I never did well in english at school. Always figured if people knew what you were saying, no harm, no foul. However, during the last few years, I have noticed more frequently that even journalists and other media are doing worse with written an spoken english.
Case in point, the following from a story headline
" Youngest Albertan dies of COVID-19"
This to me would seem to say that a child died of Covid the second it was born.
I think the correct statement should have been "to die" instead of "dies of"
Or the overuse of "amount" ... I was taught "number" is for things you can count (e.g., yards, completions, fans in attendance ... etc.) and "amount" is for things you estimate (e.g., time - versus minutes/hours/etc.)
Sadly so many of these important distinctions are disappearing, and a mere search on the internet often does not make up for lack of education or attention. /Plays next starter-geezer card
The number of times I come across people writing/saying "would of" and "could of" when they mean "would have" annoys me.
Also, and this is rare, I've seen a few online posts where the writer cannot tell the difference between a comma and an apostrophe.
So for example:
You,ll see they,ll write like this and can,t see what,s wrong.
My best guess is that if you're texting on a phone the comma is immediately available with the letter keys while the apostrophe requires 2 seconds more effort, but it really looks lazy.
Reminds me of the recurring “Less” vs “Fewer” gag in Game of Thrones. It’s “Fewer” for things that can be counted, “Less” for stuff you can’t, and one Nobleman turned would-be King was a bit of a stickler for getting this right.
After he died his most loyal knight would take up the cause: