I think most of us assume that people with white collar jobs have some kind of secondary education in which they were required to write papers and essays. So why is it that so many people I come across in professional settings do not know the difference between words like "there" and "their," or "your" and "you're," or my all-time favorite "then" and "than?"
Nothing makes me feel more like my time is being wasted than (See the proper usage? Nice, huh?) when I get e-mails from co-workers, clients, or colleagues that include one of - and sometimes all of - these blunders.
For example, earlier this week at work, I received an e-mail from a client that began thus: "I am would like research." I could have handed over the best darn report ever, but when your opening sentence contains more grammatical errors than LOLcats, I can't help but think my company would be better off hiring muppets.
Hey Mr,
ReplyDeleteI'm really good between "there" and "their" and "your" and "you're," but I don't think much about "then" and "than." Now that I am thinking about it, I rarely ever write "than." I bet I'm making grammatical errors.
Sometimes I read my own email messages when they come back on a reply. Often I have several mistakes that I didn't even notice, nor did spell check correct. I think sometimes we're so rushed and need to get thoughts out so quickly we don't take the time to take a second look.