Weird/wierd has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time. It is a well fed pet.
As for weather/whether, I've seen more wether than those mistakes.
As of 2/28/05: 101 pounds since December 7, 2004 OFFICIAL THREE-MONTH COUNT: 112 pounds on March 9, 2005 OFFICIAL SIX-MONTH COUNT: 142 pounds on June 8, 2005 OFFICIAL ONE YEAR COUNT: 187 pounds on December 7, 2005 As of 2/27/06: 202 pounds "I've lost a heavyweight" As of 7/31/06: 224 pounds As of 12/7/08 (four years out): Still 210 pounds down! Now announcing for NBWA Championship Wrestling! *2008 NBWA Personality of the Year*
All fine examples of the stupidity of people, though I've rarely seen then/than being confused.
In related news, one day I'd like to live in a world where those who confuse "of" and "have" are taken outside and shot. I don't think that's asking too much.
I get weird and "wierd" wrong occasionally. I blame the stupid "I before E, except when c (and apparently W)" rule.
I used to manage a video store and every so often there would be weird conversations/near arguments between friends/couples in line. One was about the "I before E, except after C" rule. The boyfriend said it was a guideline, not a rule. The girlfriend begged to differ and when he wouldn't agree, she got more and more flustered. When they approached the counter, I told them to hold on just a second, I had a movie box I wanted to show them.
I ran over to to the comedy section and pulled "Weird Science." She was not amused.
I used to use "definately" all the time. If you go back to my old posts (for whatever strange reason) you'll probably find that mistake a lot. The Lovely Future Mrs. Hegemon made a point of ridding me of that habit, so I guess you could say I was an asshole until she came along. (Probably for other reasons, too. B^)
Originally posted by Guru ZimIt's "woulda" that is causing that problem, though. People don't really say "Would have", but they don't want to type "woulda" cause it looks stupid.
"Would of" sounds more like "woulda" than "would have".
I think it's "would've" that causes the confusion, as it sounds almost exactly like "would of", so people think that is what is being said.
Same word, diff interpretation. Wood-uv. Wood-a. The whole L is not really pronounced on the west coast.
Say "I would have if I could have". When I say it, I say "wood" phonetically. Could is "cood" like wood or good. This may be a west coast thing, but in my accent the L is silent.
I say would've conversationally, I'm saying Woulda, which isn't a word. "I woulda done it." is a sentence that I would never write. The correct sentence is "I would've done it" but I know I don't even hint at the v in that.
So, west coast people, spelling things from how they hear them, are probably screwing this up. Woulda is closer to would of if you are guessing at the right word.
Originally posted by Guru ZimSame word, diff interpretation. Wood-uv. Wood-a. The whole L is not really pronounced on the west coast.
Say "I would have if I could have". When I say it, I say "wood" phonetically. Could is "cood" like wood or good. This may be a west coast thing, but in my accent the L is silent.
I say would've conversationally, I'm saying Woulda, which isn't a word. "I woulda done it." is a sentence that I would never write. The correct sentence is "I would've done it" but I know I don't even hint at the v in that.
So, west coast people, spelling things from how they hear them, are probably screwing this up. Woulda is closer to would of if you are guessing at the right word.
No, really, you can keep repeating yourself using longer and longer posts but you're totally wrong and everyone else is right about people writing "of" when they really mean "'ve." It doesn't matter what their geo.
I don't think that's just a west coast pronunciation. That's really the only one listed at dictionary.com would 1 Pronunciation [wood; unstressed wuhd]
The unusual spelling is because it's been a part of the English language for more than a thousand years.
So really the fault lies in the txtr/leetspeak/phonetic spelling that so many people on the internet seem to use almost exclusively.
Wierd always annoyed me as a fan of "Weird Al" Yankovic. The unusual spelling of his last name also meant that you'd find his music under about 20 different names on your file sharing program of choice. You'd see Weird Al, Wierd Al, Wired Al, you'd see Yankovich, etc.
As someone who lives in New York I must say that this is the greatest tie you have ever shared with us. Not only snazzy and cool but informative as well.