Stupid Things that Bug Me

Misspellings and mispronunciations!


Now, I realize that people aren't perfect, and saying things wrong and typos happen all the time. This, however, is not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about people who spell and say things wrong and think they are right!

Things like "Wal*Marks", "Scripture" (instead of prescription), "General Dollar" (when referring to ALL dollar-type stores), and "Fustrated" (instead of Frustrated) just annoy the hell out of me.

But the biggest thing that annoys me is the misuse of homophones! So, my friends, here is a list of the homophones I see most often that are misused and their correct uses. Please give it at least a once over.


1. To/Too/Two
*I went TO the market. (used either as a preposition)
*I want to dance. (preceding a verb)
*Katy wanted to go TOO. (if you can use the word "also" instead, then you choose "too"[Katy wanted to go also.])
*We bought TWO bananas. (written form of the number 2)
2. Know/No/Now (not a homophone, but commonly mistaken as one)
*I asked a boy if he KNOWs what 3x3 equals.
*He said NO.
*I said, "Okay, I will show you NOW."
3. Hole/Whole
*I dug a HOLE yesterday.
*I dug the WHOLE thing by myself.
4. Which/Witch
*Melissa remembers Glenda the good WITCH.
*However, she couldn't remember WHICH cartoon she was from.
5. Their/There/They're
*Mark and Jess asked me to come to THEIR house.
*Mark said that THEY'RE having a party tonight. (a contraction of THEY ARE)
*I declined the invite because I didn't want to drive all the way out THERE.

And not exactly a homophone, but still annoying as hell:

***Then/Than
* I like Cheesecake more THAN Chocolate Cake.
* If you are going to yell, THEN I am going to leave.

So there it folks.

I know that most of you probably don't care if you irritate me with incorrect use of homophones, however I want to give you one little bit of advice. If you have a job, are in school, or interact with anyone via writing/email/fax etc. then you really need to know the difference between these words. Wouldn't it suck if you got passed over on a sweet promotion because your competition could communicate better than you?