Facebook Fixes, part 2
Aw vs. awe
A puppy? Aw… (Yahoo Images)
Whenever one of my friends posts a cute photo of a baby or child or small animal on their blog or on Facebook, someone inevitably comments with something like “Aw, so cute!” or “Awwwwwww…” or something similar.
Unfortunately, I have also seen people use “Awe…” [sic]. This is, of course, completely wrong, unless that person is trying to say that she is in awe of the baby or puppy in question.
Aw is used to express both sentimental approval and also disgust or unhappiness.
Awe means “an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like.” For example, I am in awe of the great works that Gandhi and Mother Teresa did during their lifetimes.
Believe me, when I see someone using awe incorrectly, my reaction is usually “Aw, I can’t believe she did that.“
Commas to the left of me, commas to the right…
I just found this excellent article in the New York Times on the most common comma mistakes. Honestly, I don’t always get it right either and, even after reading this, I’m still not sure I’ll remember the rules. All the same, it’s a good article and I encourage you to read it.
I know. Do you?
Amen.
Click through to see an article on 11 common spelling errors. All I can say is AMEN.
Facebook Fixes, part 1
I see SO MANY errors on Facebook and it’s making me a little nuts. Henceforth, I shall be fixing them and posting them here, so as to make myself feel a little better.
Make do
I’ve read a couple of things online this week in which someone wrote that they needed to “make due [sic] with…”
It’s make do, not make due.
In case there’s any confusion, here’s what make do means: “To manage to get along with the means available: had to make do on less income.”
Tee me
Who that?
A friend has asked me to talk about the proper uses of who and that, specifically when it is correct to use each with nouns.
If you are referring to a name or a person, use who. For example: Jen took a gift to the person who was ill.
If you are referring to a thing or place, use that. For example: The gift that Jen gave was terrific.
I have like-minded friends
A friend of mine has a great blog post about an editing fail she saw recently. Go check it out.
