UBB.Developers Forums General Discussion Chit Chat English LOTW - Vol. 1

It's time for my soon-to-be weekly English Lesson Of The Week. This week, we'll focus on grammar/spelling. The LOTW is just my attempt to make the internet a better place... awww

Commonly confused synonyms
- They're. Use when you want to say "they are". Don't use to say what someone has, or to describe a group.
- Their. Use as a descriptor. For example, their house, their dog, their pirated UBB. Don't use in place of "they're"!
- Too. Means "also", or in addition to.
- Two. The number 2. Not to be confused with either two or to.
- To. Adverb and adjective. Example: I'm going to Seattle.

Commonly mispelled words
- Congradulations. It's actually spelled congratulations.
- Noone. It's not a word Use either "no one" or "nobody" in place of it.
- Privledges. It's actually spelled privileges.
- Definately. It's actually spelled definitely.
- Millenium. It's actually spelled millennium.
- Excede. It's actually spelled exceed.
- Alot. It's not even a word. Use a lot instead.

Words considered by Britons to be incorrect
- Color = Colour
- Valor = Valour
- Neighbor = Neighbour
- Honor = Honour
- Flavor = Flavour
- Vapor = Vapour
- Defense = Defence
- Offense = Offence
- Maximize = Maximise
- Minimize = Minimise
- Organize = Organise
- Organization = Organisation
- Plagarize = Plagarise
- Polarize = Polarise

Coming next week... Vol. 2!!

Please include my favorite in your installment of vol. 2, the difference between its and it's.

A couple of additions, the difference between
accept and except..

Also, another American misspelling, Favorite.

Shoule be Favourite.

How about inquiry and enquiry (the latter is correct!).

The list is endless, actually as a Brit who visits the States a lot, there are some words that I heard first used in the US such as "Valet" - as a result I cannot avoid pronouncing it the American way (which sounds French!).

Still I think things have improved - with a Englishman commanding the USS Enterprise - they are saying "Data" the proper way at last and everyone in the US is following their lead...!

That's American correction, missy..

Please add my favorite:

Lose, loose, and for those who can't tell the difference: loser vs looser

Gee, I didn't know this would be so popular. I'll have to add some new ones next week. I'll try to keep it a weekly thing, if time permits.

From my brain to yours,
Matt

Scat's right; could we also have an installment on the use of apostrophies please.

"That's bad!"
"Allens' shoes"
"Matt's ugly"


Respect to Matt for doing this. This should be force-fed to the internet community at large; it would make the world sooo much easier to understand.

Allen: What about "looooooooooser!" tho?