redboxoffice

Do you remember back in 2003 the book by Lynne Truss entitled ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves‘? It was both a guide to correct grammar and a rant at the dumming down of the English language. I read it and loved it. The title of the book should not  be confused with a joke about a giant panda, with the punchline ‘Eats, shoots and leaves,’ which is a bit rude, but quite fun, too!

However, it seems that in 2010, there is a growing need for such a book again. There are so many instances of incorrect grammar, punctuation and spelling out there that I thought I would get on my soapbox and let you in on some of those that particularly annoy me. If you’d like your publicity materials proof read- and this especially applies to text that’s been translated – let me know.

• There, They’re, Their – Yes, 3 different words with 3 different meanings that all sound the same.   A nightmare if you’re transcribing! There is ‘over there’, describing a place, for example.  They’re is an abbreviation for they are, as in ‘they are in the playground,’ or, ‘they are having dinner’. Finally their is the possessive form for belonging to, so ‘we are going in their car,’ ‘their hair is too long for the army,’ and so on.  It’s so easy to get wrong, but writing the wrong form could put a whole new meaning to your sentence.
• The same goes for You’re or Your. Someone recently wrote to me, ‘Your fantastic…’  My fantastic what?  Hairstyle, office management?  He meant ‘You’re fantastic’ as I’d managed to persuade a bad debtor to finally pay up!
• Ditto for Where, Were, Wear.  Where is ‘Where is the cat?’ Were is ‘We were able to drive through the snow,’ and wear is ‘What are you going to wear to the party tonight?’ or ‘Did the service reveal any wear to the engine?’.
• Apostrophes and Plurals.  There is a difference between Peaches and Peaches’.  The first is the plural of peach, the second is something that belongs to Peaches ( the car of the daughter of Bob Geldof perhaps…).
• Beware of words that are spelt differently but sound alike, such as hear and here, stationery and stationary,  Etc. These words are not interchangeable, they have diferent meanings and therefore it is important to opt for the correct option. Further confusion can be sown by words that are spelt the same but sound different depending upon meaning, which can be discovered by the context in which they are placed in a sentence. Examples of these are row ( to propell a boat with an oar or to argue ) and refuse ( to turn down or garbage ). The pronunciation of these words changes depending upon their meaning, even though they are spelt identically.
• Be aware of the differences in UK and US spellings of the same word.  Happiness (UK)/Happyness (US), Organisation (UK)/Organization (US), Colour(UK)/Color(US) and so on.

About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, an off-site business support service.  Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money.