They also drive me crazy.
Ok. I will be the first to admit, I suck at spelling. I’m mildly dyslexic, but most of the time, that comes through when dealing with numbers. I sometimes have trouble figuring out its or it’s, but I’m working on it. So, I’m not with out sin here.
But there is NO excuse for horribly bad spelling. I know for a fact that most blogging software comes with a spell check. My browser also lets me know if it thinks I’m misspelling a word, by underlining it in red.
You can also look up the spelling, meaning and use of words on the Internet. You know, that thing we’re all using right now to communicate?
So there is no bloody excuse for someone in a group for bloggers (read: Writers. We are writers. ) To be “appauled” by something. That isn’t even MAYBE a word. I’m appalled by this mistake.
Another common one that gets me is when some is sad and upset, so they curl up on the couch and start “balling”. Its bawling for fucks sake. Ok? You don’t even have to take my word for it.
From Dictionary.com
Bawling:
1. To cry out with a loud, full sound; to cry with vehemence, as in calling or exultation; to shout; to vociferate.
2. To cry loudly, as a child from pain or vexation. n. A loud, bellowing cry; a wail.
v. intr.
- To cry or sob loudly; wail.
- To cry out loudly and vehemently; shout.
Balling:
v. tr.
- To form into a ball.
- Vulgar Slang To have sexual intercourse with.
See? Those are very different things.
The reasons these bother me so much is twofold. First of all, these mistakes are very jarring and they disrupt the flow of reading. I, personally, am diagnosed with OCD. Even with medication, I sometimes find and fixate on things that rub me the wrong way like this. When I was in elementary school, I hated it when the teacher told us to go to the assembly in the APR room. What she, my teacher, was saying was redundant. The APR was the All Purpose Room. So, I told her, we could go to the AP room, or we could go to the APR. She wasn’t happy about that. I also hate when people go to ‘the ATM machine’. You go to the ATM, ok? The ‘m’ stands for machine.
Here are a few other word issues that come up in sex writing that throw me off and drive me crazy.
You do not “shutter with desire”. You shudder with desire.
Likewise, you are in the throes of passion. You are NOT in the throws of passion, unless you are engaging in erotic wrestling. Then, you might be in the throws of passion.
Your dom may stretch you out on a rack, but you are wracked with pleasure, pain, or both.
Speaking of doms, ‘dom’ is short for ‘dominant’. It is not a gendered word. Domme is not the female form of dom. Domme is a created, pseudo French word. If you are going to coin a fake French sounding word, try to stick to the to the French rules. It is not pronounced ‘dom-may’ any more than ‘femme’ is pronounced ‘fem-may’. Domme is pronounced ‘dom’ just like femme is pronounced ‘fem’. One syllable.
Domina, however, is a gendered term. A Domina was a noble woman who held a barony, and is an old Latin term meaning Lady or Mistress. Since it is a title, rather than a description, like dom, Domina is capitalized, like Duke, or Lord. Unless you are ‘Dom so and so’, it isn’t capitalized when written, and truly, it doesn’t make much sense to me to use ‘dom’ as part of a title, since it is a descriptive diminutive of dominant.
Personally, I prefer the gender neutral ‘top’ to describe myself.
On another kink related peeve: I find it incredibly jarring to read things with typing protocols, such as W/we Y/you, whatever. Just because I’m a top doesn’t mean I need to bend the rules of English and unnecessarily capitalize words. Likewise, just because someone is submissive doesn’t mean they need to throw out the rules and never capitalize anything.
Do you know what I do when I start to read something written in that fashion? I stop, and I don’t go back. I don’t mean to sound like I’m judging any one’s lifestyle or identification, because I’m not. But when it comes to writing? Just write regularly.
When I text message Sebastian for a booty call, I am not waiting with baited breath for a response. I am not chewing on worms or crawdads or any other fish bait. My breath is usually quite pleasant. When he’s on his way over, I’m waiting with bated breath for his arrival.
Don’t email me telling me something I said or did ‘peeked’ your interest and expect me to be impressed. My blog may give you a peek into my life, but it piques your curiosity about me.
Now, this next one is just a personal pet peeve. I hate the word ‘cum’. I hate it with the passions of one hundred fiery hells. Seeing that in a written work throws me off and takes me out of the story. There is nothing wrong with the word come. I come. You came. We all came. I’m coming. It works for me.
