Introducing a brand new segment! Here, we’ll look at a few social media flops and take a look at how they could have…. Well… been improved. As we’re looking at posts and trying to work out their meaning for their intended audience, I feel it’s a pretty good exercise and you might even learn a thing or two. After all, communication is all about your message being understood by others, right?
First and foremost, it’s not nice to make of people’s spelling and grammar on social media. Usually. I mean if they strike you first then maybe it’s fair game. And if it’s a reputable company who maybe should know better before posting then maybe that might be okay too… But in general, don’t do it. Not everyone completed school and had a great education. Or maybe English is their second language. You just don’t know the scenario. So making fun of people is certainly not the aim here; I’m once again just trying to bring a bit of fun into the world and use some examples as a way of education. So yeah, I just wanted to make that clear before we got started. Anyway, without further adieu, let’s get stuck in. Dammit!
There’s a few things wrong here… Firstly, we need a comma before people. Without a comma, it reads as if you’re putting your head up people, and that’s probably not what you wanted to say. The other comma I think is missing is before the first wave. Without the comma, it reads as if we, the reader, are seeing the author wave and if he fails to wave back… Is he waving to himself? Yeah, that’s how it reads anyway. And then of course we have ill instead of I’ll. Oh and lastly, we’re using a comma to form a long sentence.
How I think it should read:
Just a heads up, people. I’ll be driving my car with no plates on it (I do have a pesky permit). If you see me, wave, and if I fail to wave back then someone has probably stolen my car! Thanks.
Recap:
With this one, I’m not 100% certain on the first sentence. There could be some missing punctuation there. I first thought it was meant to say newspaper but then why are we watching the newspaper as opposed to reading it? And I’m guessing asential is meant to be essential. Anyway, how I think it should read:
Don’t you watch the news or read the paper? ONLY LEAVE HOME IF IT’S ESSENTIAL!!
Recap: It’s and Its
A couple things wrong here…. Firstly, remember that commas are not used to break up sentences: that’s what full stops are for, or semi colons if the scenario fits. And if you are using commas, remember to put a space after the comma and not before. It’s a little inconsistent here as you can see. Secondly, we’re missing some full stops here anyway and everything is written as one long sentence which makes things annoying to read like how are you meant to know where one sentence finishes and the next begins I mean really… Hard to read, huh? Anyway, let’s see how it should read:
Hi Raff. Thanks for your comment. We are glad to hear that your order arrived quickly. We will let our team know to keep up the good service. Thanks for all your support. ❤
Recap: Essential comma usage
This is a tricky one…. The whole thing is just one sentence with no punctuation. Look, I’ll give it a go:
Better news. This is Brian – naughty cat – who destroys Christmas trees. That’s Christmas ruined. ☺☺ Little bugger. Any takers?
Not quite sure where to start with this one. There seems to be no full stops so I had to guess where some of the sentences ended and the next began. It also reads as if a bobcat or excavator was walking the author’s dog. That doesn’t seem right… Anyway, see for yourself if you think I did a good job:
If anybody has had a bobcat/excavator trailer stolen, I found one while I was walking my dog today. Msg me with a picture as it’s pretty much in brand new condition and I have a pic also. I’m not posting the pic. The owner of this trailer would know what it looks like. No machinery on it hidden.
A few things wrong here. We’ve got mates instead of mate’s (car belonging to his mate); a accident should be an accident; break should be brake; and we have spaces before punctuation.
My mate’s car got hit from behind today. He has no insurance. What’s the protocol for an accident like this? He was parked and a car did not brake and smashed into his car from behind. Do we go to the police? My mate has his name and rego.
Recap:
- Woman’s should be Women’s as it’s a day for all women, not just one woman.
- The plural of woman is women, not woman’s.
- The plural of Xena would be Xenas.
Happy International Women’s Day to all of my powerful Wonder Women and Xenas!
Love – She-Ra
Recap:
There’s not too much wrong with this one so I won’t retype the whole thing. We do have a missing full stop so we end up having one huge sentence. Works doesn’t need quotation marks or a capital W, however, if you did want to emphasise works, you could get away with single quotations in this instance. Lastly, we have a random capital on the word is.
Denzel Washington says his wife Pauletta is the reason their marriage ‘works’. Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta have one of the most enduring marriages in Hollywood.