When the Grammar Nazi's strike!

[KimMH]

^
Ah, well I wouldn't know since I never learnt the formalities of such things. I write as pleases my eye, matches my train of thought, and is expedient. Not always in that order. The only complaint I get often enough to take note of is that my prose is too flowery, so I've never given it too much thought.

You can turn a pretty phrase, though.

 

[auntiehill]

I make my living being a "grammar Nazi," so I do tend to get a bit worked up about it sometimes. The misuse of its/it's, they're/their, passed/past and then/than drive me mad.

I am the grammarian about whom your mother warned you.

However, sometimes, it's acceptable to just let it go.

 

[thestrangequark]

I seen him last night.

He did it hisself.

I agree with 99% of what you said, but these examples have perfectly sound grammar in AAVE.

Sure, that's fine. But I don't assume "black" when I hear those. If you're grading papers are you going to skip on by "hisself"? All things being equal on two job applications, are you going to choose "I seen the man hisself" over "I saw the man himself"?

Ah, but this is an issue of code-switching, or what language is appropriate in what circumstances, not a case of incorrect grammar. Right or wrong, Standard English is appropriate in job and academic scenarios and AAVE is not, but that doesn't make the grammar of AAVE any less correct, just different.

Just because something is perfectly common in a dialect doesn't qualify it as formal or even standard usage.

I don't disagree, but I think that classifying those terms as ungrammatical is wrong.

 

[scotpens]

As Raymond Chandler said, "When I split an infinitive, I want it to damn well stay split!"

Ever hear this: Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.

I've read that it was Winston Churchill's response when told he shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition: "That is exactly the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put."

Yes, the title of this thread as written is ironic.

And nobody ever corrects my grammar, spelling or usage because I’m perfect.

Psst. You're missing commas in both sentences.

Because they're not necessary.

 

[Nowhere Man]

If yo feel yo have to be a dick every time someone makes a gramerical mistake, I aint got no use for you. Who ceres anyway, it aint like we in sckool. Just keep it too yo sef and tell yo friends later how stupid eye sound.

 

[RJDiogenes]

No, they just have low standards and are intimidated by anyone with high standards.

My standards are higher than those of most who complain about others' spelling or grammar. I guess I just lack that gene which causes some to forever inflict themselves upon others for no reason other than to gratify their own ego.

And I have that gene that knows that it's better to be right than wrong. I seem to have a lot of extra genes.

Grapes can be very intimidating.

Beware of The Purple Grape of Wrath!

STILL speaking of genes, and grapes, was looking through "Science News" tonight, well, this morning I guess, and learned this:

Humans have 22,333 genes. Grapes have 30,434.

What the fuck?

Evolution, dude. Say hello to the future.

Since high standards are important to me, I'd appreciate it if someone pointed out any errors I might make (unless they're being a jerk about it).

Unfortunately, we currently live in a cultural climate where people are not only dismissive of standards but hostile toward any attempt to improve them, so correcting somebody's mistakes usually creates an unpleasant situation. As a result, standards continue to fall. I'm constantly amazed at the memos and emails I get from allegedly college-educated people who don't know how to punctuate, spell or form a complete sentence.

The problem is, on message boards, those people ignore the entire point of your posts, and just tell you that you spelled one word wrong. And that's just stupid.

Message boards are informal. In business correspondence, books and magazines, news websites et cetera, one expects professionalism.

 

[marillion]

The things that really get me are making posessives out of things that aren't meant to be..

"The 1960's were a time of great upheaval..."

There should be no apostrophe following the 1920s... It's so commonly done, it's almost the rule rather than the exception.

Add to that, the common mistake of still adding two spaces after periods.. While technically it's still accepted, it it no longer standard while creating a document.

I try not to be a grammar nazi, but it's hard sometimes.... What's even worse is when the person pointing out an error, makes one his or herself.. I've been guilty of that before and it sucks... LOL

 

[Captain_Nick]

I think this topic has been mined before, but unfortunately it is fresh for me so I need some simple feedback. When someone corrects you to your face about your grammar how does it make you feel?

Astonished really that some people are so lacking in basic social graces. Correcting my mistakes is a great way to get me offside.

The funny, or ironic, or paradoxical thing is that up until a couple of years ago I used to do that myself. I was pissing people off by 'helping' them.

 

[Franklin]

The things that really get me are making posessives out of things that aren't meant to be..

"The 1960's were a time of great upheaval..."

There should be no apostrophe following the 1920s... It's so commonly done, it's almost the rule rather than the exception.

I know the apostrophe isn't supposed to be there, but it looks so odd without one. I have to remind myself to leave it out.

Add to that, the common mistake of still adding two spaces after periods.. While technically it's still accepted, it it no longer standard while creating a document.

I can't get used to this, either. I learned "period, space, space," on a manual typewriter.

I try not to be a grammar nazi, but it's hard sometimes.... What's even worse is when the person pointing out an error, makes one his or herself.. I've been guilty of that before and it sucks... LOL

his self?

 

[goofy]

Frankly, all we need is Jay Leno's "HEADLINES" segment to shame the creators of the unforgivably bad grammar that somehow evades the attention of copywriters and editors in print/electronic media.

We don't need anymore daily perfectionists beyond the obvious one or two...such as those now replacing Dubya's gaffe-ridden speechwriter(s).

I'm not sure we need to take away the goldmine Jay Leno exploits. Admit it. Its the only really half-way original entertainment out there.

Regarding fanfic, the worst grammar / layout I've found thus far is "Star Trek: Budapest". Where were the grammar nazis and this author's spellcheck when this author desperately needed one or both of them?

http://startrekbudapest.yolasite.com/

 

[TorontoTrekker]

I'm always amused when a person correcting another's grammatical or spelling mistake on a message board makes an error of their own. I know it's terrible, but that's schadenfreude for you.

Every year, we have a meeting where we edit the panel listings for the Polaris programme book. It usually takes 8-10 hours, and we get into some knock-down, drag-out arguments over whether to use semicolons or em dashes, or how to break up long sentences to make the description easier to read or more accurate.

It's traditional for our committee to take up a collection to buy gifts for outgoing Chairs. Following the year I chaired, I was presented with, among other things, a copy of the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves. I think I read the whole thing in about two hours. Brilliant book, and it should be compulsory reading for anyone who wants to communicate in writing.

I know some of the people I deal with by email, both professionally and in my volunteer capacity, could use it.

 

[marillion]

The things that really get me are making posessives out of things that aren't meant to be..

"The 1960's were a time of great upheaval..."

There should be no apostrophe following the 1920s... It's so commonly done, it's almost the rule rather than the exception.

I know the apostrophe isn't supposed to be there, but it looks so odd without one. I have to remind myself to leave it out.

Add to that, the common mistake of still adding two spaces after periods.. While technically it's still accepted, it it no longer standard while creating a document.

I can't get used to this, either. I learned "period, space, space," on a manual typewriter.

I try not to be a grammar nazi, but it's hard sometimes.... What's even worse is when the person pointing out an error, makes one his or herself.. I've been guilty of that before and it sucks... LOL

his self?

Yes, smarty! I was speaking in the "Olde English"
Webster's...

 

[scotpens]

Add to that, the common mistake of still adding two spaces after periods.. While technically it's still accepted, it it no longer standard while creating a document.

I can't get used to this, either. I learned “period, space, space,” on a manual typewriter.

I’m also a product of the typewriter age. We were taught to double-space after a period because typewriter fonts are monospaced and double-spacing separates one sentence from the next more clearly. Modern word processing uses proportionally spaced fonts; it’s much closer to traditional typesetting and printing. So the double space is no more necessary than hitting a carriage return at the end of each line.

We don't need anymore daily perfectionists beyond the obvious one or two. . .

I assume you mean “We don’t need any more daily perfectionists . . .”

 

[RoJoHen]

So the double space is no more necessary than hitting a carriage return at the end of each line.

But it makes me feel better to do it anyway!

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Having a lot of fun reading you guys, but ThinkQ brought up a good point about usage so I'll get really specific. How do you feel when someone tells you "no, you actually COULDN'T care less". And which one do you normally use?

 

[scotpens]

^^ Of course, the correct phrase is “I couldn’t care less.” If you say “I could care less,” you’re essentially saying “I do care at least somewhat,” which isn’t what you mean. The shortened and incorrect form may have come about as an unconscious imitation of Yiddish-influenced expressions like “I should only be so lucky.”

Hmmm . . . does that mean Kylie Minogue is Jewish?

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnOvjWXhpkI&nofeather=True[/yt]

 

[Deckerd]

Irregardless.......its true that ellipses.....are one of the most over and mis-used bits of punctuation out their.

Beautifully done. Made me snort my tea.

People are wise to your tricks now, so nobody was hooked, I see.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Add to that, the common mistake of still adding two spaces after periods.. While technically it's still accepted, it it no longer standard while creating a document.

I still like that better, whether it's still the standard or not.

Having a lot of fun reading you guys, but ThinkQ brought up a good point about usage so I'll get really specific. How do you feel when someone tells you "no, you actually COULDN'T care less". And which one do you normally use?

I normally use the correct one. And that's one of the easiest mistakes to point out to people, because you can make a little joke of it: "Oh, you could?"

 

[Pingfah]

Having a lot of fun reading you guys, but ThinkQ brought up a good point about usage so I'll get really specific. How do you feel when someone tells you "no, you actually COULDN'T care less".

Nobody tells me that because I would never be as ridiculous as to say the exact opposite of what I actually mean, unless there is sarcasm involved.

Nor do I mind people correcting others on it. It's not like grammatical rules such as punctuation which take some learning and concentration to get right, the sequence of words doesn't mean what people think it does and a few seconds thought would make that blindingly obvious. It's lazy and makes people appear extremely ignorant.

 

[JRS]

I think this topic has been mined before, but unfortunately it is fresh for me so I need some simple feedback. When someone corrects you to your face about your grammar how does it make you feel?

i ussally fee fne wen somwhone tells ritgh to mhy pahse..