I'm Having a Grammar Nazi Moment!

reply to post by Biigs


Could be, but then what do I do with my spiffy new uniform and fake Hitler 'stache?

It's true. Grammar is my Mother's Mother.
Punctuation was listening to The Damned and The Clash as a teenager.

Why is it so complicated?

reply to post by littled16

You missed one out;
THAT- points towards an object.
In other words, not a comparison.
This house is larger THAN the next house.
Not "larger THAT the next house".
(I think this one comes from people who don't "hear" what they are writing)

reply to post by DISRAELI


Didn't miss it, just find it ironic....
I place such use in the same category as those who use "would of" instead of "would have". Sometimes the cause is just being in the habit of using colorful local dialect rather than ignorance of proper grammar.

reply to post by littled16


It would be helpful if there was a commonly used abbreviation such as "would've", which i dont believe is something that i have ever noticed. Infact, the more i think about it the less sure i am about it :/

On another note, it's interesting that i composed my posts in this particular thread far more carefully than i would've elsewhere.

It's a freaking drag! I much prefer an off the cuff conversational approach. Errors 'n all

reply to post by skalla


I certainly ain't gonna dispute what's ya got to say, but the word (word) would've is one I will steal and use from now on in. Kinda like "just sayin'"but with more of a bite, yo.

reply to post by skalla


Aaaaawwwwwwww....... you're so sweet Skalla for putting your grammar hat on just for me!
I know that took a lot!

reply to post by Aleister


It probably exists, but i'm too meh to bother looking it up!

You know the culprit for all this.

The bloody Internet.

In the days when folk only read books and magazines etc, an Editor/Proof-reader would have cleared up all of the errors, and we would have pristine examples to learn from and we would never pick up bad habits.

Except the fun ones that have nowt to do with spelling, grammar and punctuation.

ETA @ Littled, you aint wrong, i'm putting the kettle on and getting the gingernuts out, me ed urts

littled16
reply to post by akushla99

 

You so crazy!!!

Bwahahahah...there will always be an Officer of higher rank to out-nazi you...here, have another star for insolence...



Å99

Lose/Loose.

'Nuff said.

TheSpanishArcher
Lose/Loose.

'Nuff said.

Absobleedinlutely. Whilst i totally know their correct usage i always have to go back and correct myself when typing that one.

Daft thing is, as a one of those "reader" folks who always has several books on the go and should therefore know better by example, i just type like i'm at the pub, chatting after a few pints and tripping over every third word.

I always think it's funny when Grammar Nazis try scolding other people about their grammar, while the Nazi seems to have a mediocre understanding of colons, semi-colons, hyphens, etc., at best.

If one is going to get on to others about their grammar, they should at least make sure they know more than just how to spell correctly.

originally posted by: littled16

Thank you. That is all!

I wish.

The truth is, that is _NOT_ all. Are you ready to be shocked?

Here, look at this list, if you dare:

americantypo.site11.com...

..and even THIS is not all.. but your image is just the tip of the iceberg, if that. Like a few snowflakes on top of the iceberg tip.

That list is basically the same thing as your list, but it's based on real-world observations and show what people have ACTUALLY WRITTEN (on the left), when they meant to write what's on the right. Your image is a good start, but it needs to be expanded quite a lot..

And I agree with the sentiment that if an adult human being can't write english correctly, there's something wrong with him/her. They SHOULD be able to, or english language should be changed. The pronunciation of english is so messed up, there's really nothing wrong with how words are written (mostly). If the pronunciation was unified, so that a character would ALWAYS be pronounced the same, I think many of these problems would instantly disappear.

But it would not be a perfect solution - I know from experience, from reading posts in languages that DO have such a pronunciation - people still make grammatical mistakes, the mistakes are just different (because it's not possible to write something wrong, if you know how to pronounce it, and it's not possible to pronounce anything wrong, if you know how to write it, because each character is always pronounced the same, it doesn't change, like the "a" does in 'car' vs. 'gate')

English also has lots of illogical things about it, like the word "its" instead of "it's" (took me a long time to learn that, and others repeating the mistake didn't help), "pronunciation" instead of "pronounciation" (where does the "o" suddenly disappear to?), and so on.

I think that adult beings of this planet (can't call them 'humans' after all I have experienced, and after reading that list I mentioned) DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY to use english language correctly. They just CAN'T HANDLE a language that's pronounced one way, and written in a really random way (in relation to the pronunciation). They could probably handle written english that's always pronounced the same, but they learn the messed-up-pronunciation first, and then the written english later - and the latter doesn't of course make a lot of sense when you learn it in that order. But if you learn it the other way around, then the pronunciation shows itself to be messed up.

But how do you correct a messed-up-pronunciation? I don't know.

I am just glad there are other people, who are also flabbergasted that supposed adults can't even write simple, basic english correctly (I am still shocked about it almost every day - and I didn't grow up with english, so at least I have an excuse, whenever I make mistakes - I do have some weak points, like particles and such (though I think you call them 'prepositions' or something in english), and certain quirky and odd choices that the english language uses sometimes, instead of the logical ones. Is it 'bit' or 'bitten'? I think the latter is correct, and the first mentioned is so popular, that it has 'become correct'..

Stupidity guides language, so that soon we all have to talk like dizy valley girls and ghetto thugs. "Idiocracy" is closer every day.. and it's really scary. Just look at the "minuscule" example.. the dictionaries actually have now accepted the -wrong- version to be the correct one, just because enough people use it that way!

Soon "your" is the correct way to say "you're".. I think when that happens, you will find a fallen chair under my feet.

originally posted by: littled16
reply to post by Biigs

 

Could be, but then what do I do with my spiffy new uniform and fake Hitler 'stache?

Wear an SS uniform when you post.

(Spelling Sargent)

Wear an SS uniform when you post.

(Spelling Sargent)

You mean "sargeant"?..

(The irony is just .. mind-boggling)

a reply to: Shoujikina

Sorry, hugely dyslexic here, if my browser spell check doesn't catch it i simply don't know any better.

Also my spell checker is pretty terrible.

Actually if anyone knows of a good one for chrome id be seriously interested.

originally posted by: Biigs

English is not everyone's first language and typos and grammar can be auto corrected, incorrectly by 'helpful' web browsers.

The funny thing is, people who are learning english, or didn't grow up with english, usually don't make "american typos", which these things certainly are. They have learned how a word is written, and then they learn how it's pronounced. But native english-speakers usually learn the language in the opposite order, where learning to pronounce is the first priority, and the more 'natural', instinctual part, and then written english becomes the 'learned', 'external' skill, that they don't bother to learn well, because they think they already know the language.

So while it's only human to make mistakes while you are learning a language (though those students and non-native-speakers that simply don't want to bother learning it properly have an attitude problem, which should lead to consequences, because they are not even trying, and they never aim to learn it well), and honest typos, while you type, 'american typos' are attitude problems; they are basically mental laziness, torturing other people just because you don't want to properly learn what you should know before attempting to communicate in a written form, and yet demand that people respect you as an adult being - they are INEXCUSABLE.

They are inexcusable, because any adult being that has at least average intelligence, CAN LEARN TO WRITE ENGLISH WORDS PROPERLY.

If a dumbo like ME can do it, it's hard to imagine any healthy adult not being able to do it! (I can even imagine many non-healthy people being able to do it, consarn it!)

I would completely 'understand' it (not the legal meaning of the word), if it was incredibly difficult to get it right, if it required some special intelligence or mental abilities, if it was like comprehending quantum physics, if it was like solving complicated mathematical formulae - that would make sense. Then most people not being able to do it, would feel natural.

I would also get it, if I was some kind of unnaturally super-intelligent smart guy, that most people around me don't seem to be able to write the normal, everyday language that I take for granted.

I would also think it'd be natural, if we all lived in some kind of mongoloid-retard-house, where only mentally retarded, brain damaged and completely stupid people lived.

But that it's not supposed to be a 'big deal' that an -enormous amount- (I'd say majority - even in a NY Times article, the editor had made awful mistakes, like writing "pixilation" (multiple times), instead of "pixelation", which is what he meant) of supposedly intelligent, normal, healthy, adult beings, supposedly sentient in some way, can't write THEIR OWN LANGUAGE, just shocks me.

What kind of an attitude is that? If you ever read the war letters that the soldiers in the American Civil War sent home, and compared them to modern war letters (or at least what you can easily deduce what the modern war letters would probably look like), you can realize that something has happened.

Adults _USED_ to be able to write english, today, they can't.

Some of them can write SOME english correctly, but most of them can't write A LOT of english correctly. That is a serious problem, and a shocking fact.

It's incredibly difficult to respect anyone's intelligence, who can't put four lego bricks on top of each other, isn't it?

It's just as difficult for me to respect anyone's intelligence, who can't write simple english sentences correctly, which doesn't require much higher intelligence than putting the lego bricks on top of each other. It's pretty much the same thing to me.

If a poster in ATS told that they can't put four lego bricks on top of each other, because it requires too much thinking, and THEN proceeded to write a long post about an interesting topic, how much faith would you have for his ability to find the truth in this world full of trivial information? His ability to be critical and his ability to not feed you some bs that he learned from some untrustworthy disinformation source?

That is the situation where you find me - I can't trust anyone, who can't do these SIMPLE, BASIC tasks correctly!

I don't mind mistakes or honest typos, but I really do mind 'american typos', because they immediately show that there is something wrong with the brain of the author - either a huge attitude problem, mental laziness and "I don't care" attitude, that is incredibly disrespectful towards his reader, OR incredible lack of intelligence (not being able to put lego bricks.. etc).

Just how am I supposed to trust that there's even a possibility that anything he writes has any truth in it or makes any sense? I don't think anyone else should, either.

_IF_ we lived in early 1980s or something, I could perhaps forgive part of it. But the CORRECT INFORMATION IS SECONDS AWAY, and yet these people either CHOOSE not to get it, or DON'T KNOW HOW to get it - and I don't know which is worse!

The bottom line: If you are not willing or able to write english correctly, you can't be intelligent or mentally hard-working enough to write a good post.

So yes, it IS a big deal. (Or in the 'american style', "So no, it IS a big deal.")

a reply to: Shoujikina

You are wrong.

I am not stupid i just cant write English well, ask me to type out some math or science and no problem, but English i have major trouble with.

I can only type half well because of muscle memory in my hands know how to type words. Give me a pencil and watch the nightmare unfold.

Its not a lack of attention or a lack of care. Yes i read this post 10 times to make sure it made sense.

It has been fun reading through this thread and seeing how many people have not watched their Ps & Qs and got banned