Comment by aliqot | Hacker News Reader

Comment by aliqot | Hacker News Reader

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I think they do make a point though. Either the immediacy everything has now, or the increased reliance on spell checkers has caused a decline in overall literacy beyond the basic level.

I am far from perfect, and I'm not educated. Let me make that disclaimer first. With that out of the way, I've been online for some time and in the last 10 years, it is common to see a few common errors that I'd say we are in danger of introducing into the lexicon via dictionary-squatting:

- it's and its. If you can't substitute it's for "it is/was/has", then you need its, the possessive form of the word.

- there/their/they're

- your/you're

- are/our

- to/two/too - This is the most common, by far.

- definitely - not definately, just say def or something.

I could go on, but it's starting to feel petty or like my standards are too high for personal correspondence. "Elder shakes fist at terminal"

Sure, I totally get it, and I even agree to some extent. A lot of that eats at me on the regular, too.

But as I get older, the impermanence of, well, everything sits at the front of my mind a lot more often than it used to. Add to that the fact that English has always been in a perpetual state of change, and I just kinda shrug my shoulders at the idea of it changing further.

> I just kinda shrug my shoulders at the idea of it changing further.

I'm just about at this point. I'm too old to bother to yell "get off my lawn!" anymore.

But I thought a discussion about change in English over time might teach me something. Thanks, all!

The “correct” use of a language for any group of people is really just the way they choose to use it. The English language is changing, like all languages always do. But I can’t help but think that’s a good thing. So much of English language doesn’t make sense, or is needlessly complicated. Seeing these stupid rules erode over time is very encouraging.

Hear, They're and Everywear (by Brian Bilston)

I here that their everywear,

those people who don't know

there their from they're.

It were's me down,

they're choice of word;

there grammar shoud not be scene

but herd.

Those all click for me. It's

who/whom

that gets me.

To whom does this belong? Who climbed up that tree?

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