Oh Birdie! I can't tell you how grateful (not greatful) I am to you for posting this. It's one of my biggest annoyances (and God knows why!) I don't mind spelling stuff (I'm equally guilty of typing way too fast and not checking before posting!). but I hate the advice/advise thing!

And while we're at it also:

loose/lose - as in - "Will I now loose my money?"

their/there/they're - as in "It was there fault! Their absolutely crazy , but they're for the grace of God go I!"!

Ouch! ouch! ouch!

Too much fun! ( Or "to" much! Or, more likely, "two" much!)

Cassandra, LOL at your foilage description! I've got my Reynolds Wrap ready!!

This thread reminds of a series of jokes which started out with "Magellan circumcised the globe..." Does anyone remember those jokes?

I've been springing the "psycho the rapist" and "references refurbished" jokes on as many of my family members as I can today. Guess we're all a bit nutty, 'cause we've all been ROFLOL!

A friend of mine just sent me a bunch of hilarious travelers' questions from Australia. I'll pass them on later. Too long to type now.

dwooddon: As far as I'm concerned, you can bear/bare as many arms as you are legally allowed

R5: Very funny!

Dont forget "itinerary".

I'm sorry, all, but I must tell--
There is a word I didn't spell.
I just forgot my southern drawl
When I addressed you all as y'all.

My spelling checker notwithstanding,
I mused on line to Fodorites.
Responses came with much demanding,
How dare I say I saw those sites?

A site unseen, with much regret,
In spite of grate advise I get,
Demands I bear my sole and say
Enuff awready!! Let's go play.

Love it Wayne! Y'all is truly a word.
I have to throw two more questionable word uses into the mix.
My Catholic school upbringing forces me to ask: when did "got" officially become a word?
Good is an adjective not an adverb. You didn't play good, you played well.

Wayne--Your poem gets an A+ Excellent use of words, rhyming and creativity. (I'm a teacher, I no what im tawking abut.)

I would never respond to a thread like this because every time i do I make a mistake and look dum.

Y'all is a word with government approval, which I am reminded of everytime i drive through Florence, KY and see that big red and white water tower proclaiming " Florence Y'all"

Birdie,
Good title. Even if this annoyance is only lightly reduced, it was worth sticking your neck out on this. Thanks for the bravery and being a good sport.

LoveItaly,
I agree that (here at Fodor's anyway) rudeness and mean spiritedness on this topic is very rare indeed (usually fly by night newbies who only stick around a few days). The very harshest posts are no worse in tone than one friend informing another of spinach between their teeth.

I usually don't notice the spelling errors that could just be sloppy typing. I make a ton of those. However, one thing that always shrieks out at me is...."Me and my BF/GF or My BF/GF and me are going____. The writer usually wants an inexpensive place on the ocean.

ok, couldn't help myself. Punctuation goes inside the quotes, unless it's a semicolon. And, "her and I" sounds far worse than "me and my wife," maybe because they are trying to sound correct? Typos are understandable (Baton Rough comes to mind), but please never say "I'm good" when someone asks "how are you?"
I'd type 2 cents, but they've taken that character off keyboards.

Birdie--Lest I forget, "got" is indeed a valid word in the right context; that is, as the past tense of "get."

And don't forget that in the UK (not the University of Kentucky) the use of "have got" is common and correct.

OWJ--Belated thanks for your compliment. I've always been a spontaneous poet, so that little ditty just sorta came to me as I read through the other posts.

Let's (let us) not forget about the use of apostrophes in an attempt to form plurals.

wich plural's wuld them be,?

Lets (let us) not fergit that ther wear none speling standardes in Shakespear's daye.

Wonder how he ever managed to write such great plays without the grammar police?

Marion, while I agree with Wayne that spell check wouldn't catch many of the mistakes that have been mentioned, it is possible to use spell check while posting on Fodor's.

I have AOL. If you don't, this may not work for you. But what I do is open the write mail window (without closing Fodor's), type the sentence I'm having trouble with in the body of an e-mail and hit spell check. After I get my answer, I close it out and go back to posting.

Itinerary and Separate drive me nuts!

Remember, there is A RAT in separate!

Alas, no AOL here.

But my outdated dictionary is getting a workout.

I have only myself to blame for the typographical ;-) errors.

Marion

I'm laughing so much my eyes are watering. Can somebody pass the box of Kleeneces?

I'm laughing so much my eyes are watering. Can somebody pass the box of Kleenexes, or is it Kleeneces?