"Your Retarded!" (and other petty foibles)

I have a confession to make: I'm a little bit of a grammar snob. Well, more like a word usage snob (admittedly, my use of punctuation is far from perfect). Not that I don't make my share of mistakes, because I most certainly do (there will probably be one or two in this very post). There are a few that tend to make me crazy when I see them, though, and they all involve the misuse of homophones. For example, "there" is different from "their," which is different from "they're." There is also "your" and "you're" (please note title of post - that's on a T-shirt!). And of course, "two" vs. "too" vs. "to." I don't think it's a big deal to commit these errors in your own personal writing. After all, most of us don't employ an editor who's paid a hefty sum to look over our shoulders and make corrections. I do find it inexcusable, however, when they pop up in widely circulated publications like newspapers, or on signs.

Enter Jeff Deck and his Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL). Finally, someone has made it his purpose in life "to stamp out as many typos as we can find, in public signage and other venues where innocent eyes may be befouled by vile stains on the delicate fabric of our language." Check out his blog to see how your fair city fared (or is it "fare city faired?" ;)), and find out how English is misused throughout the States.