Eliminate These Common Grammatical Mistakes

We're probably all guilty of some grammar errors in our writing.  For example, I prefer putting my punctuation marks outside of quotation marks unless they're part of the actual quote.  I prefer "to boldly go" over "to go boldly" in the Star Trek theme.  But as lax as my own writing may be with some rules, there are a few that really irritate me when I see them in print.  If I start reading a blog and bump into more than a couple, I'm out of there.

The folks over at Copyblogger have compiled their "Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb" and it's a great start.  If you make more than two of those mistakes in a paragraph, I'm going to have a hard time reading the rest of that paragraph. I'll tune out, and move on. So will many other readers.

Below are a few of my own "grammar nazi" rules to add to theirs:

• No text-message abbreviations in your blog entries unless you're quoting a texting conversation.  Don't use "ur" instead of "your", "2" instead of "to", "4" instead of "for", "rly" instead of "really", or a "z" where there should be an "s".  It works for text messages because the idea is to keep them short. These conventions have no business in your blog unless your audience consists only of heavy text messagers.
  
  
• No "leet speak".  That is, no "kewl", "dudez", and "miScaPitAliZed" words.  Those are cool the first time you see them, maybe.  After that, they're annoying.
  
  
• Know the difference between "loose" and "lose".  If you don't win a game, you "lose", not "loose".  If you haven't tightened up a screw, it's "loose".
  
  
• Know the difference between "then" and "than".  For example, it's "I like this more THAN that" not "I like this more then that".  It's not "this is more important then anything" but "this is more important than anything".
  
  
• "Could of", "would of", and "should of" are wrong.  It sounds like those are the words someone is saying when they are speaking, "could've", "would've", or "should've".  But those contractions are not good English, either.  Instead, use "could have", "would have" and "should have".
  
  

When I see these mistakes in a blog entry, I have a hard time taking anything else the writer says seriously, and subconsciously estimate their IQ to be just above a turnip...