Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.

[pcprogrammer]

My understanding of describing that a lot of the users on the forum do not have English as their first language is done with not being a "native English speaker" and not with "principle language", but what do I know as I'm not a native English speaker.

The Merriam Webster explanation of the two, to me, does not show it to be correct use of principle in the above.

[shapirus]

The Merriam Webster explanation of the two, to me, does not show it to be correct use of principle in the above.

I've consistently found it to be subpar.

Did you check OED?

[SteveThackery]

The Merriam Webster explanation of the two, to me, does not show it to be correct use of principle in the above.

Principal: the main, the primary, the most important

Principle: a description of how something works

The principal cause of emphysema is smoking. The principle of fair taxation is that those who earn more pay more tax.

[pcprogrammer]

The Merriam Webster explanation of the two, to me, does not show it to be correct use of principle in the above.

Principal: the main, the primary, the most important

Principle: a description of how something works

The principal cause of emphysema is smoking. The principle of fair taxation is that those who earn more pay more tax.

Ok now I see why you wrote what you wrote here, just to push that members buttons. 

A peeve of mine is grammar police feeling that they are somehow superior by posting mistakes on an international forum where English may not be the principle language used by many forum posters even if the forum is English based.

'Principal'. The principal language.....

(Sorry, that was just too good to resist.)

[Analog Kid]

Principal: the main, the primary, the most important

Principle: a description of how something works

The principal cause of emphysema is smoking. The principle of fair taxation is that those who earn more pay more tax.

Ok now I see why you wrote what you wrote here, just to push that members buttons. 

This (principle vs. principal) is one case of confusion where I would give non-native English speakers a break if they get it wrong. It's hard enough for native speakers to grasp.

[themadhippy]

T'is nearly as confusing as the cereal killer having serial for breakfast.

[Analog Kid]

... or the king's reign ended when he took the reins in the rain.

[pcprogrammer]

I was to much focused on the "native" instead of one of the other ones as being the correct term, and thrown of by the "principal" being the "head administrator of the school".

Another one that can be added to the list of problematic, is the use of than and then. I recently found a nice way to remember that the e in then is part of time.

The word "then" means "at that time" and is used to talk about when things will happen. The word "than" is used to compare things.

One that I still don't have a full grasp on is the use of "of" vs "off".

And than there is "to" and "too" that is often used wrong. I believe the correct usage is "to" when an action is intended, and "too" when an inclusion is intended.

Which leads us to "a" and "an". The "n" is added when the next word starts with a vowel, if I'm not mistaken.

I find English not that difficult and most of the time don't even translate to Dutch anymore, but there will always be exceptions. What happens somewhat frequently is that I have to look up the spelling of a word, for which I know how it is spoken and it's meaning, but not the spelling.

[shapirus]

I find English not that difficult and most of the time don't even translate to Dutch anymore, but there will always be exceptions. What happens somewhat frequently is that I have to look up the spelling of a word, for which I know how it is spoken and it's meaning, but not the spelling.

And you forgot to mention "its" vs "it's". Someone already wrote about it earlier, though.

[Analog Kid]

One that I still don't have a full grasp on is the use of "of" vs "off".

Of is just a preposition, showing the relationship of things:

• The heart of the project was a microprocessor.
• One of those things must be false.

Off is the opposite of on:

• Turn the test equipment off when it's not being used.
• Turn off the road here to get home.

BTW, the two words aren't related at all, only by having 2 letters in common.

[pcprogrammer]

I find English not that difficult and most of the time don't even translate to Dutch anymore, but there will always be exceptions. What happens somewhat frequently is that I have to look up the spelling of a word, for which I know how it is spoken and it's meaning, but not the spelling.

And you forgot to mention "its" vs "it's". Someone already wrote about it earlier, though.

That is just laziness and always understood intent wise. 

To be fully correct "it is" is what it is. The use of the apostrophe is to shorten it, like "do not" and "don't".

There will be many more of these things one can think of.

[PlainName]

Another one that can be added to the list of problematic, is the use of than and then

If you want to confuse our US brethren, try using 'affect' and 'effect' appropriately.

[themadhippy]

Which leads us to "a" and "an". The "n" is added when the next word starts with a vowel, if I'm not mistaken.

nowt is simples, take H, some words starting with H use an (an hour) whilst others don't  (a horse).

[SteveThackery]

Which leads us to "a" and "an". The "n" is added when the next word starts with a vowel, if I'm not mistaken.

nowt is simples, take H, some words starting with H use an (an hour) whilst others don't  (a horse).

In fact the proper rule* is if the next word starts with the sound of a vowel, use 'an'.

> 'Hour' starts with an "a" sound, as in apple, and 'a' is a vowel, thus "an hour".

> 'Horse' starts with an "h" sound, as in hop, hip and happy, and 'h' is a consonant, thus "a horse".

> 'X-ray' starts with an "e" sound, as in elephant, and 'e' is a vowel, thus "an X-ray"

> 'Uniform" starts with a "y" sound, as in yank, and 'y' is a consonant, thus "a uniform".


* Strictly speaking English, unlike French, does not have "rules", but rather conventions and common usage.

[SteveThackery]

If you want to confuse our US brethren, try using 'affect' and 'effect' appropriately.

Ah, I didn't know Americans got that wrong. 😉 😅  To be fair, it is complicated.

> Affect as a verb: to change something, to influence something: "The voltage affects the brightness of the LED".

> Affect as a verb (2): to put on a false behaviour, to pretend: "I will affect happiness but really I am sad inside".

> Affect as a noun: the set of behaviours that indicate a feeling or state of mind: "The patient has a positive and cheerful affect".


> Effect as a verb: to bring about, to make happen: "I will effect a fundamental change in corporate culture".

> Effect as a noun: the result of something happening: "The effect of raising the voltage was to make the LED brighter".

> Effect as a noun (2): something intended to create an impression of something else: "This is a sound effect which resembles a clap of thunder".

[themadhippy]

In fact the proper rule* is if the next word starts with the sound of a vowel, use 'an'.

Hotel? ? ? ?

[woody]

I, being a Dutch speaker, always try to say the word to find 'a' or 'an'. A x-ray just does not run off my tongue as well as an x-ray. Same for an hotel, etcetera. Probably not according to the rules, but I find it mostly works. Also for abbreviations. An el eee dee, but a led.

[PlainName]

Probably not according to the rules, but I find it mostly works. Also for abbreviations. An el eee dee, but a led.

That's a good rule of thumb. Problems occur when the wrong pronunciation is fed back into spelling, for instance when 'could have' becomes 'could of' because it often sounds like that. And then the wrong spelling reinforces the incorrect pronunciation.

But one shouldn't worry too much unless the name of the game is to major in English. Everyone makes mistakes, some take deliberate liberties (and then scold other's mistakes), and many are just doing their best. So long as the intent of the content is clear that's all that should matter here.

[paulca]

That is just laziness and always understood intent wise. 

To be fully correct "it is" is what it is. The use of the apostrophe is to shorten it, like "do not" and "don't".

There will be many more of these things one can think of.

Both "its" and "it's" are valid and mean different things.  Technically both 'should' have apostrophes but one is omitted to avoid confusion.... except nobody remembers which is which.

Im going to guess like always and "its" is that 'it possesses' and "it's" is the contraction of "it is".

[SteveThackery]

In fact the proper rule* is if the next word starts with the sound of a vowel, use 'an'.

Hotel? ? ? ?

There is an affection in the UK of pronouncing hotel as 'otel (dropping the 'h'), because that is how the French say it, and those people think it makes them sound sophisticated. It seems to be fading away, thank goodness.

However, if we explore it properly:

> Hotel begins with the' h' sound, as in happy and heavy, and 'h' is a consonant; thus "a hotel".

> 'Otel begins with the 'o' sound, as in odour and open, and 'o' is a vowel; thus "an 'otel".

What is never right is "an hotel". It sounds ridiculous - nobody says "an house" or "an horse" or "an human being".

[paulca]

I just wrote an SQL statement.

I suppose that "ess".

I have an FPGA...   "eff"?

[mendip_discovery]

Here we have a headline that reads:
Black hole 142 times heavier than the Sun discovered
and further along in the article we read
GW190521 weighs in at 142 times the mass of our Sun

https://alkhaleejtoday.co/international/5038560/Black-hole-142-times-heavier-than-the-Sun-discovered.html

Which is of course, plainly contradictory.
If it were 142 times heavier than our sun it would be 143 times the mass of our sun, not 142. This kind of thing seems to be popping up more and more lately.

What other things are there?

Sadly a sign of the times. Reporters are often required to write about a lot of different subjects often just taking a press release and trying to get some sort of article with plenty of words so they can get some money. This means there are gaps in thier knowlege. To top this off the lack of editors/editing doesn't help.

As an asside my local news paper editor got let go due to the papers all getting bought out and going online meant his job was defunct. He has gone from print to digital.editing jobs for the past few years and they all seem to go bust as traditional stuff isn't lasting. He has just announced he is taking up a job in the local council planning office.

[mendip_discovery]

So my pet peeve is TikTok adverts I am seeing in the UK.

The one that just had me was a rap tune of about the meaning of the word mitosis as a young girl hears it. The next scene she is at school and there is an exam and the question is on mitosis. She remembers the lyrics and that helps her with the exam.

There was a small text of "you must be over 13".

It seems like TikTok is trying to manipulate its image into a learning tool and not just a space for mind numbing doom scrolling.

[TimFox]

That is just laziness and always understood intent wise. 

To be fully correct "it is" is what it is. The use of the apostrophe is to shorten it, like "do not" and "don't".

There will be many more of these things one can think of.

Both "its" and "it's" are valid and mean different things.  Technically both 'should' have apostrophes but one is omitted to avoid confusion.... except nobody remembers which is which.

Im going to guess like always and "its" is that 'it possesses' and "it's" is the contraction of "it is".

The possessive “its” does not use an apostrophe, in parallel with “his” and “hers”.
The verb-containing contraction “it’s” for “it is” uses one, as do “he’s” and “she’s” (e.g., “he’s coming”).

[SteveThackery]

The possessive “its” does not use an apostrophe, in parallel with “his” and “hers”.
The verb-containing contraction “it’s” for “it is” uses one, as do “he’s” and “she’s” (e.g., “he’s coming”).

And this is where English is a bit weird. As Tim says, the possessives for "him", "her" and "it" get special treatment, becoming "his", "hers" and "its" - no apostrophes - whereas every other possessive does have an apostrophe. Thus:

> The elephant's foot is sore. (apostrophe)

> Its foot is sore. (no apostrophe)

And for completeness there is the contraction of "is", which has nothing to do with the possessive but is written identically:

> The elephant's grumpy. (The elephant is grumpy.)

Oh, I should mention the plural possessive, which involves moving the apostrophe:

> The elephants' keeper is called Claude. (The keeper of multiple elephants is called Claude).