7 writing mistakes that make you look dumb

These days, hardly anyone (other than me, that is) seems to care if you dangle a participle or split an infinitive. But there are a few errors that are so blatant they can make even the most literate person look dumb.

Often, these are simply the result of fingers flying too fast over the keyboard. I consider myself knowledgeable about the rules of grammar and I’m a fairly decent speller (although I’ll be forever grateful to the person who invented the spellchecker). But some of my posts and e-mails look like they were written by a not-very-bright six-year-old. That is definitely NOT the image I want to project to the world (especially in my business).

Unless you’re a professional writer or editor, you might think it doesn’t matter if you make writing mistakes, but if you’re a professional anything, it does. You can’t afford to look like a dumb doctor, lawyer, accountant, teacher, or banker. You can lose too many potential clients that way.

The 7 most common writing errors that can make you look dumb are:

7) Affect vs. effect

This one ranks only 7^th on my list because so many people are confused by it, and most won’t be sure you’re wrong. I have a lot of trouble with this one myself, so I posted this mnemonic over my desk: “A Very Easy Noun.” (Affect = Verb; Effect = Noun).

There’s even a cartoon that’s made the rounds on the Internet:

I haven’t tracked down the originator of this cartoon, but it works for me.

6) Mixing up “there” and “their”

“There” is a place, as in “here and there” (which is a good way to remember it). “Their” is a possessive pronoun: “their website” or “their book.” This is often that case of flying fingers outdistancing brainwaves, so slow down and be careful.

5) It’s vs. its

The best way to avoid this mistake is to remember that an apostrophe takes the place of a missing letter, in this case, an “i”. If you’re not sure which to use, say the sentence using “it is” instead of “it’s” and you can tell instantly.

It’s a great book (It is a great book) – correct

The book is in it’s place (The book is in it is place) – WRONG

The book is in its place — correct

4) Using “your” when you mean “you’re” (and vice versa)

Similar to the problem with “it’s/its” this one has the same solution: the apostrophe stands in for the missing “a” so read the sentence as “you are” to see if you’re (that is, you are) using the right form.

You’re definitely right (You are definitely right) – correct

You’re book is here (You are book is here) – WRONG

3) Too many exclamation points

If your writing is dull, inserting a dozen exclamation points won’t make it exciting. Use them sparingly. Think of them like swear words – if you overuse them, they lose their impact.

2) Using texting abbreviations

If you’re texting, use them. If you’re writing, don’t. Nothing looks less professional than saying “thx 4 ur feedbk” in an e-mail. Take the extra four seconds to type out your message in full words and sentences.

and take a sec to use the shft key and add caps instead of writing all in lowercase

1) Qualifying the word “unique”

Although this mistakes jumps out at me every time I see it, it’s almost a lost cause today since the word “unique” is losing its, well, unique meaning. The word UNIQUE means one of a kind, singular, unparalleled. An item can’t be very unique or really unique or almost unique or a little unique. It is either unique or it isn’t. Rather like being pregnant. You either are or you’re not – there’s no almost or very about it (although a few women in their third trimester might argue … they feel very, very pregnant by that point).

Recently, I saw an eBay listing that read: “Unique, one of a kind item. Only 10 left.”

Talk about looking dumb! (My one and only exclamation point.)