From Pens to Keys–The Complete History of Writing Tools

Writing isn’t what it used to be.

That is, writing is no longer an ink-stained task of scrawling on parchment. Getting your thoughts down is faster and easier than ever. Indeed, as voice-recognition software continues to improve, using your fingers to bang out sentences on a keyboard may soon look charmingly quaint.

Here, at a glance, is the evolution of the technology that shapes how we write.

Writing by hand

Writers in bygone centuries had to dip reed or bamboo pens, ink brushes, or feather quills into ink, then place them on papyrus or paper. This notoriously messy process prompted the invention in 1636 of a reservoir pen made from two quills. One was sealed with a cork and held the ink, which was squeezed through a tiny hole.

By 1827, a fountain pen with an ink chamber in the handle had earned a patent in France, but it wasn’t until 1888 that the first ballpoint pen, featuring a tiny moving ball in a socket in the tip, followed suit. Next came felt-tip pens in the 1960s, rollerball pens in the 1970s, and erasable pens in 1979.

In recent years, sales of that other erasable stalwart, the pencil, have fallen on hard times, although colored pencils have exploded in popularity, thanks to the advent of adult coloring books. Meanwhile, pen sales continue to rise slightly.

Typewriters

The first commercially successful typewriter was invented by Americans in 1868. Just a few years later, in 1875, Mark Twain dashed off an admiring letter to his brother:

The machine has several virtues. I believe it will print faster than I can write. One may lean back in his chair & work it. It piles an awful stack of words on one page. It don’t muss things or scatter ink blots around. Of course it saves paper.

How best to operate such machines was controversial at first: Should the user type with just two fingers, or would eight be more efficient? And should one’s gaze be fixed on the buttons or on the page? But the arrangement of the keys – the now-familiar QWERTY design – was widely embraced, and it has barely changed since.

The QWERTY arrangement owes to the work of Christopher Latham Sholes, whose flawed early attempts placed the letters alphabetically in two rows. This led to frequently paired letters, such as “st” and “th,” mashing close together and jamming the machine. So, collaborating with an educator name Amos Densmore, Sholes rearranged the letters according to their popularity. At first this confused typists, but with fewer jams, it ultimately made for a smoother writing process.

First digital, then mobile

Typewriters were widespread for roughly a century before giving way to the rise of computers. Apple, RadioShack, and Commodore all began manufacturing keyboards for their models in the 1970s. (For a throwback, check out this ancient RadioShack commercial for the TRS-80.)

With technology’s inexorable drive toward the smaller and sleeker, the late 1980s offered an early glimpse of what would be recognized today as primordial text messaging. Devices like 1989’s Motorola MicroTAC 9800X promised typing on mobile phones, albeit with a multi-tap approach that meant each number on the keypad mapped to several letters of the alphabet – what’s known as an alphanumeric keypad.

By 1993, the IBM Simon delivered the world’s first full QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen; in 1997, the Nokia 9000 Communicator followed as the first such device with a push-button keyboard. Since then, laptops have supplanted desktop computing. Now, roughly a decade into the iPhone era, smartphones appear poised to obviate many people’s need for other computers altogether.

Talking with machines

Before Siri, there was Audrey, a 1952 Bell Laboratories speech-recognition system that could understand only digits.

Because computing was still in its infancy at the time, this technology evolved slowly; IBM’s “Shoebox” machine could understand 16 words spoken in English in 1962, but adding hundreds of additional entries to the vocabulary of machines was a decades-long process. It wasn’t until 1990 that Dragon introduced a consumer-targeted speech-recognition product, Dragon Dictate, for a whopping $9,000.

Until fairly recently, such technologies plateaued at around 80 percent accuracy. But in the last few years, Apple and Google devices have made typing by voice easier than tapping words into a screen, and this technology looks increasingly crucial as competitors like Amazon, with its Echo device, also crowd in. Such gadgets not only sift your words out of any surrounding noises but also analyze the linguistic context to better understand precisely what you’re saying.

Is handwriting obsolete?

As machines continue to improve, is old-timey ink on paper bound the way of the dinosaur?

One survey found hundreds of people who said they hadn’t written a single thing by hand in over a month. And while current U.S. educational standards don’t require cursive, lessons in keyboarding are mandatory, down to grades where students have barely learned to write by hand. Indeed, even as many of us aren’t sure what drawer we last saw a notepad in, we now spend hours each day texting and writing online.

Of course, longhand still has its advantages; studies suggest it’s a better way to take notes than on a laptop. That’s not just because computers can be an endless source of distraction, either. Rather, researchers found that when you take notes by hand, because you can’t keep up with everything that’s being said verbatim, you instead reframe it in your own words, prompting deeper thought than rote transcription. There is also evidence that writing letters out cements the ability to recognize those characters, both for children learning to read and for adults studying foreign languages.

Whether you still like the feel of pen on paper or prefer the glow of a touchscreen or a machine that takes dictation, you’re still getting your ideas down and communicating, albeit in different ways. And that’s really been the point all along, says Anne Trubek, an author and former professor at Oberlin College, referring millennia-old forms of writing on clay tablets:

What we want from writing – and what the Sumerians wanted – is cognitive automaticity, the ability to think as fast as possible, freed as much as can be from the strictures of whichever technology we must use to record our thoughts,” Trubek wrote. “This is what typing does for millions. It allows us to go faster, not because we want everything faster in our hyped-up age, but for the opposite reason: we want more time to think.

So what about you? What’s your favorite way to capture an idea in writing?

It’s Time to End Grammar Trolling

During a recent discussion here at Grammarly HQ, someone on the team asked a very good question: is there actually a difference between correcting someone’s grammar and being a grammar troll?

As a copy editor by trade, I have a strong opinion on this one. Yes! Of course there’s a difference!

A good editor, a caring teacher, or an upstanding grammar lover offers corrections that are helpful, polite, and appropriate. A grammar troll insults, mocks, or tries to embarrass another person for making an error. It’s time for that to stop.

But the Internet is destroying proper English! the grammar trolls whine. Everyone is just too stupid! Somebody has to draw the line!

Actually, English is doing just fine. Ask any actual linguist. And everyone is not too stupid. Misspelling a word, making a grammatical error, or even writing a sentence that’s hard to understand doesn’t make you stupid. But insulting someone for making a mistake does make you a grammar troll. And a jerk.

I don’t care! Part of me dies every time I see the word IRREGARDLESS, cry the grammar trolls.

Wow. Aren’t you special.

Consider this: Maybe the person on the other side of the screen is a nonnative speaker who is trying hard to learn English. Maybe it’s someone who speaks a dialect of English that’s different from your own. Maybe they have a different educational background than you do. They could have a disability that makes writing or typing difficult. Maybe they do, in fact, know the difference between to and too but accidentally mistyped.

Ugh, my eyes are bleeding, the grammar trolls sneer. You just used the singular “they.”

Yep! I do it all the time—proudly. So far, exactly zero people have died because of it.

PEOPLE? The Elements of Style clearly states that it should be PERSONS.

Listen, Strunk and White were full of baloney. They couldn’t even identify the passive voice correctly.

You’re a moron and I hate you!

That’s what it really comes down to, isn’t it? Grammar trolls claim that they just want to uphold the standards of proper English. But if that were true, they’d offer polite, respectful suggestions instead of contempt. Why would I change what I say and write just because of some rude, angry stranger? Why would anyone? Grammar trolls don’t want to fix anything. They do what they do because they feel smart when they shame others.

But what if you really do just want to help people write better? What if you’re convinced the typo on the sign in the window of your favorite diner is hurting business? What if you enjoyed someone’s blog post, but there’s a typo the writer missed? What’s a well-meaning grammar lover to do? Here’s what you do: BE NICE. Don’t be rude. Don’t be mean. Don’t be condescending. Just be nice. Tell someone about the mistake if it’s important, and if it’s not, let it go.

If you’re not sure how to be nice, or if you’re a penitent grammar troll without a lot of practice showing kindness, read on. We’ve got all the tips you need in one handy infographic.

Now go out there and give grammar lovers a good name. And if you have a tip for fighting grammar trolls, share it in the comments section!

A Brief and Glorious History of the Interrobang

Imagine you need to write down a phone number, but you don’t have any paper handy. What would you use? Some scribble on a receipt, a napkin, or even their hands. Others repeat the number mentally until they locate a sheet of paper. It’s true; necessity is the mother of invention. In other words, people often generate creative solutions if they need something not readily available.

In 1962, the president of an advertising agency, Martin K. Speckter, found himself in need. He lacked a punctuation mark suitable to express excitement and disbelief simultaneously. Of course, exclamation points are always associated with excitement. However, what if ambiguity or doubt accompanies a strong emotion? Other writers address the issue by ending phrases with both a question mark and an exclamation point, as in the following phrase: Why do you think we need new punctuation?! Mr. Speckter saw no need to invent a new punctuation mark from scratch. Why not combine a question mark and an exclamation point? The parent punctuation marks already had one thing in common—the dot beneath them. Logically, Speckter retained this feature in the fusion of the two marks. He merged the top sections by centering the vertical line of the exclamation point through the question mark. The interrobang’s name is also a combination of two parts. “Interro-” is from “interrogative.” “Bang” is printer’s jargon for an exclamation point. Voilà, the birth of the interrobang!

The Economist explains that Speckter envisioned the interrobang adding “nuance and clarity” to rhetorical questions. In the 1960s, refrigerators that dispensed ice were new technology. Consider how punctuation changes affected his advertising copy for this refrigerator feature:

What? A Refrigerator That Makes Its Own Ice Cubes? What! A Refrigerator That Makes Its Own Ice Cubes! What‽ A Refrigerator That Makes Its Own Ice Cubes‽

Remington Rand, a former typewriter company, applauded Speckter’s creation as the modern way to signify credulity. Numerous magazines and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, reported the new arrival. Typewriter companies began including interrobangs in their metal typefaces. Had a glorious new day dawned for writers‽

No. Like dogs described as “all bark and no bite,” interrobangs generated buzz, but without a significant impact. Writers continued to use question and exclamation marks, along with the rest of the familiar punctuation canon. Was no one brave enough to embrace the interrobang? Was this curiously incredulous symbol destined to fade into obscurity?

Speckter died in 1988, long before he could see the fate of his pet project. As recently as 2012, Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook punctuated a sentence with an interrobang in his decision on Robert F. Booth Trust v. Crowley. But interrobang usage is a rare occurrence; the symbol is relatively unknown by people outside of the writing field. Nevertheless, it’s not totally extinct. The State Library of New South Wales and Punctuate! Theatre in Alberta use interrobangs as logos.

Why did the interrobang fail to establish a foothold as a punctuation mark? No one can say for sure. Perhaps it has to do with the way language develops. To illustrate, imagine you coined a new word in an article. You couldn’t force other authors to adopt the word in their own writings. Even if people used the word for a while after you published your article, it would be difficult to predict whether the word’s usage would be enduring or just a fad. Punctuation marks are subject to the same uncertainty. Henry Denham’s question mark became widely used after the 1580s. Twitter launched the hashtag into popularity in 2006. Other proposed punctuation marks died out completely. That’s the nature of language development!

Have you fallen for the interrobang’s charms? Several fonts, such as Candara, Lucida Sans Unicode, and FreeSerif, support it. If you’d like to use it in Google Docs, click Insert and select Special Characters from the menu. Next, type “interrobang” in the search field. Decide carefully when and how you will use the interrobang. This glyph might be fun to introduce to your friends, but in some contexts it may cause more confusion than it’s worth.

The next time enthusiasm and disbelief strike simultaneously, remember all your options. You can decide between an exclamation point or a question mark. In informal settings, you can use them together. Or, if you want to conserve space, you can take advantage of the multi-functional interrobang.

If You Want to Know How to Apologize, First Do This…

If you want to succeed at apologizing, start by telling yourself you’re awesome.

The advice sounds counterintuitive. It’s common knowledge that if you want to make a real apology, the kind that’s meaningful and sincere, you have to start by setting aside your ego. But that’s easier said than done, because research shows that not admitting we’re wrong is pretty emotionally satisfying. Often, when we try to make apologies we end up mounting a defense instead.

Why We’re So Bad at Apologizing

We’ve all heard apologies like this one:

“Hey, I’m sorry you’re upset. I didn’t mean to suggest that your input doesn’t matter, but when you were speaking during the meeting I was trying to process my own thoughts, which is why I interrupted you. I apologize.”

Eeee-yeah. That’s not an apology; that’s a justification for bad behavior.

Let’s break it down.

What the apologizer said:

Hey, I’m sorry you’re upset.

Translation:

I don’t like it that you’re mad at me.

What the apologizer said:

I didn’t mean to suggest that your input doesn’t matter, but when you were speaking during the meeting I was trying to process my own thoughts, which is why I interrupted you.

Translation:

The thoughts I was formulating were more important to me than what you had to say.

What the apologizer said:

I apologize.

Translation:

Sorry, not sorry.

Good people sometimes behave badly. There’s a difference between acting like a jerk in the moment and being one full-time. Unfortunately, when you’re faced with the need to own up to jerk-like behavior, your brain has to work overtime to convince you that you did something wrong, and that’s not a pleasant experience.

We’re terrible at apologizing because we don’t want to feel bad about ourselves. We have an innate need to preserve our positive self image. Because of this, setting aside our egos long enough to make a sincere apology may seem easy enough in theory . . . but it’s a lot more difficult in practice.

Of course, failing to apologize effectively can be toxic to workplace and other relationships. We tend to resent and dislike people who can’t own up to their mistakes. Those who always deflect the blame are challenging to get along with.

How to Use Self-Affirmation to Apologize . . . For Real

There’s good news, though. We become much better at apologizing when we remind ourselves of our own good qualities just before we approach someone we’ve wronged to admit that we screwed up.

In 2014, Karina Schumann, a Stanford University psychologist, published a research paper demonstrating that self-affirmation leads to better apologies. She discovered that people who practiced affirmation were less likely to be defensive and included more elements of an actual admission of wrongdoing in their apologies.

Apologizing begins with saying a few positive words to yourself. A one-size-fits-all affirmation won’t work here, though—you have to make it personal. Think about your sources of self-worth. Maybe you’re really good at your job and generally well-liked. Maybe your parenting skills are off the charts and your kids are turning out awesome. Or it could be that you’re creative and full of ideas. Whatever it is, have a little chat with yourself about it before you step up to apologize. It could go something like this:

I’m good at relating to people. Here at work, my colleagues often turn to me for advice and guidance because I’m open-minded and kind.

When you think about what makes you feel good about yourself, you’re disarming your defenses. Now you’re ready to apologize.

Elements of a Perfect Apology

Because you know that your mistake was a momentary lapse and not a long-term value judgment, you can be sincere. Find a quiet time when you’re less likely to be interrupted and then address the person you’ve wronged.

• Say you’re sorry. Not, “I’m sorry, but . . .”, just plain ol’ “I’m sorry.”
• Own the mistake. It’s important to show the other person that you’re willing to take responsibility for your actions.
• Describe what happened. The wronged person needs to know that you understand what happened and why it was hurtful to them. Make sure you remain focused on your role rather than deflecting the blame.
• Have a plan. Let the wronged person know how you intend to fix the situation.
• Admit you were wrong. It takes a big person to own up to being wrong. But you’ve already reminded yourself that you’re a big person. You’ve got this.
• Ask for forgiveness. A little vulnerability goes a long way toward proving that you mean what you say.

Now, instead of the lukewarm apology above, your apology might look like this:

I’m very sorry for the way I behaved in the meeting. It was unacceptable for me to interrupt while you were talking. You must’ve felt like I didn’t value your contribution. I realize that I struggle with impulse control, so I’ve asked people to call me out if I interrupt them during conversations. I really do want to hear what you have to say. I was wrong, and I hope you can forgive me.”

It’s as simple (and as difficult) as that. No justifying your bad behavior, no making excuses or blaming someone or something else, and no minimizing the hurt you caused by saying “I didn’t really mean it” or “I was just kidding.”

Owning up to your own bad behavior is never easy. But, if you bolster your self-worth before you set out to apologize, it doesn’t have to be soul-crushing, either.

10 Things You Should Avoid Saying in a Job Interview

Could the things you’re saying during job interviews be costing you offers? Knowing the right things to say requires practice and a little finesse. But accidentally saying the wrong thing is all too easy to do. Interviews are stressful, and it can be challenging to keep a cool head when your palms are sweating and your heart is beating double-time.

Taking the time to prepare can mean the difference between walking away from an interview with a sinking feeling and landing the sweet gig you’ve been hoping for. Study this list of the top ten things you should avoid saying during an interview and you’ll be less likely to make critical mistakes.

1So, what does this job pay?

Sure, salary is a concern, but this is a question to save for later. Generally, you’ll address salary after you’ve received an offer of employment. If you have concerns that the wage might not be competitive, save them until you’ve been offered a second interview. Talking salary too early in the process will make it seem as though you’re more concerned about money than you are about the work itself.

2I’ll do whatever.

Sure, you need a job, but interviews are not the time to let your desperation show. Employers want to know that you’re passionate about the work they’re considering hiring you to do. If you want to express that you’re open to different kinds of work, you might say, “I love working in [career specialty], but I’m also versatile and I enjoy learning new things. I’m open to exploring different roles.”

3My last boss was a total _______.

So, your last boss really was a horrible micromanager who blamed you for everything that went wrong. Your potential new boss doesn’t need to hear it. Bad-mouthing your previous boss, manager, or even other coworkers will only raise red flags. A hiring manager isn’t likely to see your boss as the tyrant you’re making him out to be. It’s more likely she’ll see you as someone who might be difficult to work with.

4Perfectionism is my biggest weakness.

Here’s the thing—you think you’re being clever when you tell a hiring manager that your one true weakness is that you want everything to be flawless. But what she’s hearing will sound more like “Oh, woe is me—I’m so fabulous that nothing short of perfection will do!” Not to mention, you’ll be spouting a cliché she’s probably heard dozens, if not hundreds of times before. Yes, you may be asked to address the question of your weaknesses, but there are better ways to answer.

5I hate my job.

Maybe you do hate your job, but when you’re interviewing you need to play this fact close to the vest. Make diplomacy your watchword. If you need to address job challenges as part of the “Why are you leaving your current position?” question, frame them as positively as you can. Otherwise, you risk the hiring manager perceiving you as difficult to please, which also means that you might not be satisfied with what the position has to offer.

6I was the company’s go-to person, with a proven track record for creating win-win scenarios.

Buzzwords and clichés don’t make you sound sharp or impressive; they make you seem as though you value flash over substance. Instead, come to the table with solid documentation of your successes. Facts and numbers say a lot more to a potential employer than telling him you “think outside the box.” In fact, saying that you “think outside the box” is more likely to indicate that you don’t.

7What’s your policy on working from home?

Companies are getting more comfortable with the idea of employees working from home at least some of the time, but don’t ask about the possibility of telecommuting during the interview. If a work-from-home situation is what you need, you should apply for jobs with listings that specifically state that remote work is part of the offering.

8Is the schedule flexible?

No one wants to hire someone who’s asking them to adjust to their schedule rather than the other way around. Once you have a job offer, it’s okay to ask for some scheduling leeway if you absolutely need it, but not before.

9Tell me about what this company does.

If you want a job offer, you should have already done your homework, which means you should know what the company does. Instead of asking for a broad explanation of what the company’s all about, go to your interview armed with what you already know. Ask specific clarifying questions. For example: “On your blog, I read that customer service improvements are a major focus for [company] right now. Could you tell me more about how those new initiatives carry over to the sales team?”

10No, I don’t have any questions.

When the hiring manager asks “Do you have any questions for me?” you should absolutely have some. Prepare thoughtful questions in advance. Hiring works both ways—the hiring manager wants to learn whether you’re a fit for the position, but she also wants to see that you care enough to assess whether the position is a fit for you. Otherwise, you just look desperate. If you’re at a loss for questions, here are fifty-one of them.

Capitalization in Quotes

Capitalize the First Word in a Sentence that Is a Direct Quote

When quoting, the first word of a complete sentence should be capitalized, regardless of its placement within the main sentence.

Matthew said, “In that case, I’m going out for a walk!”

Since grade school, we’ve learned that capitalization is reserved for the beginnings of sentences, so when we see a capital letter mid-sentence, it can make us feel as though there’s an error. When using quotations, though, capitalization in mid-sentence is common. More specifically, when quotations form complete sentences, they must be capitalized no matter where they appear in the main sentence. All of the sentences below are correct, for example:

“We are not amused.” – Queen Victoria

Neil Young’s admonishment “It’s better to burn out than it is to rust” is not appreciated by everyone.

Don’t Capitalize Quotes that Are Only Partial Sentences

Quotations within a sentence aren’t always capitalized, however. When the quote is a piece of a bigger quote or a sentence fragment, no capitalization is necessary. Consider the sentences below, and note the lack of capitalization in quotes within these sentences:

William Butler Yeats said that education should not be passive and dull, but that it should be seen as “… lighting a fire.”

When accused, Richard Nixon maintained that he was “not a crook.”

Top 5 Most Frustrating Writing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Recently Grammarly asked its social media communities which writing mistakes were the worst kinds of errors. Our fans tend to find substantive grammatical trip-ups, like verb errors, far more frustrating than typographical errors and “stylistic” errors, such as homophone misspelling and preposition placement.

Embed code for infographic at end of post.

Here are the top five worst writing mistakes and how to avoid and correct them.

1Incorrect verb forms — 51%

Irregular verb forms are one of the most difficult grammar concepts to master, even for native speakers—many of whom use incorrect irregular forms without realizing it. While these “mistakes” are part of English dialects all over the world, these non-standard forms carry a stigma that can significantly damage your credibility if used in formal settings, like business or school. Here are the most common verb conjugation mistakes:

I seen vs. I saw

I seen the movie last week.

I saw the movie last week.

I been vs. I have been

I been there!

I have (I’ve) been there!

I done vs. I did

I done the homework.

I did the homework.

We was vs. we were

We was just about to start the reading.

We were just about to start the reading.

2Subject-verb disagreement — 20%

In many languages, it is important that the subject of the sentence aligns correctly with the verb conjugation in terms of number and gender. Since English does not conjugate verbs to reflect the gender of the subject, you only need to pay close attention to the number of the subject—is it a singular or plural noun?

The struggles that the horse experiences while climbing the mountain is intense.

Here the subject the struggles does not align with the verb “is.” Because struggles is plural, the verb should be are.

The struggles that the horse experiences while climbing the mountain are intense.

In English, irregular verbs and compound subjects make subject-verb agreement somewhat tricky. Irregular verbs, like those above, must be memorized, but compound subjects follow a simple rule—they are plural. See below for an example using the compound subject Jane and Mark.

Jane and Mark are running a marathon this month.

3Run-on sentences — 10%

According to Grammarly’s research, run-on sentences are among the top grammar mistakes made by writers worldwide. A run-on sentence contains two or more independent clauses (a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and that can stand alone as a sentence) that are not connected with correct punctuation. Though there are different kinds of run-on sentence errors, most often writers neglect to use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, etc.).

I enjoy writing immensely but my deadline is looming I am starting to feel overwhelmed.

I enjoy writing immensely, but my deadline is looming; I am starting to feel overwhelmed.

Each independent clause must be set apart from other independent clauses with punctuation or a comma and conjunction. Punctuation marks that are ideal for marking complete sentences are periods (full-stops), semicolons, and em dashes.

4Comma splices — 6%

Comma splices and run-on sentences go hand in hand. In fact, all comma splices are run-on sentences.

He was very hungry, he ate a whole pizza.

He was very hungry. He ate a whole pizza.

He was very hungry, so he ate a whole pizza.

To splice means to connect or join. When a writer joins two independent sentences with a comma instead of separating them with a period or a coordinating conjunction, that’s a comma splice.

The comma has its own jobs to do, but connecting two independent sentences isn’t one of those jobs. Besides, the period gets testy when his sister, the comma, steals his thunder. Periods have their jobs, and so do commas, but never the twain shall meet—unless it’s in the form of a semicolon. Semicolons can also take the place of a coordinating conjunction, such as “and,” “but,” or “so,” among others.

5Pronoun-antecedent disagreement — 5%

John had a card for Helga but couldn’t deliver it because he was in her way.

John had a card for Helga but couldn’t deliver it because Tim was in Helga’s way.

When you use the pronouns “her” or “him,” readers need to know to whom those pronouns refer. A pronoun without a clear antecedent is ambiguous.

In our example sentence demonstrating an ambiguous pronoun, the reader is unsure who the second “he” is. Was John in the way, or was there another “he” involved? As noted in the corrected example, the pronoun “he” refers to Tim, who is card-blocking Helga. Always be sure your pronouns refer to a specific antecedent.

Additionally, 5% of respondents said that the worst error was not listed in the poll. Participants listed homophone, apostrophe, and contraction spelling errors as the most frustrating, while others cited using textspeak in professional settings and plagiarism as the most egregious writing mistakes.

What do you think? We love hearing from our community.

Grammarly’s weekly polls are published every Wednesday and cover a range of subjects related to the state of writing, grammar, and education. You can find and participate in our most recent poll here.

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