The Most-Annoying Writing Mistakes

THE MOST-ANNOYING WRITING MISTAKES There's one thing that communicators, writers, editors and all wordsmiths love to discuss: bad writing and grammar. But what really drives them batty? More than 560 Ragan.com LinkedIn users shared the writing mistakes that get under their skin. Here's an unscientific breakdown: 32% ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT: Accept means to receive. Except means to take out or leave out. EDITION VS. ADDITION: Addition is what you do when you add numbers. Edition is an issue or version of something, commonly text. HOMOPHONE MISUSE PASSIVE: I was invited by my boss to attend the awards ceremony. ACTIVE: My boss invited me to attend the awards ceremony. CORPORATE CLICHÉS: Let's circle back on that and make sure we're thinking outside the box. TRANSLATION: Let's meet to discuss innovative approaches to the project. 21% CLICHES, PASSIVE VOICE & TRITE WRITING 17% WHO VS. WHOM: Use who when you can respond with he or she; use whom for him or her, E.G.: To whom did you send the dogs? GRAMMAR FEW/ER VS. LESS: Use few for things you can count and less for things you can measure. E.G.: You'll probably drink less soda if you eat fewer salty chips. FLUBS ABUSE: I am ... an ellipsis abuser. Aren't multiple punctuation marks so annoying?!!! CORRECTION: I overuse the ellipsis mark. Multiple punctuation marks are so annoying. 16% PUNCTUATION MISUSE: YOU'RE VS. YOUR: You're is a contraction for "you are," not your. E.G.: You're kidding me! Your high school prom date was Robert Downey Jr.? PUNCTUATION ABUSE ARBITRARY CAPITALIZATION: You can sit in the Best Cubicle with a View today. REDUNDANCIES:I completely destroyed that piece of cake during the first annual bake sale. 13% OTHER DOUBLE NEGATIVES: He doesn't have no sense about him. CHANGING TENSES: We came; we see; we will conquer! connect with us on Linked in ragan THE MOST-ANNOYING WRITING MISTAKES There's one thing that communicators, writers, editors and all wordsmiths love to discuss: bad writing and grammar. But what really drives them batty? More than 560 Ragan.com LinkedIn users shared the writing mistakes that get under their skin. Here's an unscientific breakdown: 32% ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT: Accept means to receive. Except means to take out or leave out. EDITION VS. ADDITION: Addition is what you do when you add numbers. Edition is an issue or version of something, commonly text. HOMOPHONE MISUSE PASSIVE: I was invited by my boss to attend the awards ceremony. ACTIVE: My boss invited me to attend the awards ceremony. CORPORATE CLICHÉS: Let's circle back on that and make sure we're thinking outside the box. TRANSLATION: Let's meet to discuss innovative approaches to the project. 21% CLICHES, PASSIVE VOICE & TRITE WRITING 17% WHO VS. WHOM: Use who when you can respond with he or she; use whom for him or her, E.G.: To whom did you send the dogs? GRAMMAR FEW/ER VS. LESS: Use few for things you can count and less for things you can measure. E.G.: You'll probably drink less soda if you eat fewer salty chips. FLUBS ABUSE: I am ... an ellipsis abuser. Aren't multiple punctuation marks so annoying?!!! CORRECTION: I overuse the ellipsis mark. Multiple punctuation marks are so annoying. 16% PUNCTUATION MISUSE: YOU'RE VS. YOUR: You're is a contraction for "you are," not your. E.G.: You're kidding me! Your high school prom date was Robert Downey Jr.? PUNCTUATION ABUSE ARBITRARY CAPITALIZATION: You can sit in the Best Cubicle with a View today. REDUNDANCIES:I completely destroyed that piece of cake during the first annual bake sale. 13% OTHER DOUBLE NEGATIVES: He doesn't have no sense about him. CHANGING TENSES: We came; we see; we will conquer! connect with us on Linked in ragan THE MOST-ANNOYING WRITING MISTAKES There's one thing that communicators, writers, editors and all wordsmiths love to discuss: bad writing and grammar. But what really drives them batty? More than 560 Ragan.com LinkedIn users shared the writing mistakes that get under their skin. Here's an unscientific breakdown: 32% ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT: Accept means to receive. Except means to take out or leave out. EDITION VS. ADDITION: Addition is what you do when you add numbers. Edition is an issue or version of something, commonly text. HOMOPHONE MISUSE PASSIVE: I was invited by my boss to attend the awards ceremony. ACTIVE: My boss invited me to attend the awards ceremony. CORPORATE CLICHÉS: Let's circle back on that and make sure we're thinking outside the box. TRANSLATION: Let's meet to discuss innovative approaches to the project. 21% CLICHES, PASSIVE VOICE & TRITE WRITING 17% WHO VS. WHOM: Use who when you can respond with he or she; use whom for him or her, E.G.: To whom did you send the dogs? GRAMMAR FEW/ER VS. LESS: Use few for things you can count and less for things you can measure. E.G.: You'll probably drink less soda if you eat fewer salty chips. FLUBS ABUSE: I am ... an ellipsis abuser. Aren't multiple punctuation marks so annoying?!!! CORRECTION: I overuse the ellipsis mark. Multiple punctuation marks are so annoying. 16% PUNCTUATION MISUSE: YOU'RE VS. YOUR: You're is a contraction for "you are," not your. E.G.: You're kidding me! Your high school prom date was Robert Downey Jr.? PUNCTUATION ABUSE ARBITRARY CAPITALIZATION: You can sit in the Best Cubicle with a View today. REDUNDANCIES:I completely destroyed that piece of cake during the first annual bake sale. 13% OTHER DOUBLE NEGATIVES: He doesn't have no sense about him. CHANGING TENSES: We came; we see; we will conquer! connect with us on Linked in ragan THE MOST-ANNOYING WRITING MISTAKES There's one thing that communicators, writers, editors and all wordsmiths love to discuss: bad writing and grammar. But what really drives them batty? More than 560 Ragan.com LinkedIn users shared the writing mistakes that get under their skin. Here's an unscientific breakdown: 32% ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT: Accept means to receive. Except means to take out or leave out. EDITION VS. ADDITION: Addition is what you do when you add numbers. Edition is an issue or version of something, commonly text. HOMOPHONE MISUSE PASSIVE: I was invited by my boss to attend the awards ceremony. ACTIVE: My boss invited me to attend the awards ceremony. CORPORATE CLICHÉS: Let's circle back on that and make sure we're thinking outside the box. TRANSLATION: Let's meet to discuss innovative approaches to the project. 21% CLICHES, PASSIVE VOICE & TRITE WRITING 17% WHO VS. WHOM: Use who when you can respond with he or she; use whom for him or her, E.G.: To whom did you send the dogs? GRAMMAR FEW/ER VS. LESS: Use few for things you can count and less for things you can measure. E.G.: You'll probably drink less soda if you eat fewer salty chips. FLUBS ABUSE: I am ... an ellipsis abuser. Aren't multiple punctuation marks so annoying?!!! CORRECTION: I overuse the ellipsis mark. Multiple punctuation marks are so annoying. 16% PUNCTUATION MISUSE: YOU'RE VS. YOUR: You're is a contraction for "you are," not your. E.G.: You're kidding me! Your high school prom date was Robert Downey Jr.? PUNCTUATION ABUSE ARBITRARY CAPITALIZATION: You can sit in the Best Cubicle with a View today. REDUNDANCIES:I completely destroyed that piece of cake during the first annual bake sale. 13% OTHER DOUBLE NEGATIVES: He doesn't have no sense about him. CHANGING TENSES: We came; we see; we will conquer! connect with us on Linked in ragan THE MOST-ANNOYING WRITING MISTAKES There's one thing that communicators, writers, editors and all wordsmiths love to discuss: bad writing and grammar. But what really drives them batty? More than 560 Ragan.com LinkedIn users shared the writing mistakes that get under their skin. Here's an unscientific breakdown: 32% ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT: Accept means to receive. Except means to take out or leave out. EDITION VS. ADDITION: Addition is what you do when you add numbers. Edition is an issue or version of something, commonly text. HOMOPHONE MISUSE PASSIVE: I was invited by my boss to attend the awards ceremony. ACTIVE: My boss invited me to attend the awards ceremony. CORPORATE CLICHÉS: Let's circle back on that and make sure we're thinking outside the box. TRANSLATION: Let's meet to discuss innovative approaches to the project. 21% CLICHES, PASSIVE VOICE & TRITE WRITING 17% WHO VS. WHOM: Use who when you can respond with he or she; use whom for him or her, E.G.: To whom did you send the dogs? GRAMMAR FEW/ER VS. LESS: Use few for things you can count and less for things you can measure. E.G.: You'll probably drink less soda if you eat fewer salty chips. FLUBS ABUSE: I am ... an ellipsis abuser. Aren't multiple punctuation marks so annoying?!!! CORRECTION: I overuse the ellipsis mark. Multiple punctuation marks are so annoying. 16% PUNCTUATION MISUSE: YOU'RE VS. YOUR: You're is a contraction for "you are," not your. E.G.: You're kidding me! Your high school prom date was Robert Downey Jr.? PUNCTUATION ABUSE ARBITRARY CAPITALIZATION: You can sit in the Best Cubicle with a View today. REDUNDANCIES:I completely destroyed that piece of cake during the first annual bake sale. 13% OTHER DOUBLE NEGATIVES: He doesn't have no sense about him. CHANGING TENSES: We came; we see; we will conquer! connect with us on Linked in ragan THE MOST-ANNOYING WRITING MISTAKES There's one thing that communicators, writers, editors and all wordsmiths love to discuss: bad writing and grammar. But what really drives them batty? More than 560 Ragan.com LinkedIn users shared the writing mistakes that get under their skin. Here's an unscientific breakdown: 32% ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT: Accept means to receive. Except means to take out or leave out. EDITION VS. ADDITION: Addition is what you do when you add numbers. Edition is an issue or version of something, commonly text. HOMOPHONE MISUSE PASSIVE: I was invited by my boss to attend the awards ceremony. ACTIVE: My boss invited me to attend the awards ceremony. CORPORATE CLICHÉS: Let's circle back on that and make sure we're thinking outside the box. TRANSLATION: Let's meet to discuss innovative approaches to the project. 21% CLICHES, PASSIVE VOICE & TRITE WRITING 17% WHO VS. WHOM: Use who when you can respond with he or she; use whom for him or her, E.G.: To whom did you send the dogs? GRAMMAR FEW/ER VS. LESS: Use few for things you can count and less for things you can measure. E.G.: You'll probably drink less soda if you eat fewer salty chips. FLUBS ABUSE: I am ... an ellipsis abuser. Aren't multiple punctuation marks so annoying?!!! CORRECTION: I overuse the ellipsis mark. Multiple punctuation marks are so annoying. 16% PUNCTUATION MISUSE: YOU'RE VS. YOUR: You're is a contraction for "you are," not your. E.G.: You're kidding me! Your high school prom date was Robert Downey Jr.? PUNCTUATION ABUSE ARBITRARY CAPITALIZATION: You can sit in the Best Cubicle with a View today. REDUNDANCIES:I completely destroyed that piece of cake during the first annual bake sale. 13% OTHER DOUBLE NEGATIVES: He doesn't have no sense about him. CHANGING TENSES: We came; we see; we will conquer! connect with us on Linked in ragan