Then vs Than

[tock333]

I do not know why this particular bug has crawled up my behind, but for the past few weeks the absolute incompetent use of than and then in EVERY forum I read has been driving me nuts!

FYI for all you posters confused about the meaning of Then and Than:

Then is an adverb of time! It is used to tell us WHEN something happens, or possibly in what order it happened.
Example: Remember games in the 80s? Yeah, I played Dragon's Lair all the time back then.
or
I opened my beer, then I drank it!

Than is used for COMPARISON. Example: Steam is better than Origin.

No offense to the foreign speakers out there, this is for the native speakers who are letting electronic media dumb them down...

Smarten up people!

 

[Thaluikhain]

I'm not sure if it's a genuine lack of understanding, rather it's an easy typo to make.

 

[Michael Hirst]

You're on the internet now, grammar and correct use of language go out the window.

But one that always grinds on me is "Should of" I mean really?

 

[Dawning Age]

Social media and the like have lessened out ability to speak the language other people try so hard to make them get it rite (spelling error intended).

 

[tock333]

I'm not sure if it's a genuine lack of understanding, rather it's an easy typo to make.

I would be tempted to agree, though the a and the e key are not that close. I am sure people probably know the difference if they think about it, but I know from my own experience that electronic media has certainly affected the level of my writing.

I am sure this is due to email, texting and forums etc. being informal communication as well, but people should be aware of the poor habits they are forming. I just feel it is a symptom of the whole dumbing down that America seems to be experiencing...

But enough of blanket statements... Like I said it was a bug that I had to fart out so I could go back to concentrating on more important stuff...

 

[TriGGeR_HaPPy]

You're on the internet now, grammar and correct use of language go out the window.

But one that always grinds on me is "Should of" I mean really?

*shudder*

Yeah, I try not to let things like this bother me. But I really do hate it when people type "should of" instead of "should've" or "should have".
I mean, at least both then and than are excusable to me. But "should of" does not make any kind of grammatical sense.
It just bugs me is all. >_>

 

[DEAD34345]

Weird, threads with this kind of concept (teaching others better grammar/spelling) seem to have suddenly started cropping up on this forum. This is at least the fourth one I've read over the past few days...

Has the standard of writing on the forums suddenly dropped or something? What's prompting all these threads?

 

[viranimus]

TL;DR Comprehension is greater than accuracy.

I do subscribe to the ideology of "When you use proper spellin, punt!uation, and grammars an angel rips its wings off. However that stems from resentment of anal retentive grammar nazis who want to overcritique an error when it was something that does not actually hinder the reader from getting the point being conveyed.

Honestly as long as a word is properly spelled or at least a common typo like "teh" I can forgive instances of using a word out of context due to mistaken spelling. While good written language skills are important in a text based medium I also respect that this IS the internet. It is not a doctoral thesis, or corporate communique. So why get all worked up over someone who didnt expend the time to proofread and fails to dot their "T"s, and cross their "I"s to your level of satisfaction? I mean arent there more pressing things in the world to worry about than missing apostrophes and the like?

Edit: Does it really matter? I mean this IS the internet. You could use perfect written language skills and someone will still misinterpret what your trying to say anyway.

 

[tock333]

Weird, threads with this kind of concept (teaching others better grammar/spelling) seem to have suddenly started cropping up on this forum. This is at least the fourth one I've read over the past few days...

Has the standard of writing on the forums suddenly dropped or something? What's prompting all these threads?

Well the school season is starting up again... Maybe teachers are trolling the forums?

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

You're on the internet now, grammar and correct use of language go out the window.

But one that always grinds on me is "Should of" I mean really?

That one, and the general mistake of saying "i could care less". A quick glance at it is all it should take to realize you're not saying what you think you're saying.

OT: I'll admit to getting the "a" and "e" keys mixed up when i'm typing sometimes, but when it's repeated several times on several occasions i can get kind bitchy about it.

Plus when i make the mistake myself i tend to correct it as soon as possible if i notice it.

Typos are an accident, incompetence is inexcusable

 

[Quaxar]

I understand you. I'd rather die then use bad grammar.

<color=white>Yes, that was intentional.

 

[Rabish Bini]

Still not as bad as "I could care less"

Morons

 

[tock333]

I understand you. I'd rather die then use bad grammar.

<color=white>Yes, that was intentional.

In the vernacular: LOL

 

[DefunctTheory]

Time I want to spend double checking my forums post - minimal. So I check only for obvious errors that could cause people to not understand me. Anything that does not, in any way, affect others ability to understand my post is not checked. That includes then/than and they're/their/there.

Time spent per paragraph - 30 seconds.

Time I want to spend double checking work emails - as much as possible. I check every word, as I don't need documents that last forever, with my name forever stapled to them, floating around.

Time spent per paragraph - 1-2 minutes (Just in case).

I can understand raging against people who use text speak and leave their post littered with missing punctuations and misspelled words. But unless your mind follows a track narrower then most mid-sized dogs, the subtle difference of one letter isn't going to render a post unreadable.

Side Note: ubuntu Firefox has the worst spell checker in existence.

 

[tock333]

I feel better knowing that edubacation is not all down the drain...

 

[Rainbowloid]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

I really hate it when people spell simple things wrong. I mean, everyone makes mistakes every once in a while, but when it happens consistently, It just pisses me off. And I hate it even more when people use the "It's just the internet!" excuse. You're developing bad habits. Ranting on the internet is the perfect place to practice writing, so do it right!

Then again, I'm the kind of person who uses semicolons in casual IMs, so I'm probably not the best person to talk to about these things.

 

[Pinkamena]

I agrees, corect grammar are important.

 

[Puddleknock]

Interestingly I never confuse then and than when speaking, only when writing. I put that down to dyslexia where vowels often mean very little to me and I simply have to guess a lot to which vowel is correct.

So I can only apologise for my poor use of then and than.

 

[Denamic]

I could care less.
By which I mean I really do care and it drives me nuts as well.
I also loathe the misuse of "I couldn't care less" phrase, incidentally.

 

[Biosophilogical]

I understand you. I'd rather die then use bad grammar.

<color=white>Yes, that was intentional.

Not only was it intentional, but it actually has a coherent meaning. It's not that you'd die before using bad grammar, it is that you'd prefer to die first, and then subsequently begin to use bad grammar.

OT: When I read the thread title, I've gone through it in my head (then is ordering, than is comparison), and then you've taken my words and put them on the page better than I would've (not really, I'd probably have been much more passive about it).

Also, I hate c/w/should of. Just ... AAAAARGH!