Grammar Giggle – Wither Is Not The Same As Either

This was in my “breaking news” stories recently. It took me a while, but I think they wanted to say “either” of the kids and slipped one finger to the left. Again, “wither” is a real word, so spell check wouldn’t catch it, so you need to actually read the text (or have someone else do it) to make sure things are correct.

Grammar Giggle – Tresury

For this Grammar Giggle, I have to admit that I am truly a grammar nerd. My nephew posted this on Facebook. I immediately had to post that his bank has misspelled “Treasury” and how disappointed I was. A cousin responded that I hadn’t even flinched at the “pornhub” entry. Well, to be honest, that’s because I didn’t get past the misspelled “Treasury.” In the days since, I have seen the same picture multiple times, so I was getting upset over a meme . . . again. But I can see this happening in real life, so I’m including it. And it did make me laugh when I realized what I had done.

Grammar Giggle – It’s A Set Up!

I captured this on one of my websites. It just didn’t look right. Research shows that according to Merriam-Webster online dictionary, “set up” is a verb meaning “to put (a machine) in readiness or adjustment for an operation.” The noun “setup” means “the preparation and adjustment of machines for an assigned task.”

In this example, “Website Analytics is not setup” is incorrect. You are talking about the action (verb) of putting your machine in readiness for an operation.

The second example “Setup Website Analytics” is also incorrect because it is also a verb showing the action of putting your machine in readiness for an operation–in this case Website Analytics. I think the only case where “setup” would be correct with the subject Website Analytics is if you were to say “Website Analytics Setup” (the preparation and adjustment of machines for an assigned task–in this case, Website Analytics) with instructions for the actual set up process.

It is definitely confusing, but if you are actually setting something up–like a computer program or app–it is “set up.”

Grammar Giggles – Myself

I saw this in a local business newspaper. It illustrates the problem with reflexive pronouns. Those are the “-self” words like myself, herself, himself. Read this post on reflexive pronouns to help you avoid the improper use of the “-self” words.

Grammar Giggle – Cemetary

A loyal Proof That reader sent this to me. For some reason, I always hold teachers and government workers to a higher standard. I know I shouldn’t, but I do. And I always like to check to make sure there isn’t another meaning for what I think is a misspelled word, but this at the top of my Google search says it all:

Grammar Giggle – Foutain Drinks

I caught this picture at a gas station in Albuquerque this past weekend. One thing they had going for them is that it was the same on two sides of the sign and consistency is a good thing. At first I thought it might have been a spacing issue, particularly since another side of the sign spelled “Red Bul” with only one “t,” but looking at the picture again, I don’t really think that is it.