English is the most widely spoken language, with roughly 1.5 billion speakers worldwide. However, many would agree that it is also notoriously confusing.
It has odd rules, including silent letters and homophones that can baffle even native speakers. That’s likely why many of them make these simple yet hilarious mistakes and get featured on the Illiterate Britain social media page.
Here are some first-grade-level errors that turned into pure comedy gold. Don’t forget to upvote those that made you laugh and scratch your head at the same time.
#1 Those Are Certainly All Words
Image source: Illiterate Britain
#2 Slamanala Is Not A Nice Thing To Get
Image source: Adam Marshall
#3 Spotted Today In A Popular Whimsical Store. Unless It’s For Farmers?
Image source: Illiterate Britain
Many of you have probably noticed the slight shift in written English. A good handful of people nowadays would use an apostrophe-s (‘s) to denote plurality, seemingly unaware that it is conventionally used to denote possession.
Social media could be one of the biggest influencers for this shift, something English teacher Suchitra Sharma also noticed.
#4 Not Quite Sure He Doesn’t Like The Bobs
Image source: Gerry White
#5 What Are They Actually Trying To Say?
Image source: Claire Heller
#6 Well, It Confused Me. The Tiny Thank You Too
Image source: Paul Holford
Sharma spoke to Bored Panda about her own struggles as someone who speaks English as a second language. She also noted that short-form videos online have made everyone multilingual in their own way, even native English speakers.
“With all the reels and media content we consume, our minds live in a forever multilingual, multiregister state now,” she said. “Even for 50-year-olds like me, ‘6-7,’ ‘low key,’ and other phrases used by Gen Z and Gen Alpha have become a part of our natural vocabulary.
#7 Not Sure I Want To See How This Plays Out
Image source: Illiterate Britain
#8 Ah….thats What They Are Called
Image source: Illiterate Britain
#9 I Think A Dog Might Have Written This
Image source: Illiterate Britain
Slang terms and even written language trends have also influenced these shifts. As Sharma points out, language is elastic, and we see it in today’s AI world, where written text is way too polished.
“When I see people still making those phonetic spelling and grammatical errors, I enjoy their voice. They are not getting dumber or illiterate. Their minds are now absorbing multiple lingos, and they are shifting registers and gears. Since texting or posting online has become ‘like being at home,’ some people are choosing to write how they speak,” she said.
#10 4 Persis
Image source: Kelly Williams
#11 This Notice Was Stuck To The Wall In My Friend’s Bathroom By The Senior Carer, Who Apparently Had Top Level Care Svqs (Qualifications)
Image source: Peter Munro
#12 I Don’t Think It Has
Image source: Jane Roderkerken
The digital space is pretty much a free-for-all. You don’t need to adhere to proper writing rules, and no one will police you for not doing so. Preply’s Language Trends and Digital Media Expert Madeline Enos sees this as another major influence on how people communicate through text today.
#13 Stop It! You’re Just Teasing Me With This Amazing Timber
Image source: Claire Coulter
#14 I Must Start Behaving
Image source: Gareth ‘frank’ Pugh
#15 Not All At Once I Hope!
Image source: John Mattocks
“Digital and social media platforms often reward being able to respond to fast-moving trends and cultural conversations as quickly as possible,” Enos said. “This can mean users care less about perfect spelling, punctuation, and grammar because speed can seem more important than correcting mistakes.
“As a result, people may be more likely to guess the spelling of words they’ve only heard before when writing a quick response, rather than taking the time to check everything is precisely correct.”
#16 I’ll Pass Thank You
Image source: Julie Shaw
#17 Sounds A Bit Wonky To Me LOL. From My Local Site
Image source: Eliza Andrews-Johnson
#18 Shiver Me Timbers
Image source: Matt Dummer
Many of the texts here are words people wrote as they sounded, seemingly oblivious to proper spelling. According to Enos, it isn’t necessarily a sign of declining literacy standards, but rather a sign of language evolution.
“Spelling a word phonetically when you’ve only heard it, rather than read it, is a long-standing phenomenon that has helped shape the way language evolves over time,” she explained. “One example is ‘rebracketing.’ This happens when speakers mishear or reinterpret the boundary between words. Over time, these reinterpretations can even change how words are used.”
#19 In Any Case They Aren’t Gargles. They’re Growtesks
Image source: Joe Francis
#20 On A Local Spotted Site
Image source: Denise Bowman
#21 Horce!
Image source: Pete Williams
The examples on this list are largely humorous, even ridiculous for some. However, Sharma says it wouldn’t be accurate to conclude that people are becoming dumber or less literate.
“For educators who want to address this issue, the gold standards of reading comprehension and writing are still the same. I would perhaps add that educators should be teaching about shifting registers when the situation demands it and treat social writing online as informal communication,” she said.
#22 Comment On A Post About Resellers
Image source: Karen James
#23 Womens Willie’s Brand New
Image source: Illiterate Britain
#24 Lincoln 2014
Image source: Illiterate Britain
Although informal communication exists, Enos says it is still important to learn and build strong literacy and grammar skills.
“For educators and tutors, it can be more useful to strengthen core literacy and grammar skills than to focus too heavily on individual online mistakes. Building those communication foundations can help people express themselves more clearly and confidently, both online and offline.”
#25 Food Fighters
Image source: Helen Ginger
#26 A Gem
Image source: Darren Livermore
#27 Stepping Hill Hospital, It’s Been There For At Least 20 Years And When They Put A New One Up They Faithfully Copied The Original Letter For Letter
Image source: Barrie Harnett
#28 Well, That’s That Then
Image source: Emma Lait Hamilton
#29 Let’s Hope This Is Their Defence Barrister
Image source: Andrew Gill
#30 Home Bargains Finest!
Image source: Claire Helen Maddern
#31 From A Thread About Boat-Based Immigrants
Image source: David Williams
#32 I Have Noticed A Huge Amount Of Shop Fronts, Awnings, Signs With Massive Errors
Image source: Joseph Griffin
#33 Perfect For The Wee Kiddies
Image source: Amanda Foster
#34 Oh No… Not The Gestpo
Image source: Gavin Haywood
#35 A Local Group ‘Celebratina’ The Quys Who Stopped A Dinghy From Collecting Migrants From France
Image source: Alison Pendlebury-Brown
#36 I Know A Battery-Powered David, If That Helps
Image source: Jacky Peterson
#37 My Pasty Tastes A Bit Leathery
Image source: Phil Terry
#38 As Opposed To Being Armed With A Phaser? Good Job It Was Unphased Then. It Could Have Turned Deadly Quite Quickly
Image source: Catriona Elliott Roberts
#39 Platesfull
Image source: Illiterate Britain
#40 Little Desert
Image source: Gee Cee
#41 Stalker Cats And Their Lawnmowers Eh?
Image source: Shari Day
#42 Shack Attack
Image source: Graeme Lake
#43 A Distant Relation Of The Boulder Terrier
Image source: Jessica Taylor
#44 Crikey, I Thought The Last One Was Bad. This Is A Goggle In The Title And A Gargle In The Description
Image source: Joe Francis
#45 Clam Pensions Are Great For Shellfish People
Image source: Stuart Rishton
#46 They Never Actually Revealed What The Dingy And Illegal Thing It Was He Destroyed
Image source: Pete Williams
#47 I’m White With No Style – Would I Fit The Bill?
Image source: Illiterate Britain
#48 Now The Nights Are Drawing In, Do You Struggle For Enough Light To See Where You’ve Left Your Baked Goods?
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Image source: Dawn Marie
#49 Who’s Eileen?
Image source: Sarah Poppins
#50 Thankfully, I Don’t Think Anyone Ever Found A Body
Image source: Andi LG
#51 Spotted On Market Place
Image source: Vicky Ferguson
#52 Why Is That Urgent?
Image source: James Milburn
#53 Spotted During One Of My Ground-Hops A Few Months Ago
Image source: Jethro Fairley
#54 Wow ..wonder What That Dog Looks Like ??
Image source: Natalie Acton
#55 Spelt Wrong Twice Ffs
Image source: Daniel Dolman
#56 Yep!
Image source: Suzanne Price
#57 Flea For Your Lives!
Image source: Ash Burton
#58 Bowels
Image source: Debs Rutter
#59 Just A Post On My Local Community Page 🤣. The Irony Of Trying To Correct People’s Spellings And Making Mistakes Like This 🤣🤣
Image source: Chloe Shotter-Browne
#60 Always Put A Capital A For Anythink
Image source: Alan Hyde
#61 Band On The Run???
Image source: Jamie Pizey
#62 Well?
Image source: Emma Davis
#63
Image source: Maria Brown
#64
Image source: Anon
#65 Funny-Illiterate-Britain-Posts
Image source: Claire Heller
#66 This Popped Up On Facebook Earlier
Image source: Lisa Crankshaw
#67 Blimey..she Wants A Lot For Free !!
Image source: Natalie Acton
#68 Got To Love An Apostrophe
Image source: Darren Brnoski
#69
Image source: Melanie Broom-Sopp
#70 Needs Softer Toilets
Image source: Alan Whiteland
#71 A Local Restaurant Advertising On Facebook
Image source: Jason Naicker
#72 Hope They Didn’t Barge Anyone Out The Way To Grab The Bargain…
Image source: Alison Eldridge
#73 Hmmmm
Image source: Michelle Mckenzie Mcardle
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