My pet peeve used to be spelling and grammar errors, then I got fibromyalgia (thought to be caused by misfiring nerves and neurotransmitter problems) and one of the weirdest symptoms is that my grammar and spelling abilities have gone down the crapper (I can usually catch mistakes with careful and repeated proofreading - sometimes I edit posts a dozen times before posting - or after posting for that matter).

See what I mean, I had to edit the last sentence on 12/16 to add the ending paranthesis and period. That would have bugged me in the past if I'd seen anyone else do it. Now I just have to laugh at myself.

I also find myself spelling words phonetically and mispelling words I haven't mispelled since third grade. And don't get me started on homonyms like to, too, and two, and they're, there, and they're (which I haven't confused since grade school, and now I find myself mispelling them - it's so frustrating). Until I got the fibro, if I wrote a mispelled word, it was usually a typo (as in a mishit keystroke) rather than a spelling error. (oops found another on 12/16 I meant their of course rather than repeating they're)

Now it's almost as if a different part of my brain is being used to write (and to speak too, because I often grasp at words, have words on the tip of my tongue and use completely wrong words - all day on Thanksgiving I kept calling it Easter), because I don't even remember having difficulties like this since EARLY grade school. I don't think I ever in my life spelled was W-U-Z until I got the fibro.

As a result, I've become a lot more compassionate about spelling and grammar mistakes, and my new pet peeve is people who correct other adult's spelling and grammar mistakes.

Lol! I actually assume that people who write "their" instead of "they're" know it's two words, but like it often happens, when we post quickly, it's easy to make those mistakes.

Sure, you're allowed to have your own pet peeves.

For me, it's not a question of spelling or grammar -- as you see, I didn't catch the error that JohnP pointed out he caught in his own post.

But English is a third language for me, so when I come across a verb tense I don't understand, and I have to look it up, I have to say something because it's not the correct verb tense of conversation/conversing.

I don't mind if anyone corrects my language usage, I think it's important since this is the medium we communicate with.



Edited to Add: It's for educational purposes, not to hurt people on their language. That's why, again, I don't focus on small mistakes like their/they're because I make those mistakes myself.

I love that y'all turned my thread into a grammar war. XD