Mom gave me this Christmas card the other day:
I laughed a lot. I don’t think there’s a card out there better suited to me. My recent English tip blog posts have been so popular that i’m thinking of starting a new blog dedicated entirely to finding English misuse and correcting it. Each post will have a photo or screenshot, i may have multiple contributors eventually, and i’ll post the correction along with the error. It will feature common errors, in hopes that someone who makes such errors will read it and learn a thing or two. And we who use English flawlessly (*cough*) will get a good chuckle every day.
Time for another English lesson, since the first one went over so well.
I was just reading an online review of a new bar & grill in town, and it was described by the Datebook as a “none-to-crowded niche.” I commend the author for correct hyphen usage, but he or she has unfortunately used the wrong “to.”
What he meant was “none-too-crowded.”
I’ll once again quote my favorite grammar website, because it is so succinct:
Just remember that the only meanings of “too” are “also” (“I want some ice cream, too.”) and “in excess” (“Your walkman is playing too loudly.”). Note that extra O. It should remind you that this word has to do with adding more on to something.
“To” is the correct spelling for most other situations. And we all know that “two” is merely the spelling of the number 2.
Ok – i promise this will be quick and painless.
People have got to stop using the word “literally” to mean exactly the opposite of what it does mean. I’ve actually heard people misuse it on the news, on their blogs, everywhere.
Literally does not mean “practically.” Quite the opposite.
When you say “literally,” you mean that the outrageous thing you’re saying is true in the exact way you said it. (I’m going to use the most recent example of misuse but not attribute it to who said it, ’cause i’m really not trying to pick on him or her. It’s just fresh in my mind.) If you say something is “literally everywhere,” you’re pretty much always going to be lying, because nothing is literally everywhere. Not air, not matter – possibly time, because time and space are conjoined, but now i’m completely off topic.
To quote my favorite grammar website, “Don’t say of someone that he ‘literally blew up’ unless he swallowed a stick of dynamite.”
Thanks for your attention! Have a literally lovely day.