There are a few linguistic errors that I encounter with such frequency that I really think that they will eventually move into standard, accepted use:
- Apostrophes
into signify possessives. - Quotation marks as a means of emphasis.
- “I” replacing “me” as a direct object, but only in conjunction with another pronoun. I encounter this exchange pretty much daily, in which people of all educational and socioeconomic backgrounds will say something like, “Let’s find some time for you and I to meet.”
As a result, the following sentence will eventually be perfectly acceptable:
Let’s find some time for you and I to meet “really” soon about your proposal’s.
After that, all the prescriptivists’ heads will explode!!!! :p
Actually, I think that the third item will gain ground much more quickly than the first two. People are “extremely” picky about punctuation mark’s!
1 Comment
I was confused by the phrasing of “apostrophes in possessives” until I saw your example, ’cause apostrophes are used in the other kind of possessive kinda mandatorily…which is why I completely understand when people type “let’s” or “it’s” (when they mean “its”–and that one’s doubly confusing for people because “it’s” is A-OK with spell check…)