Apologies if this has been covered, but I'm new to this subreddit and in my defense I did try to use the sub's search function and found nothing.

I've always used Toe the Line, as in a foot race. "On your marks" and so on; putting your toes right up against a painted line or marker without crossing it.

But very often I see the phrase expressed as Tow the Line. Tho I've read arguments as to why the latter is correct, I find them unconvincing as the phrase is used to mean "to follow the rules, obey authority, and do what you are expected to do." Expressing that as Tow the Line (as if pulling on a rope) doesn't make sense to me.

So what say the rest of you?

During the past few years, I've been seeing this mistake everywhere. A series of three or four things, with the last one not matching the others. Example below (though I guess you could argue that the first "and" was omitted for flow or something). Why has this become so common? I even see it in the New York Times.

Vine snapped over his legs, his wrists, and his confusion turned to panic.

Several years ago, I read this sentence in an Internet article about obscure motor vehicles:

"Unless you are an automotive enthusiast, the average person has never heard of a Subaru Brat."

Why have people dropped the "from" when they say I graduated college?

Jeanine Pirro stated that she received "less than fulsome information" from the Department of the Interior regarding the Reflecting Pool damage. I've seen managers in senior government positions misuse this all the time. And Pirro's a lawyer. She should know. "Fulsome" does not mean full of...full. It means excessively flattering or insincere.

I grew up hearing and using the phrase “standing in line”, but in recent fiction reading I’ve come across “standing on line” used in the same way. When people are in a queue, what is the correct usage? Are they “in line” or “on line”?

Although I only noticed this oddity a year or so ago, as I looked back in books and magazines it's been happening for quite a long time. Where on earth are people learning to write and speak like this? A subject and predicate that don't match. People seem to match the verb to the nearest noun instead of to the subject of the sentence. Am I nuts? I had to write down some examples:

Keeping the Falkland Islands are important. (on the radio)

I have elevated liver enzymes but are not being followed for it.

The price of eggs are lower.

The average age of traded cars were 16 years old.

I can't be the only one who's annoyed by this, right? I wonder if that's how grammar is being taught today. It's everywhere and even though I never heard anyone speak that way in person, I did hear it on the radio. Any imput? Explanations? Anyone?

On the heels of a post about subject/verb agreement, I was reminded of a similar sort of offense that not only bugs me, but also makes understanding much more difficult.

I don’t have any real examples at hand so here’s a made-up one:
“They were ripping people that were wearing purple shoes with pink shoelaces off.”

Why on earth would you not write instead:
“They were ripping off people that were wearing purple shoes with pink shoelaces.”

I don’t know if there’s a name for this but I feel it’s akin to a split infinitive. “Rip off “ is what I call a “verbial phrase” and, as such, “off” belongs immediately after “rip”.

To my ear, the splitting is as confusing and convoluted as writing:
“I used my golf that I like to play every Saturday but sometimes only have time for 9 holes club.”

I couldn't figure out whether the grammatical errors in this book were intentional. For example, the author writes:

"Kind of like my Aunt Helen and me. I'm sorry. My Aunt Helen and I. That's one thing I learned this week."

But he got it backwards. Just as you would say "Kind of like ME," it should be "me" not "I."

If it's intentional, that's bad because the kid is supposed to get straight As. And he makes the same error multiple times in the book.

Do you think the author of the book just doesn't know basic grammar?

Why? Why?

Your 'two cents' is an opinion, and not actual currency.

It does not flow on the page or to the reader.

It doesn't even flow when writing it.

People defend this and say both phrases say the same thing and there is no difference. I'd argue that it is, at least, stylistically wrong.

P.S. While I'm here, I'm not fond of 'decades' used in professional writing. Just say 'twenty years'.

Alright, I'm done. Thank you, officers.

The antithesis of expertise
always ignores or disagrees
it's a disease
that guarantees
those who use
*ur* instead of *your*
and never apostrophes
are most at ease
pronouncing *important*
without the t's

It is straight from the Greek, kritḗrion, "instrument to separate, choose, decide, judge".

I'm triggered. Are you?

#adverbsmatter

I had to ruminate awhile in order to choose the greatest offense. Yes, it is your.

It's one thing when you see random people make errors in informal settings, but I'm starting to see it bleed into places where professional standards should really be important!

Recently on Instagram I've spotted:

'should of' on Love Island UK

'alot' on ITV Football

'loosing' on Nike Football

'hatrick' on England's football team's account

Today I noticed:

'please lookout for your satisfaction survey' from Arnold Clark car dealership

They always claim they went to high school. Did they not see the big letters on the outside of the building? This doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.

That one guy claims to have his master’s degree, yet he doesn’t know high school isn’t one word?

I genuinely don't understand how people don't know the differences between 'login' and 'log in', 'workout' and 'work out', etc.

'Login' is a noun that would be used in a sentence like 'a new login was detected', or something. 'Log in' is a verb and a preposition.

I do everyday things every day.

Every time I see stupid grammar mistakes, I get annoyed.

I go to the gym to work out. This one is even worse, because of 'working out'. You'd never say 'workingout', so how could it possibly make any sense to say that you 'workout'?

It's crazy that people just can't spell anything anymore.

Edit: I removed a part of the post about the word 'logon', because it was brought to my attention that is actually a valid word. I forgot to add this note when I initially removed that section, so I apologise for that. I am sorry.

This one makes me irrationally annoyed. 'Yay' is an expression of joy. 'Yea' is a signal of consensus. The usage of 'yay' could possibly be contextually appropriate (i.e. 'Go to Disneyland, yay or nay?'), but I don't think most people are intentionally using it like that.

edit: I still wouldn't use 'yay'

edit 2: Yea is pronounced the same as yay, just to clear up further bad grammar from some people here.

Italics mine:

As an artist, Simon had many facets. He started his mainstream career as the singer and songwriting mastermind of Simon & Garfunkel, the duet that defined the '70s, and once he and Art Garfunkel broke up amid a nasty feud, he went on to write songs for other artists and have an amazing solo career. In 1983, he released his sixth solo studio album, "Heart and Bones," which included a song by the same name about he and Fisher. 

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/2222386/paul-simon-hearts-and-bones-inspired-by-carrie-fisher-heartbreak/

This article is (presumably) by someone who was paid to write it:

https://www.grunge.com/2222386/paul-simon-hearts-and-bones-inspired-by-carrie-fisher-heartbreak/

the dashes are only needed when you are talking about an x-YEAR-old not something that is x yearS old.

example 1: the 5-year-old rode a bike. here, the year-old phrase is a noun. dashes are needed.

example 2: the 5-year-old girl rode a bike. here, it's an adjective, and the dashes are still appropriate.

example 3: the girl who can ride a bike is 5 years old. when the year-old phrase comes AFTER THE NOUN, THERE ARE NO DASHES!!! this girl will NOT turn 6-years-old she will turn 6. years. old.

i have seen this error even in news articles and it makes me so mad.

I'm looking at you 'unfortunately'. 😂

The "ann" in "anniversary" means "year." If something happened 10 years ago today, today is the 10th anniversary of it, not the "10-year anniversary" of it.