I think people are getting confused with the difference between "incorrect usage" and "second definition/colloquialism". Half these posts just demonstrate a generation gap as opposed to incorrect usage.
BBC journos saying "the data is...." It's a plural word you fuckwits.
The same journos saying "different to" rather than "different from". I'd like to smash them over the head with a rubber mallet while shouting "similar to, different from, get it now moron?"
'Different to' is absolutely fine. Unless the Oxford Dictionary and Jane Austen are 'morons'.
Maybe, but it still grates. You'd never say "similar from" would you?
Anyway this is what the BBC style guide has to say on the matter:
Different
Say different from (rather than ‘different to’ or ‘different than’).
But then it says this about data:
Data
Strictly a plural - but follow common usage and treat it as a singular, taking a singular verb (eg: Data was collected across the country).
Which I just don't get. You'd never say Charlton play at a stadia so...
Effect an affect - I still ain't got a bloody clue.
Effect means outcome, consequence or appearance. To affect means to transform or to change. (I've just lifted this from Grammar rules by Craig Shrives)
As stupid and irritating as some of these mistakes (loose/lose, brought/bought etc.) are, I think the OP was referring to getting definitions wrong, as opposed to spelling/grammar mistakes.
Crass - people on this forum love this word but it's rarely used in the correct context.
Shocking - someone recently said on here 'It was shocking, but not surprising'. Sorry, what?
Comments
'The wicked cricket critic's gig-whip snapped'
Faultlessly, three times in a row at pace, irritates me.
Anyway this is what the BBC style guide has to say on the matter:
Different
Say different from (rather than ‘different to’ or ‘different than’).
But then it says this about data:
Data
Strictly a plural - but follow common usage and treat it as a singular, taking a singular verb (eg: Data was collected across the country).
Which I just don't get. You'd never say Charlton play at a stadia so...
(I've just lifted this from Grammar rules by Craig Shrives)
"1 in 10 people are left-handed". No! One person in ten *is* left-handed.
Crass - people on this forum love this word but it's rarely used in the correct context.
Shocking - someone recently said on here 'It was shocking, but not surprising'. Sorry, what?
On the other hand: "No way! Shut up!" It's always fun to just clamp your mouth shut and refuse to speak again.
'I left twenty bricks in my front garden overnight but none were/was stolen'
If you said 'not a single one was stolen' then it would be 'was'. But I'm happy to be corrected!
Implies someone who is attempting wit but fucks it up rather than someone with no wit whatsoever to start with.
"None" is a contraction of "not one". So you would be saying "not one was stolen'.