Your and you're / were, we're and where / there, their and they're?

This may help you out.

Language Note

Homograph, homonym, or homophone?

Homographs (from ancient Greek words for "same writing") are two or more words that are spelled the same but have different, unrelated meanings. Most homographs are pronounced the same, but some are not.

- punch (the drink), punch (the blow)

- lead (the heavy metal), lead (guide or direct)

- wind (moving air), wind (turn or coil)

- pen (the writing tool), pen (a place for a pig)

Homonyms (from ancient Greek for "same name") are two or more words that sound the same, but have different meanings. Some homonyms have the same spelling and some do not.

- hare (like a rabbit), hair (on your head)

- rank (a place in line), rank (smelly)

Homophones (from ancient Greek for "same sound") are two or more words that sound the same but are spelled differently.

- time (minutes and hours), thyme (an herb)

- size (how big), sighs (breathes out noisily)

- flu (influenza), flew (past tense of fly), flue (in a chimney)

- carat (weight of a diamond), caret (proofreading mark), karat (purity of gold), carrot (orange vegetable)

In some parts of the United States, there are words that are pronounced as homophones, but in other parts of the country, those same words are not. Do you think these words are homophones? marry, merry, Mary; pore, pour, poor; berry, bury; din, den

Oh you have hit a sore spot with me! Spelling has taken a back seat, or actually, it's been thrown out the window in American schools. Texting has all but changed the rules of spelling and I'm afraid will soon be the new standard - that is - there will be no standard. For instance, when I wrote the word "texting" the spell checker on this forum doesn't even recognize that as a word. Our public schools have become nothing more than "progressive" indoctrination centers. We are turning out good little ignorant communists who don't have to know any skills in the work force because there will soon be no work force. They'll all be on the welfare program from cradle to grave. Apparently, everything is going to be done by a few skilled elites who will program computers to do the technical jobs. Any manual work will be done by illegal aliens; who conveniently multiply like rabbits on steroids; so there will be no shortage of manual workers.

What is so sad, is that spell-check is so readily available, yet people are too lazy to use it! I worry for the world of people, who like me, are grammar freaks. We have to either accept the fact that grammar is going the way of the dinosaur or it's just a passing fad. I don't know how much more I can take without my head exploding though. Young people today could give a rat's patoot about proper spelling. I've even seen sentences all run together as one word and kids think that is soooooo cool.

Yes grammar is given as high priority as always in teaching.... But when common communication sources such as text don't include basic punctuation marks easily they don't get used... My Nokia phone has relegated the comma and apostrophe to the same level as smiles and backslashes...

Your concern is also mine, but the text language takes away all the fun and it gobbles up rules, regulations and grammar as you put it.

To sum it up in one word. Lazy.