Proofread That Inspirational Poster!

As all of you in the social media world know, one of Facebook's favorite things is the inspirational poster. Of course, they're not actual posters, just the digital version of them. You know, like this:

 Here's my problem. Shouldn't people smart enough to operate Photoshop be smart enough to master simple English? If you're hoping that your graphic is going to go viral, shouldn't you take just a few seconds to proofread it?

Case in point:

It doesn't take a degree in English to see the errors in this cute little poster. There are rules for capitalization, and they don't include capitalizing all of the nouns. "Best friend," by the way, is two words. And what's with the ellipsis (that's what those dots are called) at the end instead of an end mark?

If she were really your best friend, she wouldn't let you post before you proof!

Here's another obvious proofreading goof. At least I hope it's a proofreading goof and not an ignorance goof.

Turn "you" head? Seriously? I also hope the creator of the poster knows that the the pronoun "I" is always capitalized. Also? Missing end mark and capital letter after a comma. And a random capital letter in the middle of a sentence! This just gives me a headache. Honest! The errors just keep coming at me like an endless stream of...of....errors coming at me!

 Maybe it's just me, but I hope that isn't your child.
 It seems unfair to involve such a cute child in a mess like this.

I'll turn my head and walk away now.





Then there are the ones that use the wrong word:

Quick grammar lesson: "Whose" is a possessive pronoun. You use it when discussing who owns something. "Who's" is a contraction meaning "who is."

Whose poster is this? Who's going to take responsibility for this disaster?

Here's an example of a non-inspirational poster. It's supposed to be just for fun. It would be a lot more fun if it were literate!

A quick lesson on word usage: "Loosing" means to let something go. "Losing" means you don't know where it is. "Loose" means not firmly attached, or not tight. It can be used as a verb, but not in this poster.

Loosing the eighth graders to do as they will is a sure way of losing my mind! The creator of this poster has a loose grasp on the English language.

 Another example of incorrect usage:

 

I'm sure you all see it. It's the bane of literate Internet readers everywhere: the your/you're malfeasance that drives intelligent people crazy! Let's go over it one...more...time.  "Your" is a possessive pronoun. It shows that something belongs to you. If you want to say "you are" blowing my cover, you need to use the contraction "you're." This is NOT...THAT...HARD!

Your constant misuse of possessive pronouns as contractions shows me that you're not to be trusted with any type of writing instrument!

 I've collected more examples of these and other errors designed to make English teachers cry, but I'm sure you've had enough for now. I know I've had all I can take!

I'll leave you with one more. This time, you tell me why this one makes me want to curl up under the covers with a two-pound box of See's nuts and chews. Leave your answer in the comments.

Of course the very BEST inspirational posters include the command to SHARE with all your friends.