I'll try better.

LOL
Milly, if you've made these mistakes, I haven't noticed! :-)

Oh preach it, brother. Preach it hard.

(Says the hypocritical Nathan, who is always writing their/they're/there wrong and spelling it independant and vigilant and all sorts of horrors.)

Nathan, "vigilant" is the correct spelling, brutha.

Rod, have you ever checked out that Grammar Girl podcast? It goes pretty hard.

On "loose," I don't recall seeing it used as the antonym of "firm," but it certainly means "not tight," so you might want to add that one. :)

You have no idea, btw, how many Presbyterians are firmly committed to upholding the "essential tenants" of the Reformed Faith . . .

I stole the definitions from the most simplistic entries in Dictionary.com.
I've seen "loose" used in the context of "a loose hold on the rope" (as opposed to "a firm hold on the rope").

Would the essential tenants of the Reformed Faith include John Calvin and Martin Luther? :-)

Would the essential tenants of the Reformed Faith include John Calvin and Martin Luther?

I believe they would be the landlords.

And actually, in irony or ironies, Luther isn't really considered Reformed.

Gah!

"or"="of"

Nice one, Jared. :) Good point on the rope, btw--hadn't thought of that.

Oh bum.

Milly exhales. ;-} thanking her aunt for learning. . . a . . . . teaching her something.

I think this may be the second or third time Jared has posted on this. Or maybe prior occasions were in comments?

It's probably 4th or 5th. Just doing my part to change the blogosphere. :-)

It just totally throws me off when I'm reading some impassioned intellectual diatribe, and the writer trying to impress me with his knowledge and acumen uses "tenants" when he means "tenets."

Same deal when someone is opining as if they are experts on the predestinational views, and they repeatedly write "Armenians" instead of "Arminians."
Or adding that pesky "s" to the end of the Book of Revelation.

You know....much of this could be fixed by a little "post post" edit feature. I invariably (geez, is that spelled right?) skip over a word when I post something, or I pull a Nathan and use the wrong there/they're/their.

Then, even after reading back over it twice before I hit "post comment", I still miss something! Oh wretched man that I am, who can save me from this woeful plight?!!.....thanks be to spellcheck which - doggone it - I can't seem to find here.....

That being said, I do think that every good blog needs an Engligh major/professional writer/Jared type to keep everyone in line.....I'll put out the back of my hand for the ruler anytime you see something here you need to "slap".

for example....I think I just messed up on "anytime".

Just to clarify, this particular PSA was inspired by perusing posts on other sites. It wasn't prompted by anybody's comments on this site.
So you can all relax!

But too much.

:-)

Jared, this is why Mark never blogs.

dani

I don't think any of us thought it was directed at us....we just want to keep up appearances for the professional writer!.......and I (irony of all ironies) spelled English wrong!

That loose vs. lose drives me batty. I've seen them used inocorrectly so many times I started to actually wonder if I was using the 2 words improperly.

y'all are such loosers!!! :)

"I've seen them used inocorrectly so many times I started to actually wonder if I was using the 2 words improperly."

Me too! I've read people use "loose" when they should have said "lose", and since I'm generally a bit prone to misspelling those kinds of words, I started wondering if I had it wrong.

I added the pesky "s" today when a man was witnessing to me. I corrected it in my head and gave a few amens. I love it when my customers preach it. He will be married 50years on his next anniversary! Yea ta dat.

Despite knowing the difference, and also never having made that mistake even once before, I still peppered a post I wrote the other day with "tenants of the faith." Must've been tired.

And you must've been reading that post! :-O

Jared, this is why Mark never blogs.

dani

I think Blo has a pretty good handle on grammar and the human language. That shouldn't hinder him.

Jared, maybe we should have a new "Grammar" category where you could post grammar tips every week or so? I've got a few peeves that I pet as well. The sad thing is, I'm sure I do jacked up grammar stuff all the time -- I just wish I knew 'em when I did 'em. ;-)