Grammar Rant

Maybe I've just been reading way too many unedited posts on the internet, but there are just some consistent grammatical errors which are driving me up the wall, and this is a good outlet. (Please note, non-native English writers are exempted from this tirade.)

• Spell out "you," "are," and "for." You've been writing complete English words since you were four or five, most likely. It's not as if it takes that much more time to spell these words out, either.
  
• The use of internet acronyms in semi-formal or formal writing is appalling. Drop the LOLs, ROFLs, BTWs, and OMGs if you're trying to sound even remotely professional.
  
• "It's" means "it is." "Its" is a possessive. Saying "It's car" translates to "It is car" which makes no sense at all.
• Learn to use "to" and "too." "Too" refers to something in excess and is used as a modifier. "To" is used with infinitives and prepositions: "to see," "go to the movies."
  
• Learn the difference between "prize" and "price." I see this one messed up more than you would think.
• "No" might sound a lot like "know," but they're very different words. Confusing these two will make you go from "respectable" to "dipwad" in record time.
  
• Paragraphs are your friend! You can be awarded the designation of using stream-of-consciousness writing only after you have proven that you know how to write in paragraph form expertly. Until then, you just seem like you have a broken "Enter" key on your keyboard.

Finally, proofread what you have written! If you're too lazy to read over, even once, what you just wrote, then you probably don't have much to say and shouldn't be hitting the submit button. (I use this rule myself, as well.)