The spell check police

The thing is, there's this big honking casino with the big honking sign "Fremont", one "e", which any idiot-studying-to-be-a-moron who has visited Las Vegas has seen!

Yet they spell it "Freemont" [sic] on the boards!

 

How come down and out people are walking around?

 

I'm guessing because board-posting is a very spontaneous, shoot from the hip sort of exercise, and the red underscore for Freemont just sort of slips under the radar, whereas Fremont does pass spellcheck.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g45963-i10-k5053547-Staying_on_the_Strip_vs_Freemont-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html

...although our good friends at Fiat do produce a Freemont.

 

I hate it when people say “ATM machine,” and, “PIN number.”

But then again, I write a great deal in my work, some of it is for public consumption. I’m the kind of person who edits my own text messages for correct grammar!

 

How about sneak peak instead of sneak peek. You're looking, it's not a mountain!

 

"Alot" and "Walla!", "peaked" my interest.

Of course you would never correct someone to their face. How can you apply spelling to spoken word?

 

I’m sick to death of people using telecom as shorthand for teleconference.

Telecon = teleconference
Telecom = telecommunications

They do it because telecon isn’t in spellcheck and it keeps correcting them to telecom but that’s another word entirely.

 

Isn't "alot" really a misspelling of the phrase "a lot" (though pronounced the same) whereas "Walla!" is a bastardization of "voilà" ?
As far as correcting someone to their face...that depends on the relationship. We're pretty comfortable with "that word doesn't mean what you think it means",
and I'm a huge fan of "well, would you rather correct it here (just us), or run the risk of embarrassment later on (in public, larger audience)?"

 

That would be from the Department of Redundancy Department.

Any if anyone really cares, I find myself saying "ATM Machine" and 'Pin Number" regularly.

 

Advice is something you give or seek. It is a noun.
Advise is a verb, an action you do when recommending something.

You will never "need advise."

 

Well that gives me "piece" of mind.

 

Two most common errors I see:
Alot...no, it's two words a lot.
There
They're...contraction of 'they are'
Their...possesive

They're leaving their coats over there.

 

Are you giving me a "peace" of your mind?

 

To, for quantity. It should be:
"Too" much.
I know, its petty, but it bugs me.

 

Another one.....

Why do people refer to a license as a plural object?

I hear all the time, “I got them today.”

No, you got IT today. It’s one singular item.

 

I really love loose slots.

 

If it means plates for your car, in states that require two, it's plural.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to a drivers license or a professional license as plural, except maybe like a hairstylist who has both barber and cosmetology licenses.

 

I write professionally. I'm fairly good at the task. I'm not a grammarian and I'm more than happy to accept that typos happen. I also try to keep things clean, even if my language isn't. But mistakes happen. I recently had a typo in an article for a major U.S. publication. My editor missed it, too. For all you perfectionists out there, congrats, you're awesome.

I also know that some people are simply sloppy or they don't know better. It's not going to bring VMB to its knees.

 

@dmr - I should have included more context. I only hear this misuse in the context of something that can only be singular.

Maybe it’s just a NC-specific grammar screw up.

 

For some reason I find errors due to fat-fingering and/or auto spell check on a phone more forgivable than errors apparently due to ignorance of grammar, diction, or the conflation of "grammar" and "diction". In any case, I try to fight my instincts to correct, because I am trying hard not to be that guy.