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17 December, 2012

There, Therr,...



therr (thair) noun. [American English Slang, a contraction of there + error, reputedly coined by the Mojourner Truth blog several days before the end of the Mayan Calendar] 1. In editorial annotation, the error of confusing  the words there, their, and/or they're  2. The general error of writing homophonic but incorrect words. 

Both definitions carry the weight of implication. A generation after the internet took hold and evidence of the there-their-they're ignorance first went on wide display, editors and English teachers adopted "therr" instead of the usual annotation to both highlight the writer's ignorance while simultaneously refusing to provide the correction. If their too stoopid to get it write the first time, there gonna have to look it up, so they're. And therez no denying that "therr," by simultanously contracting two words and adding another error layer, is so crazy it works.

1 comment:

  1. Bravo! When will you take on YORR ... YURR ... erm. You're? :)

    ReplyDelete