"Where" instead of "were" . . . WTF??

[scotpens]

Okay, time for another Grammar Nazi (actually Spelling Nazi) thread.

Can anyone explain to me why the word "were" (past tense, second person singular/plural and third person plural of "to be") is so frequently and consistently misspelled as "where"? I swear I must see this mistake at least ten times a day, and it's something I never saw before the internet age. I mean, this is just plain weird. (Or is it wheird?)

 

[CorporalClegg]

I swear I must see this mistake at least ten times a day

Where?

 

[sojourner]

sloppy typing. nothing more.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I swear I must see this mistake at least ten times a day

Where?

No....it's "were?"

Of course, "wherewolf" seems a little silly.

 

[Tosk]

Where instead of were makes you loose you're mind.

 

[scotpens]

I swear I must see this mistake at least ten times a day

Where?

No....it's "were?"

Of course, "wherewolf" seems a little silly.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQQtgx4iG8E[/yt]

Where instead of were makes you loose you're mind.

Unfortunately that's all to true.

 

[auntiehill]

I think I just had a small stroke.

 

[Leith Jones]

It's just that the fingers automatically type letters that often go together. Whenever I type the letter 'q,' my right index finger types the letter 'u' without any conscious thought. Same with 'ou' - 'gh' automatically follows.

Oddly enough, when I'm writing with pen and paper, I often add the letter 'e' at the end of words that do not end in 'e.'

It may be just the human brain saving itself a step. I just wish that people could figure out once and for all where apostrophes go. I've even seen the word 'want' with an apostrophe (wan't), for pity's sake.

 

[RoJoHen]

Auto-correct can probably be blamed for some of this, too. It's getting out of control. Before auto-correct used to change misspelled into correctly spelled words. Even if it didn't always choose the right word, I at least understood what it was trying to do.

Now, though, auto-correct changes correctly spelled words into other words for no apparent reason. My phone simply refuses to recognize the word "food." Any time I try to type "food," it automatically changes it to "good," even though "food" is a correctly spelled word.

 

[RJDiogenes]

A couple of months ago, I checked my iPhone to see when I was seeing Britishmania. Turns out I had tickets for the Brutish Maniacs. Huh.

The Internet is the greatest repository of knowledge and information in the history of mankind, yet what it really excels at is spreading ignorance and low standards. I think at this point a lot of the misspellings and bad grammar and weird punctuation comes from people who grew up on the Internet and assumed that the mistakes they saw were correct.

 

[Tosk]

And the ignorance has reached a point now where if you dare to correct the spelling of someone, they turn on you like you killed their dog.

Okay, we all make typos but I don't get why you get to be shit all over just for correcting something. When I screw up, if someone points it out I just do a "Oops, silly me" and move on. When I point one out, I get told to fuck myself.

 

[Yoda]

There is no cause nobler than that of the mighty Grammar Nazi. The mistake that's really been grinding my gears as of late is the use of "to" instead of "too." For the life of me, I can't remember people screwing that one up with anywhere near the frequency with which they do today.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Can anyone explain to me why the word "were" (past tense, second person singular/plural and third person plural of "to be") is so frequently and consistently misspelled as "where"?

Contrary to the often confused homophones - we had quite a few threads about these -, here we have two words that are pronounced quite differently. Hence I think we may fairly assume that the root of this problem is for once not a hearing/pronounciation error.

I believe this particular mix up is partially owed to the automatic spellcheck on many computers and cell phones. If those are badly programmed, they only know the more common word. Which in this case would be "where". "Were", being past tense, is rarely used since most people use the present perfect (have been).
Hence, when the younger generation uses the rare word, their computers and cells will - erroneousely - change it to the wrong one, thus cementing in the users' minds the wrong spelling.

 

[JarodRussell]

It's a simple typo, no need to rant about it. Where, were, too, to, off, of, damn, dam, etc...

Heck, recently I accidentally typed analorgy instead of analogy. I chuckled, then thought what the heck and posted it uncorrected. Still can't believe the silly reactions to it. Grow up, people.

“Could of“ and “would of“ does annoy me. That's not a typo, that's a big mistake.

 

[Tosk]

Grow up.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Heck, recently I accidentally typed analorgy instead of analogy. I chuckled, then thought what the heck and posted it uncorrected. Still can't believe the silly reactions to it. Grow up, people.

So, you found it amusing and decided to keep it in the post, but when other people find it amusing as well and make a joke about it they need to grow up? I just thought it was a serendipitous typo which could be combined with some other words in the post to make some funny double entendres. 005 just posted a reaction gif because it was a funny typo as well. Happens all the time around here. What's the problem?

It was a Tobias Fünke moment:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrIpPqcln6Y[/yt]

Unless you're just referring to Trekker taking it seriously and chastising you, in which case I agree that that was silly.


In reference to the OP, words that are spelled or sound somewhat similar sometimes cause people to accidentally use them interchangeably. Who the hell cares? It's not a big deal or indicative of the downfall of literacy.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

It's a simple typo, no need to rant about it. Where, were, too, to, off, of, damn, dam, etc...

Heck, recently I accidentally typed analorgy instead of analogy. I chuckled, then thought what the heck and posted it uncorrected. Still can't believe the silly reactions to it. Grow up, people.

“Could of“ and “would of“ does annoy me. That's not a typo, that's a big mistake.

That's where the ignorance comes in. It's pronounced could've & would've (and should've), but it sounds like "of", so that how it ends up being typed.

 

[scotpens]

Heck, recently I accidentally typed analorgy instead of analogy.

Accident or Freudian typo?

In reference to the OP, words that are spelled or sound somewhat similar sometimes cause people to accidentally use them interchangeably. Who the hell cares? It's not a big deal or indicative of the downfall of literacy.

It isn't just "sometimes." I see these errors multiple times on a daily basis -- mistakes that, had they been made by a third-grader when I was in school, would have mandated remedial homework at the very least. That is a legitimate reason to be concerned about the downfall of literacy.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

That is a legitimate reason to be concerned about the downfall of literacy.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

I wholeheartedly agree with Scotpens on this issue.
Let us not forget that we are talking about the people who in a few years are supposed to pay our pensions, to nurse us through illness and old age and to act for us in business matters. How can they do any of this properly if they are not even able to speak, read and write their native language?
While it doesn't usually cause great harm to confuse an Etymologist with an Entomologist, it will be very lethal indeed if a doctor confuses insuline with adrenaline.
How would you like, when you are old, to be in a nursing home where with every day you have to dread anew that you might be poisoned because the nurse didn't read your mediaction list properly?
Would you rely on your children and grandchildren to sort out your business affairs for you when you know they have trouble reading words of more than one syllable?
Who will pay taxes to secure your pension when the majority is not literate enough to do anything but the most undemanding (and hence badly payed = low taxed) jobs?

Like all really big problems, this one starts small and at a first glance looks ridiculous. But it'll build, like an avalanche, if it isn't being stopped in an early state.
Remember that the 3rd Reich started with one sulking Austrian hobby-painter who was pissed for being rejected at Munich Art school. And then recall what the consequences were, 20 years later.

Culture is important. It's the foundation of our society. And communication is the foundation of our economy. We need both to survive.