HowItIs Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Well, we obviously need this in this thread: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd103/laserspray/internet%20stuff/Grammar-Police.png Okay, now we're official Grammar doesn't bother me as much as people who don't know their homonyms and those who use an apostrophe where it's not needed. I have a friend on FaceBook who uses one every time a word ends in "s". Even plurals. I just can't read her posts anymore. I write an intermittent column on words at a well-known political website (though we do a great many more things than just politics). When I wrote one on catachresis (which is the term for misusing words) I had more comments than usual. Gosh, people sure get pissy when they're called out that! Here's the column if anyone is interested. The Mad Logophile: Catachresis The one before this was an commonly mispronounced words. That one really hit a nerve! I had more comments on it than anything I'd ever written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundog Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 This is funny! QUOTE (HowItIs @ Mar 3 2012, 04:35 AM)Well, we obviously need this in this thread: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd103/laserspray/internet%20stuff/Grammar-Police.png Spelling mistakes.... I am in no way claiming that I do not make them. I tend to make them before I've had enough "wake up" time. Brain fog is still settled over the neurons required to put coherent sentences together. I also make them when I type too fast or when I get anxious about something and I am trying to record my feelings as fast as the thoughts are coming. My frustration with that particular post is that it's a Professional Business trying to attract a higher end clientele. It's not a cheap resort to visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tick Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii324/jawkjaw/25183_1316962256872_1615215538_7-1-1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Principled Man Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 One of the best ways to improve your language and grammar skills is to learn a second language. When doing that, a better understanding of your first language literally happens on its own. You can't help but see your first language in a better light. Subject pronouns, verb conjugations, syntax, prepositions, articles, adjectives and adverbs, all those painful concepts become so much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babycat Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 The amount of times I cock up - I've lost count... The amount of times I've had to edit a post - likewise... Either I'm daft, I just haven't woken up yet, or the internet's a bit slow. I haven't decided yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 1 2012, 09:20 AM) Anyhow, I do get angry when a persons mission is to correct ones grammar on a message board. Its just not necessary. Remarkable restraint, everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundog Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 QUOTE (goose @ Mar 5 2012, 11:42 PM) QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 1 2012, 09:20 AM) Anyhow, I do get angry when a persons mission is to correct ones grammar on a message board. Its just not necessary. Remarkable restraint, everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 QUOTE (goose @ Mar 5 2012, 11:42 PM) QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 1 2012, 09:20 AM) Anyhow, I do get angry when a persons mission is to correct ones grammar on a message board. Its just not necessary. Remarkable restraint, everyone. Perhaps it's a case of "when in doubt, leave it out"? Oh wait, that's for commas. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tick Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 QUOTE (goose @ Mar 5 2012, 11:42 PM) QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 1 2012, 09:20 AM) Anyhow, I do get angry when a persons mission is to correct ones grammar on a message board. Its just not necessary. Remarkable restraint, everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen of Megadon Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 QUOTE (HowItIs @ Mar 3 2012, 03:35 AM)Grammar doesn't bother me as much as people who don't know their homonyms and those who use an apostrophe where it's not needed. I have a friend on FaceBook who uses one every time a word ends in "s". Even plurals. I just can't read her posts anymore. This...makes me...insane! My best friend and I are the worst of Grammar Police snobs to one another. We call each other out on everything. I think that helps keep us in check with others. Her biggest pet peeve is spelling errors on menus. It makes her nuts! Surely they have proofreaders, or should have proofreaders. There is simply no excuse for such mistakes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I rarely proof read my posts. It's a bad habit. One thing I absolutely hate... I COULD care less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost In Xanadu Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Yesterday, during an IM session, I got this from Network support: - Thank you for your patioents. - Sorry, patients He corrected a typo with an incorrect homophone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost In Xanadu Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 QUOTE (HowItIs @ Mar 3 2012, 03:35 AM) Grammar doesn't bother me as much as people who don't know their homonyms and those who use an apostrophe where it's not needed. How would you know if someone used a homonym incorrectly? A homonym is a word that is spelled the same, pronounced the same, with different meaning. Sorry for being a grammar prick - I think you meant homophone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tick Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 For me its like this. I graduated high school as a stoner who just got by. I then went on to do a trade for 20 years. This required no writing skills. So forgive if I screw up my grammar a bit. Its a wonder I can write at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tick Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/misspelling/their.png Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khan Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 | | | | \/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 6 2012, 11:17 AM) QUOTE (goose @ Mar 5 2012, 11:42 PM) QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 1 2012, 09:20 AM) Anyhow, I do get angry when a persons mission is to correct ones grammar on a message board. Its just not necessary. Remarkable restraint, everyone. Just messin'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 QUOTE (Mara @ Mar 6 2012, 10:44 AM) QUOTE (goose @ Mar 5 2012, 11:42 PM) QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 1 2012, 09:20 AM) Anyhow, I do get angry when a persons mission is to correct ones grammar on a message board. Its just not necessary. Remarkable restraint, everyone. Perhaps it's a case of "when in doubt, leave it out"? Oh wait, that's for commas. . . Although, German doesn't use an apostrophe to denote possession, just an "-s". Of course they pluralize differently. I make this point with my students...and you may appreciate this, Tick. If you know that a word is misspelled or there's a missing apostrophe, you've understood the message. Why the need to correct? I'm all for revising the rules and simplifying them. Think of the time we waste teaching this crap when we could be teaching kids to think... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielmclark Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 QUOTE (goose @ Mar 6 2012, 11:32 PM) QUOTE (Mara @ Mar 6 2012, 10:44 AM) QUOTE (goose @ Mar 5 2012, 11:42 PM) QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 1 2012, 09:20 AM) Anyhow, I do get angry when a persons mission is to correct ones grammar on a message board. Its just not necessary. Remarkable restraint, everyone. Perhaps it's a case of "when in doubt, leave it out"? Oh wait, that's for commas. . . Although, German doesn't use an apostrophe to denote possession, just an "-s". Of course they pluralize differently. I make this point with my students...and you may appreciate this, Tick. If you know that a word is misspelled or there's a missing apostrophe, you've understood the message. Why the need to correct? I'm all for revising the rules and simplifying them. Think of the time we waste teaching this crap when we could be teaching kids to think... I think it's because we're always ever two steps away from not being able to understand the message. There's the correct way, there's the wrong-but-understood way, then there's the way that comes up after that where nobody understands what's being said. And do we really want a billion people each deciding how things should be grammatically constructed? To each his own... grammar? Or spelling? It's bad enough there are people who honestly believe "axe" his how you spell "ask" - we're on the verge of it getting a lot worse. I don't think people should be grammar nazis about every little detail every single time in a place like this... but correcting an occasional mistake should be met with gratitude, not anger or annoyance, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tick Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 QUOTE (danielmclark @ Mar 7 2012, 10:08 AM) QUOTE (goose @ Mar 6 2012, 11:32 PM) QUOTE (Mara @ Mar 6 2012, 10:44 AM) QUOTE (goose @ Mar 5 2012, 11:42 PM) QUOTE (Tick @ Mar 1 2012, 09:20 AM) Anyhow, I do get angry when a persons mission is to correct ones grammar on a message board. Its just not necessary. Remarkable restraint, everyone. Perhaps it's a case of "when in doubt, leave it out"? Oh wait, that's for commas. . . Although, German doesn't use an apostrophe to denote possession, just an "-s". Of course they pluralize differently. I make this point with my students...and you may appreciate this, Tick. If you know that a word is misspelled or there's a missing apostrophe, you've understood the message. Why the need to correct? I'm all for revising the rules and simplifying them. Think of the time we waste teaching this crap when we could be teaching kids to think... I think it's because we're always ever two steps away from not being able to understand the message. There's the correct way, there's the wrong-but-understood way, then there's the way that comes up after that where nobody understands what's being said. And do we really want a billion people each deciding how things should be grammatically constructed? To each his own... grammar? Or spelling? It's bad enough there are people who honestly believe "axe" his how you spell "ask" - we're on the verge of it getting a lot worse. I don't think people should be grammar nazis about every little detail every single time in a place like this... but correcting an occasional mistake should be met with gratitude, not anger or annoyance, IMO. Although I make many grammatical errors, I highly doubt I write many things that are not fully understood by all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielmclark Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 QUOTE (goose @ Mar 6 2012, 11:32 PM) I'm all for revising the rules and simplifying them. Think of the time we waste teaching this crap when we could be teaching kids to think... I've got a six-year-old in school. They learn a lot of stuff; spelling only accounts for about 45 minutes of their 8 hour day I'm a big fan of asking "why can't he/she/they/etc. do both?" Whenever someone complains about congress doing something when they should be doing something else, I ask, "why can't they do both?" There are very few black and white "this or that" situations in life. It's entirely possible for people to do lots of stuff all at once. I'm typing this, drinking coffee, watching my youngest play on PBSKids.org, cleaning the kitchen, reading a book, writing a book, watching Harry Potter, running a marathon and I'm out on an African safari. Totally all at the same time Okay, that's not true. I'm out of coffee. So spelling vs. learning to think... why can't they do both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gompers Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Like this topic. Its to much needded hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gompers Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xlJEHePs-Rc/Sz4JmiUvpPI/AAAAAAAAADQ/nSOrvShJEEg/s400/your+the+dog.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielmclark Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 QUOTE (Gompers @ Mar 7 2012, 08:18 AM) Like this topic. Its to much needded hear. Good example. I had to read that second sentence three times. Seriously. My eyes ran over it, I realized I didn't catch what it said, I looked a second time, thought I got it, but read it a third time to make sure I understood. I'd have to give up on reading anything at all if everything were written like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Principled Man Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 QUOTE (goose @ Mar 7 2012, 12:32 AM) If you know that a word is misspelled or there's a missing apostrophe, you've understood the message. Why the need to correct? I'm all for revising the rules and simplifying them. Think of the time we waste teaching this crap when we could be teaching kids to think... If we keep simplifying rules, then we we keep reducing our need to think. I'm not sure that's a good strategy. IMO, we do need to think about what we're saying and how we're saying it, especially in regards to written communication. With slang becoming more and more prevalent in our society, the need to master standard English becomes even more important. Showing people where they've erred is part of the learning process. Recognizing and correcting one's mistakes is part of the learning process. An occasional correction of someone's spelling and grammar should be taken with gratitude, as others have said. If no one corrected any such errors, they would continue and probably get worse. IMO, it's not a waste of time to teach spelling, grammar, and especially handwriting. The computer screen and keyboard haven't completely taken over our lives....yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now