14. Reading Up On Anything Historical
The use of apostrophes when talking about decades past is all but universal, and its almost always grammatically incorrect. As a child of the 80s, I grew up on John Hughes, Back to the Future, and Die Hard. In American history, the 1920s are best known as a period of unprecedented prosperity, with the Jazz Age of The Great Gatsby epitomising the flow of wealth at the time. Freddie Mercury was the greatest singer to emerge in the 1970s. Theres just no need. Stop it.
Bonus points: Writers using an apostrophe when contracting a decade, rather than an inverted comma facing the opposite direction, especially in text that is typed rather than handwritten.
13. Knowing The Difference Between Nouns And Verbs
One of the finer points of the English language is the difference in spelling when certain nouns become verbs. Practice becomes practise, licence become license, and so on and so forth. American English pretty much forgoes the difference altogether practice remains practice, whether its a noun or verb but British English maintains the practice, whether its upheld in everyday language or not. When a British person, then, writes something along the lines of, We going to practice our synchronised swimming until the cows come home, then theres a problem, and out comes the red pen.
Things to look out for: Practise vs. Practice, License vs. Licence, 'Affect' vs 'Effect' (although 'effect' can also be a verb, so extra care's got to be taken there).
12. Pronounciation
One of the biggest pet peeves for any grammar Nazi is the (not real) word, pronounciation. Its just not a word. Thats not how you spell it, and its certainly not how you pronounce it. When pronounce is turned into a noun, the u is of course omitted pronunciation and the pronunciation of the word changes to reflect that omission.
11. The Use Of So-Called Irony
Thats so ironic." Is it, though? Is it? People ought to be a little more careful in their use of the word irony. Definitions vary wildly, but one thing that is generally agreed is that its when something happens that is opposite, or at least contrary, to expectations. When translated into a verbal context, therefore, its when underlying meaning differs to (and/or is opposite to) whats superficially said. Most importantly, its not just coincidence. On his way to work, James stepped in a puddle wearing his brand new shoes. Bad luck? Yes. Ironic? Not a chance.
Something to bear in mind: Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit is just not true. People who say so either dont know their comedy, or (best case scenario) are being sarcastic themselves.