Common Errors in English has been one of my favorite sites for a very long time. I’ve never noticed it being updated. But it remains a source of endless entertainment.
It’s full of (you guessed it) common English mistakes which should be brought to everybody’s attention, even if they are accepted. Like ‘Lo Fat’ or ‘Lite’. Reading it is both humbling, and rewarding, because it seems for every item I see that makes me say “I’m glad I’m a genius and don’t say that“, there is about half an item that reminds me how ashamed I should be about my use of our nonsensical language.
I got a kick out of the following:
“This is the sort of English up with which I cannot put.” – Winston Chruchill, on the topic of ending a sentence with a preposition.
Now, if we can only do something about Islanders who say “I seen him kick my car, so I bet him up”.*
* I did not mean all Islanders. Just a healthy handful. Matt and Steve speak better than I do and they’re Islanders. I’m from Winnipeg, and I respect Islanders.
Where you to? I’ll bet you there good.
Oh, it’s Safe-Deposit Box, not Safety Deposit Box. I’ve had that wrong for years.
what’re ya bein’ about rob, what’re ya bein’ about?
Common Errors In English is also the name of a book from Broadview Press, which also happens to be the first book I ever typeset (using Ventura Publisher and a very big and expensive HP laser printer). It was a living hell to set, as there were all sorts of typographic hoops to jump through, and Ventura wasn’t exactly rock solid. I have hated english, commonness and errors of all sort ever since.
Nice to see you visit actsofvolition while on the road, Peter.