The Pongo Blog
Tell Us Your Grammar and Spelling Pet Peeves
December 22, 2009 (3:40PM) by Julie O'Malley, CPRW
It feels like we never shut up about how important it is to have an error-free resume and cover letter, but it's one of those topics that can't be overstated. The challenge is to find a new way to state it. So rather than think up some way to repackage the same old information, I'm asking you, dear Pongo Blog readers, to share your pet peeves in the spelling and grammar categories. But let's take that request one step further—if you can, include a tip to help us all remember the right way vs. the wrong way. I'll start.
My pet peeve is the misuse of "I" when talking about yourself and another party. For example, which sounds correct?
- Here's a picture of Jim and I.
- Here's a picture of Jim and me.
The first one might "sound" more proper, but it's wrong. Technically, the explanation is that I is a subject and me is an object, but who can remember that? Fortunately, there's a much easier way to figure it out: Just remove the other person from the sentence (temporarily).
In the example above, if you remove Jim and, it's easy to see which one is right:
- Here's a picture of I. (Eeew.)
- Here's a picture of me. (Ahhh! That's better.)
When we put our friend Jim back in, the me doesn't change. "Here's a picture of Jim and me."
But, but, but … if you consider a slightly different sentence, "Jim and I posed for a picture," then I is the right choice, because you would never say, "me posed for a picture."
This tip works whether the other party is one person, a group, or whatever. (The team and I gave a presentation. The boss bought lunch for my friends and me. My dog and I love pizza.)
In an atmosphere where people misspell things intentionally in their texts and tweets, it may seem nit-picky to insist on perfect grammar and spelling in your job search documents. But you wouldn't go to a job interview with a hole in your shirt, so don't send a resume or cover letter with a mistake in it.
Now it's your turn to share your spelling or grammar pet peeve—and if you have one—a tip for avoiding it!
RELATED LINKS
Take it from HR: One Typo Can Kill Your Chances
Quiz: Are You Smarter Than a Spell Checker?
I see "aha" misspelled "ah ha" more times than not.
Posted by: Liza K | December 22, 2009 at 6:14 PM | Quote This Comment
I hate when people misuse "they're", "their" or "there"... or any of those kinds of words.
Posted by: Kathryn | December 23, 2009 at 10:22 AM | Quote This Comment
@Liza K Funny you should mention that -- we had a discussion last week about how to spell "Aha!" I had to do some research to find out if it had a hyphen or not :)
@Kathryn Yeah, that's a major one!
Posted by: Julie O'Malley | December 23, 2009 at 10:37 AM | Quote This Comment
When did the past tense of plead turned to pleaded. The past tense of read is read, the same as lead is lead. there are many others that were driven into our heads in grade school and it seems that some "educated" people change the rules and don't bother to tell the rest of us. Remember you cannot unthaw something if you take it out of the freezer.
Posted by: Warren | December 25, 2009 at 6:45 PM | Quote This Comment
As an employer, I really hate it when people use an apostrophe for plural instead of posession. Another mistake that would make me not consider a person for employment is when they don't know the difference between thoughts and feelings. You can feel happy, sad, mad, glad, etc. You can't feel that. It just isn't possible.
Posted by: Debbie | December 25, 2009 at 11:45 PM | Quote This Comment
There is no such word as "irregardless"!!!Regardless means without regard. Irregardless woould be withoutwithout regard.
Posted by: Margaret Snoow | December 26, 2009 at 2:04 AM | Quote This Comment
Stationery and stationary - think I am going to the stationers and to buy stationery.
Posted by: BL | December 26, 2009 at 12:26 PM | Quote This Comment
I recently made an embarrassing mistake in my resume when I used moral when I meant morale. I did it a second time in an email but my daughter (a high school shophomore) corrected me. Boy, did I feel stupid.
Posted by: Kevin | December 26, 2009 at 3:06 PM | Quote This Comment
"You're" instead of "your". I think this bugs me so much because to make this mistake you have *add* a letter and apostrophe (as opposed to "its" instead of "it's").
Posted by: Lauren | December 26, 2009 at 4:51 PM | Quote This Comment
The past tense of "lead" is "led" not "lead"! That's one of mine. Also "everyday" used to mean "every day." I wrote a blog about this one at http://ow.ly/QcYp
Posted by: Brenda Bernstein | December 27, 2009 at 6:54 PM | Quote This Comment
Oh, I'm a big fan of Lynne Truss. I just get annoyed when I see people making mistakes on the basics, like there/their/they're or lead/led. I also tend to get upset when I see people using "breath" when they mean "breathe" or "gift" when they mean "give". I will admit these do not crop up on résumés very often but I have seen them online, and employers do sometimes look at websites and forums.
Posted by: Judith Adams | December 27, 2009 at 9:05 PM | Quote This Comment
LESS vs FEWER: Less is Qualitative, while Fewer is Quantitative. We had fewer party guests than we planned, but it was less work overall
Posted by: Heather Farris | December 29, 2009 at 2:36 PM | Quote This Comment
If you are in management, you are a communicator. I strongly recommend subscsribing to an e-letter by Bryan Garner, author of Garner's Modern American Usage [published by Oxford University Press, who sponser the e-letter in question, which is free]. This link will take you to the sign-up page: http://www.oup.com/us/subscriptions/subscribe/?view=usa Under daily newsletters, look for Garner's Usage Tip of the Day.
Posted by: Kelley Smith | December 31, 2009 at 8:20 AM | Quote This Comment
Effect vs. Affect. Confusing sometimes because one is more emotional than the other.
Posted by: KJ | December 31, 2009 at 8:54 AM | Quote This Comment
How about "every since"; need I say more?
Posted by: Liza K | January 01, 2010 at 3:18 AM | Quote This Comment
I write and edit for a living, and I am amazed every day by what I read. One of my pet peeves? Don't tell me you're "anxious" to work for my company if you mean "eager."
And unless it's happening at the exact same time, don't say "while" if you mean "although!" KB
Posted by: KB | July 09, 2010 at 3:22 PM | Quote This Comment
I just did a resume for someone who couldn't wait to tell me that he was able to work in a "fast paste environment". No wonder he isn't getting any responses to his resume.
Posted by: Pam D | July 22, 2010 at 9:36 AM | Quote This Comment
@Pam
That one made me laugh out loud! Fast paste - ha!
Guess that's what happens when you rely too heavily on the spell checker!
Thanks for commenting,
Julie
Posted by: Julie O'Malley | July 22, 2010 at 10:34 AM | Quote This Comment
LOL @ "fast paste"! Unless the company he was applying to was an editor and he was bragging about his copy and paste skills :)
Posted by: Susan E. | October 27, 2010 at 5:22 PM | Quote This Comment