Say What?

We can all think of words or expressions that are said incorrectly on a regular basis, and most of us will have to admit that we are often guilty ourselves. It's a little more OK to me when these things are said out loud, but it drives me crazy when I see them in writing. With the growing ubiquity of social media over the last decade or so everyone now has a voice on some level. This is largely a good thing, but I think that most of us would agree that it is often not.

What I thought I'd do is put together a list of many of the things I hear and see spoken or written incorrectly on a regular basis. I am no grammar Nazi, so this is all in good fun. These list will not be very original, but it's my version. So, here we go with a quick top ten (I'm sure I'd modify this list if I gave myself more time):

• They're, there, their.  These words have distinct sets of definitions, which I have no intention of defining for you. But I will tell you that this is always true: these words are NOT interchangeable!
• You're, your. Just like the first item, these words are also NOT interchangeable!
• I could care less vs I couldn't care less. The latter is the correct expression, unless your intention is to express that you actually do care to some extent.
• Supposively vs supposedly. I'm pretty sure the former is not a word at all, and the squiggly red line beneath it as I write this seems to confirm my suspicion.
• Statue of limitations vs statute of limitations. The former doesn't even make sense. This expression has no relation to the gift from the French that sits in New York Harbor.
• All intensive purposes vs all intents and purposes.  This one is more understandable than the rest, but the former is still not the correct expression.
• Could of vs could have. Once again, if we think about it, the former does not make any sense.
• Irregardless vs regardless. No squiggly line here, so I had to research this one. The former technically is a word, but is never one we mean to say since it is a double negative. This word means 'without without regard to,' which actually means 'with regard to.' If you use this word, you're most likely using it in the opposite way than you intent do.
• Scotch-free vs Scot-free. No idea of the origin of this phrase, but I do know that the latter is the correct usage.
• Often. There is some debate here, but I'm pretty sure the correct way to say this word is with a silent 't,' like other English words such as listen, castle, fasten, hasten, soften, etc.  I always pronounce the 't.'

I really hope that there are no typos in this post.