Correct Grammar Isn’t “Everyday” Knowledge

I’m a self-proclaimed word nerd, so good correct grammar has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. While I am not perfect and make my own mistakes from time to time, there are a few faux pas that drive me absolutely insane.

You tell ‘em!

10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling: The Oatmeal does a fine job identifying many of the common misspellings that plague my peers. Keep this as a handy reference tool if you know that affect/effect will always trip you up … there’s no shame in your game.

I dig the message, not the usage.

Every Day versus Everyday: I see this used incorrectly almost every day. See what I did there? What maddens me most is seeing it misused by billion-dollar corporations. “Everyday” is used as an adjective to describe something ordinary or common, while “every day” is an adverb used the same way you would use “daily” … Learn it. Live it. Love it.

Thank you, Google Images. Nothing I could have dreamt can top this.

Random Capitalization: Almost as annoying as CAPS LOCK YELLING AT YOU is the random capitalization I see so often. There’s not a reason I can think of as to why you’d want every word in a hed capitalized, and words like “it” and “is” are actually capitalized in headlines — yes, even though they’re short.

Use this visual to remember what you really mean.

Made-Up Phrases: Similar to the song lyrics we invent when we don’t know the words, I constantly find nonsensical phrases all over the interwebs. Some examples: “All of the sudden,” “I could care less” and “With all intensive purposes.”

There are plenty of other aggravating offenses committed each day, but these ones stick out as the most heinous to me. Like everyone should, I keep an eye out for the rules that I used to consistently miss — quotations with punctuation, for example.

What are your grammatical pet peeves? Please reassure me that it’s completely normal to shake an angry fist each time I see something like this:

And, just for fun … learn about the mysterious “alot” here, courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half.