The Peeve Of The Week (POTW) is an occasional feature on Slope which allows me to (a) gripe about something which bugs me, whether justified or not (b) put up a post when there's nothing in particular I want to say about the market. In spite of its moniker, the POTW may or may not shown up weekly. In any event, here's a new entry:
I recognize English isn't the easiest of languages. Because of its heritage, English has many quirks and ungainly rules, and I'm sure I make plenty of grammatical mistakes in the course of my life.
However, if English is your first language (and, if so, it's almost certainly your only language), it shouldn't be that hard to know how to spell some commonly-used words. In addition, it shouldn't be that hard to understand that some words have homonyms, and knowing the spelling and definition of these will prove to others you are an educated, capable member of our society.
Let's look at a few common problem areas:
+ their/there/they're – their is a possessive pronoun ("The paper I am holding provides their positive STD results.") There is most commonly related to placement ("I put my used tissues right over there.") they're is a contraction for "they are" ("They're morons, because they don't visit Slope on a daily basis).
+ it's/its – I'm really not sure how often I have to repeat this to make it known, but the first word is a contraction ("It's a shame Tim has to keep reminding some people of what they should have learned in the third grade.") while the second is a possessive pronoun ("That house is in such sorry shape that its shingles are blowing off in the breeze.")
+ loose/lose – Gosh, these aren't even homonyms, yet people get them confused. "Loose" is a condition of non-tightness (AJC leaps to mind). "Lose" is the opposite of "win". Think Charlie Sheen.
There are many others, but this is a good start. Watch yourself in the comments section; you don't want people to pile on you for stumbling over any of these fundamentals.
