Thursday, August 03, 2006

Bitching and moaning

It's FOAD Thursday. But I haven't had any serious gripes since the original post. Maybe it's the scotch.

But I do have three minor complaints that don't quite merit a "FOAD."

1. For those that are living under a rock, this blog has a site meter. Therefore, if you're reading this blog, I can figure it out. And, if you're my ex-boyfriend, why are you bothering? Give a girl some space!

2. How come no one signs the friggin' guest book? The questions are fun, dammit!

3. Grammar. This is a pet peeve. For your convenience, here's a quick lesson:

"It's" and "Its" are not interchangeable, and neither are "you're" and "your." Moreover, at this point y'all should know the difference between "their," "there" and "they're."

"It's" is a contraction meaning "it is."
"Its" is a possessive pronoun.
"You're" is a contraction meaning "you are."
"Your" is a possessive pronoun.
"Their" is a possessive pronoun.
"There" indicates a place.
"They're" is a contraction of "they are."

Got it? Good.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where do you work again that you have Scotch tasting and do art stuff? And Blue Label? That's like a thousand bucks a shot or something.

Ryane said...

Have you read "Eats, Shoots & Leaves"?? If you find grammar mistakes tedious in the slightest, you will enjoy this book. It is very witty.

dara said...

Kilroy: I thought I had added you to the blogroll already. I'll fix it ASAP.

Mad: A law firm, very similar to this one. They do all sorts of things to impress summer associates.

Ryane: I have not yet read "Eats, Shoots & Leaves," but it is on my agenda. First, I need to finish reading all the books on this list, which was my goal from, like 2 years ago.

Justin S. said...

Hold on they're. Your saying its important to use good grammar?

dara said...

Justin, where's Debby to back me up when I need her? I should have timed this post better.

Jason said...

It drives me nuts as well. In college I saved a freshman-level requirement for my last semester so I would have something cake. It was a really good poli-sci course but many of the 30 freshmen in my class were a little clueless. After our first "writing assignment" the prof walked in, put down his bag, and began a grammar lesson on the proper use of "it's/its" and "they're/their." What should have only been humorous was made absolutely hilarious by all of the kids feverishly scribbling notes while this was going on. Good times.

dara said...

Jason, I work with people that have multiple graduate degrees -- both coworkers and clients. But every day, people keep getting this wrong, and not just in casual e-mails.

I seem to remember that this was taught in the early part of elementary school (ed. note: should I have used "grammar" instead?). I'm more understanding about spelling errors and typos because people are trying to get things done quickly. But this is just basic.

LunaStone said...

LMAO... the grammer thing... It's so damn close to my biggest pet peeves... when people mis-pronounce foreign words in "American"... for example: pronouncing Via VI-A, it is a spanish word (meaning "by way of") and it is pronounced VEE-A. I also hate when people get "hoity toity" with words. For example, pronouncing mature MA-TOO-ER or crevass CRA-VAS or pronouncing the H in herb.... eeeeeeeee.... it's like nail on a chalk board!!!