I saw this online in a breaking news alert for a local television station. It was confusing because the breaking news headline said the shooting occurred “before” the car crashed (and they also used an unnecessary comma), but when I clicked on the actual news story, that headline said the shooting occurred “after” the car crashed. This is an example of why it is important to actually read what you’re writing and not trust that even if everything is spelled correctly, it is correct.
I saw this sign recently on a TikTok and couldn’t resist. This is a very common error. Just remember that “your” is something belonging to YOU, while “you’re” is a contraction for YOU ARE. Replace the word in question with “you are” and you’ll see that that is the one that works. Unless, of course, you are talking about the nuts that belong to you–which doesn’t make any sense. LOL!
I saw this while on the internet recently (and on a site that should know better). The comma is unnecessary and makes this difficult to read.
A friend sent me these assembly instructions for a desk she purchased. I assume the manufacturer’s first language is not English, but instructions on something you are selling in the United States are kind of important and they should take more care with translations. I am really impressed, however, with the proper use of “It’s” in the last sentence.
I snapped this picture over the holidays at a local drive-through restaurant. The first, “day,” is singular yet they list several days. The second, “pease,” is obviously meant to be “please.” I realize “Drive Thru” is also incorrect as it should be hyphenated, but the spelling is listed in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as a variant or less common spelling. It is fine for this casual use, but I would not use it in legal documents.
This popped up on a local news program on my phone. I’m still not sure what was thrown at the employees. Was it mice or was it knives? Proofreading involves reading ALL of the writing and making sure it all makes sense together. I’ve learned that people are typically bad at proofreading titles (and if you have your Word settings set to ignore words in all caps, turn that off!), so make sure you read the title and then make sure what follows matches the intent of the title.
A friend sent this to me. They got it correct in one place, but not in another on the same sign. Perhaps they were out of the letter “e” or perhaps they just weren’t paying attention. In this sign, both should be “you’re,” the contraction for “you are.”
This picture is an example of too much information. It seems that since chickens only have back legs–I think the front “legs” are called “wings”–this language is unnecessary and confusing. But in today’s litigious society, sometimes manufacturers do put what looks like ridiculous information on packaging to cover all of their bases.
After I posted the original Grammar Giggle on this photo, I had several people comment that I had missed some errors. I don’t always point out all of the errors–both to give the author some credit and so it doesn’t overwhelm the reader and make it seem worse than it really is. However, you’ve asked, so here is Hot Mess Memories – Part 2!
I hope you have learned at least one thing from this Grammar Giggle. That is always my intent. I try hard not to humiliate any author and I use errors we see in public every day as a way to teach you correct grammar and proofreading issues–not to poke fun of anyone who just doesn’t know better. Once we know better, we can all do better!
My brother sent this to me from a local newspaper remembering a drive-in theatre in Mesa. “It’s” is one of those words that does not follow the normal possession rules. The only time to use “it’s” is as a contraction of “it is.” If “it” owns something, it is simply “its.”
Plus, if you are talking about decades, they got it right the second time–the last two numerals of the decade, no apostrophe, and “s.” You wouldn’t spell it out once and then use numerals once.
Finally, “til” isn’t a word. It should be “until.” However, Merriam Webster and the Urban Dictionary disagree and say that “’til” is a contraction for “until,” but not in formal writing. That means that even though this wouldn’t be considered “formal” writing, this example is still incorrect since there is no apostrophe to indicate the “un” is missing.
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