Stop Embarrassing Yourself

I'm a grammar nazi; I can say that because I am German.

While I like to avoid standard capitalization, improper use of language and punctuation drives me insane.  This is a topic I see frequenting the statuses of Facebook, yet so many of my friends make these mistakes.  I, too, am not innocent.  The difference is when I make some of these mistakes its because I was in a hurry and produced a major FAIL.  I do, in fact, know right from wrong.  

What bothers me the most is that i have almost become immune to these errors as i seem them so often.  that's a scary thought.  it's also proof that our country is going to shit. more on that later.

you have your typical 'your and you're' or 'to and too.' but what about some lesson common mistakes or mistakes lessen commonly perceived as a mistake?

wrong and/or excessive use of commas, colons, and semi-colons drives me crazy.  sadly, i see this a lot in my MASTER'S degree program team projects. tragic, really.

another error i see so frequently is then and than.  get it straight. then refers to a place in time whether than be current or future (the next in a sequence).  than is used in comparison.

also consider affect v. effect.  look it up if you dont know.

honestly, i could go on for days about the improper use of the already complicated English language, but ill cut to the chase.

my most favorite errors involve made up words, slang, and text lingo.

the one word that gives me the nails on the chalkboard effect is IRREGARDLESS.  you can argue that this is a word.  just because people use it doesnt mean it should have ever come into existence.  i sometimes ponder the level of stupidity it takes to come up with a word like this.

regardless can be defined as "without paying attention to the present situation; despite the prevailing circumstances" (Google).

ir is a prefix meaning not or non.

consider the two words together and what that means in comparison to how it is used.  people say irregardless and mean regardless.  irregardless is redundant in that it essentially means without without paying attention to the present situation.  its a double negative.  "i cant not do something."

stop embarrassing yourself.

P.S. what's your favorite misuse of the English language?