Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Top Ten Grammatical Pet Peeves

10. Incorrect use of there, their and they're. Their = plural, possesive (it is theirs, their car). "There" is a place (over there, we are going there). They're = they are.

9. Incorrect use of to and too.

8. Text shorthand when you aren't texting. (c u l8r - okay for texting, not so cute in an e-mail or a school paper).

7. Apostrophe. Know when to use it and know when not to use it (please for the love of all that is good).

6. Your vs. You're. You're = You are. Your = possesive (it is yours)

5. Its vs. It's. It's = It is. Its = possessive

4. Constant misspelling. Most things have spell check people. And? Beyond that doesn't it just look wrong to you? It should. If it does, fix it!

3. Effect vs. Affect - “Affect” is a verb, as in "Your skill level affects how well you play the game. “Effect” is a noun, as in “The effect that alcohol has your ability to drive."

2. Lack of Subject / Verb Agreement - When speaking or writing in the present tense, a sentence must have subjects and verbs that agree in number. If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural as well. For example:
Incorrect: The recipes is good for beginning chefs.
Correct: The recipes are good for beginning chefs.

1. Omg... this one just drives me nuts. And I see it all the time! The incorrect use or spelling of "loose." Okay, when something isn't tight or is falling off it is "loose." You can "hang loose" in Hawaii. A screw can be "loose." A person who sleeps around can be "loose." A tooth can be "loose." Now, pay attention here: When your team doesn't win they "lose" the game. They DON'T "loose" it. When you can't find something you didn't "loose" it, you "lose" it. When you are going crazy you aren't "loosing" your mind... You are "losing" it. (Seriously, if you loose something is it then loost?)

Friday, March 26, 2010

Top Ten Reasons to Get Out of Bed in the Morning

10. I must prevent the 11 y/o from driving himself to school. He would totally do it.

9. Coffee

8. Let the dog out to pee

7. Check my Farmville

6. Check e-mail

5. Seeing the sunny, grateful and happy faces of my children as they go off to school (oh wait, that's the tv show I dvr'd. My kids are the grumpy ones who can't find their shoes).

4. Making a "to-do" list (ha ha ha, that won't get done. But? I still make them anyway.)

3. That moment when I walk in the door, after dropping kids off at school, and realize I have the whole house to myself for several hours.

2. Knowing that I can go back to bed in an hour if I want to.

1. Knowing that I have exactly 24 hours to come up with better reasons to get up before I have to get up and do this all over again.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Top Ten Questions You Ask But Don't Really Want To Know The Answer To

10. What is that smell?

9. Why are there sunflower seeds in the toilet?

8. Did you fart?

7. What do you want for dinner?

6. How are you?

5. Did you just put that in your mouth?

4. Really?

3. Why is the milk in the cupboard?

2. How many grams of fat do you think this has?

1. Why were you in the bathroom for so long?