mistake to make as a share trader. 

GP


----------

