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On December 30 2010 04:38 emythrel wrote:Show nested quote +On December 30 2010 04:35 StorkHwaiting wrote:On December 30 2010 04:30 Flicky wrote:
Anyone who complains about failure to understand and abide by the simple laws of grammar, punctuation and so on, should know not to put a comma in the second to last object of a list before the word "and". If you're going to rant about this kind of thing, be certain to make sure you don't make silly mistakes of your own.
Secondly, snuck is a real and perfectly acceptable word. At least on this side of the Atlantic.
I agree with your point though. That's actually a UK grammar rule. In the USA, we can put commas before each word of a list. Such as, I bought oranges, apples, and peaches. Kind of hilarious though because it shows how arbitrary grammar is. In the US you technically don't speak English. You speak American English, which has its own spelling and grammar. So no its not arbitrary, in all other countries that speak or learn English (perhaps with the exception of Canada) they use English and our grammatical norms, not American ones.
In Canada we use a hybrid version of English combining elements of both. I guess we have Canadian English?
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On December 30 2010 04:40 sikyon wrote:Show nested quote +On December 30 2010 04:38 emythrel wrote:On December 30 2010 04:35 StorkHwaiting wrote:On December 30 2010 04:30 Flicky wrote:
Anyone who complains about failure to understand and abide by the simple laws of grammar, punctuation and so on, should know not to put a comma in the second to last object of a list before the word "and". If you're going to rant about this kind of thing, be certain to make sure you don't make silly mistakes of your own.
Secondly, snuck is a real and perfectly acceptable word. At least on this side of the Atlantic.
I agree with your point though. That's actually a UK grammar rule. In the USA, we can put commas before each word of a list. Such as, I bought oranges, apples, and peaches. Kind of hilarious though because it shows how arbitrary grammar is. In the US you technically don't speak English. You speak American English, which has its own spelling and grammar. So no its not arbitrary, in all other countries that speak or learn English (perhaps with the exception of Canada) they use English and our grammatical norms, not American ones. In Canada we use a hybrid version of English combining elements of both. I guess we have Canadian English?
I'm not sure lol. I know that American English is a recognised language seperate from English. What dictionary do you use? If its Webster's (is it Wepster's?) it's American and the Oxford/Cambridge ones are English.
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I am utterly convinced that the lolcats meme was established by the token American teenager simply writing in what he thought was proper grammar and spelling.
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On December 30 2010 04:42 emythrel wrote:Show nested quote +On December 30 2010 04:40 sikyon wrote:On December 30 2010 04:38 emythrel wrote:On December 30 2010 04:35 StorkHwaiting wrote:On December 30 2010 04:30 Flicky wrote:
Anyone who complains about failure to understand and abide by the simple laws of grammar, punctuation and so on, should know not to put a comma in the second to last object of a list before the word "and". If you're going to rant about this kind of thing, be certain to make sure you don't make silly mistakes of your own.
Secondly, snuck is a real and perfectly acceptable word. At least on this side of the Atlantic.
I agree with your point though. That's actually a UK grammar rule. In the USA, we can put commas before each word of a list. Such as, I bought oranges, apples, and peaches. Kind of hilarious though because it shows how arbitrary grammar is. In the US you technically don't speak English. You speak American English, which has its own spelling and grammar. So no its not arbitrary, in all other countries that speak or learn English (perhaps with the exception of Canada) they use English and our grammatical norms, not American ones. In Canada we use a hybrid version of English combining elements of both. I guess we have Canadian English? I'm not sure lol. I know that American English is a recognised language seperate from English. What dictionary do you use? If its Webster's (is it Wepster's?) it's American and the Oxford/Cambridge ones are English.
I haven't used a paper dictionary for 5 years >_>
But I think our spellings are the same as England... except we use alot of American words.
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I really, really hate it -- like, a lot.
alt 0151 and learn what an m dash is used for.
It was D.H. Lawrence who said "The philosopher, on the other hand, because he can think, decides that nothing but thoughts matter. It is as if a rabbit, because he can make little pills, should decide that nothing but little pills matter."
Of course you're going to think what you do is the most important thing. Why would you do something you think is less important? But I think you should respect that other people have different ideas of what is most important.
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On December 30 2010 02:53 mOnion wrote:
here's one that bugs the hell out of me:
at grocery stores the "10 items or less" register always makes me rage a little bit inside. this is a less common but pretty annoying one. it should be "10 items or fewer as to match the fact that the number 10 is countable, therefore "fewer" should be used, as opposed to something that is NOT countable such as "he is less handsome" not "he is fewer handsome".
also the complaints you mention aren't specific to a writing major, just anyone who paid attention in english in high school.
Now I'm gonna use this as much as possible next time I see you  .
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On December 30 2010 04:38 emythrel wrote:Show nested quote +On December 30 2010 04:35 StorkHwaiting wrote:On December 30 2010 04:30 Flicky wrote:
Anyone who complains about failure to understand and abide by the simple laws of grammar, punctuation and so on, should know not to put a comma in the second to last object of a list before the word "and". If you're going to rant about this kind of thing, be certain to make sure you don't make silly mistakes of your own.
Secondly, snuck is a real and perfectly acceptable word. At least on this side of the Atlantic.
I agree with your point though. That's actually a UK grammar rule. In the USA, we can put commas before each word of a list. Such as, I bought oranges, apples, and peaches. Kind of hilarious though because it shows how arbitrary grammar is. In the US you technically don't speak English. You speak American English, which has its own spelling and grammar. So no its not arbitrary, in all other countries that speak or learn English (perhaps with the exception of Canada) they use English and our grammatical norms, not American ones.
It's pretty arbitrary that Americans decided to create their own "language," which is essentially the same damn thing other than a few arbitrary grammar rules. So, yes, it is arbitrary. Or are you trying to say all the Americans convened at a a great grammatical council and voted in favor of commas in lists? I'm not really understanding how you don't see that language is random and chaotic.
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I couldn't care less as long as I can comprehend what the person is trying to communicate to me. Obviously in formal writing grammar and whatnot should be perfect but I often send texts substituting "u" for "you" and I overuse commas a lot.
I often use semi-colons incorrectly too, I don't see it as a big deal. You must be pretty miserable if you get your panties in a big bunch every time someone is guilty of a comma splice. I hate the attitude of grammar nazis. You have to come to terms with the fact that most people simply do not give a shit about grammar as much as you do, they never will, they will continue to make constant spelling and grammatical errors, and they will never understand why it makes you mad.
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I have a very good understanding of grammar. I just don't think it's worth taking care to make sure my grammar is always correct, except in formal writing.
As an aside, it's worth noting that the "educated" have always complained about commoners bastardizing their language. However, this is exactly how language evolves. Since OP is so big on language, doubtless he knows what a language is called once its rules are set in stone and it stops changing through usage. It's called a dead language.
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hehe to be honest, i see it like handwriting. It's nice for it to be neat and perfect but not all of us have the time to do so.
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Getting hung up about things like this shows weakness.
Really, you're letting others' actions mess with you.
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People who do it aren't that bad. There only doing they're best anyway. Theirs a lot to learn, and grammar might not be top of people's lists.
Only messing with you mate, its seriously annoying.
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I often play it fast and loose in my adherence to grammar rules and conventions, but there is one particular instance in which I become the Oberster Befehlshaber der Grammatik: sexting.
Nothing drives me up a wall quicker than getting a text from my girlfriend that says, "I want 2 get naked for u."
Then I have to send back a furious text like: "Ok, we've had this talk before. I simply cannot get a boner while you're taking that hatchet to our glorious language. You're not texting Zac Effron. We're both adults now and need to start communicating as such. When you say 'naked for u,' I don't know if you mean me or some kid at your spineless liberal arts community college whose liberal hippy parents think names like 'U' and 'Carpet' are acceptable names for human beings. By the way, it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I drive a bus for work. Am I supposed to pull over and rub one out between stops? It's bad enough as it is that I had to pull over and write this text. People are going to be late for their appointments because you can't be bothered to type a couple of extra letters. How are we supposed to have a complex, fulfilling emotional relationship if you can't even get basic things right? I'm very disappointed in you.
Sincerely,
Jack"
Of course she has some stone-age phone that can only get minuscule text messages, so it breaks my transmission into about 10 parts. Then she gets all uppity with "OMG I cant believe ur doing this agian. Ur wasting all my msgs. why would u do this on xmas??"
Now I'm absolutely fuming. I shoot back, “I’m driving a fucking 14 ton bus in the middle of a snowstorm on Christmas so we can afford that abortion. Are you trying to cause an accident? Do you want me to die? Is that your Christmas wish? Maybe I should steer this thing over a bridge so I don’t have to look at another one of these texts. When I get home I’m pulling that baby out myself. There’s no way I’m letting any son of mine be raised by a cavewoman who writes things like ‘xmas.’ This stuff is important. It’s things like proper grammar that separate us from the apes.”
“I cannot believe I ever liked you. I’m putting all your shit on the doorstep. Don’t call me again.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard. Don’t you feel better now? I’ve just pulled into the bus depot. So, what are you wearing?”
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Many people for whom English is not their native language write the word the way it sounds in their head. Hence the mix-up with "they're" and "their". This isn't such a big deal to me.
What does irk me is reading spelling or grammar mistakes in major newspapers. These people should know better. And I can find mistakes in at least one out of four newspapers that I read..
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On December 30 2010 05:49 JackMcCoy wrote:
I often play it fast and loose in my adherence to grammar rules and conventions, but there is one particular instance in which I become the Oberster Befehlshaber der Grammatik: sexting.
Nothing drives me up a wall quicker than getting a text from my girlfriend that says, "I want 2 get naked for u."
Then I have to send back a furious text like: "Ok, we've had this talk before. I simply cannot get a boner while you're taking that hatchet to our glorious language. You're not texting Zac Effron. We're both adults now and need to start communicating as such. When you say 'naked for u,' I don't know if you mean me or some kid at your spineless liberal arts community college whose liberal hippy parents think names like 'U' and 'Carpet' are acceptable names for human beings. By the way, it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I drive a bus for work. Am I supposed to pull over and rub one out between stops? It's bad enough as it is that I had to pull over and write this text. People are going to be late for their appointments because you can't be bothered to type a couple of extra letters. How are we supposed to have a complex, fulfilling emotional relationship if you can't even get basic things right? I'm very disappointed in you.
Sincerely,
Jack"
Of course she has some stone-age phone that can only get minuscule text messages, so it breaks my transmission into about 10 parts. Then she gets all uppity with "OMG I cant believe ur doing this agian. Ur wasting all my msgs. why would u do this on xmas??"
Now I'm absolutely fuming. I shoot back, “I’m driving a fucking 14 ton bus in the middle of a snowstorm on Christmas so we can afford that abortion. Are you trying to cause an accident? Do you want me to die? Is that your Christmas wish? Maybe I should steer this thing over a bridge so I don’t have to look at another one of these texts. When I get home I’m pulling that baby out myself. There’s no way I’m letting any son of mine be raised by a cavewoman who writes things like ‘xmas.’ This stuff is important. It’s things like proper grammar that separate us from the apes.”
“I cannot believe I ever liked you. I’m putting all your shit on the doorstep. Don’t call me again.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard. Don’t you feel better now? I’ve just pulled into the bus depot. So, what are you wearing?”
lol funny satire
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On December 30 2010 05:49 JackMcCoy wrote:
I often play it fast and loose in my adherence to grammar rules and conventions, but there is one particular instance in which I become the Oberster Befehlshaber der Grammatik: sexting.
Nothing drives me up a wall quicker than getting a text from my girlfriend that says, "I want 2 get naked for u."
Then I have to send back a furious text like: "Ok, we've had this talk before. I simply cannot get a boner while you're taking that hatchet to our glorious language. You're not texting Zac Effron. We're both adults now and need to start communicating as such. When you say 'naked for u,' I don't know if you mean me or some kid at your spineless liberal arts community college whose liberal hippy parents think names like 'U' and 'Carpet' are acceptable names for human beings. By the way, it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I drive a bus for work. Am I supposed to pull over and rub one out between stops? It's bad enough as it is that I had to pull over and write this text. People are going to be late for their appointments because you can't be bothered to type a couple of extra letters. How are we supposed to have a complex, fulfilling emotional relationship if you can't even get basic things right? I'm very disappointed in you.
Sincerely,
Jack"
Of course she has some stone-age phone that can only get minuscule text messages, so it breaks my transmission into about 10 parts. Then she gets all uppity with "OMG I cant believe ur doing this agian. Ur wasting all my msgs. why would u do this on xmas??"
Now I'm absolutely fuming. I shoot back, “I’m driving a fucking 14 ton bus in the middle of a snowstorm on Christmas so we can afford that abortion. Are you trying to cause an accident? Do you want me to die? Is that your Christmas wish? Maybe I should steer this thing over a bridge so I don’t have to look at another one of these texts. When I get home I’m pulling that baby out myself. There’s no way I’m letting any son of mine be raised by a cavewoman who writes things like ‘xmas.’ This stuff is important. It’s things like proper grammar that separate us from the apes.”
“I cannot believe I ever liked you. I’m putting all your shit on the doorstep. Don’t call me again.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard. Don’t you feel better now? I’ve just pulled into the bus depot. So, what are you wearing?”
This guy has the most awesome signature ever.
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On December 30 2010 04:52 Chef wrote:alt 0151 and learn what an m dash is used for.
Actually the double hyphen WITHOUT SPACES around it is the typographer's code to replace with an m-dash.
I kick fucking ass at writing and English and all that shit, but A) style is primarily composed of the manner in which you break the rules and B) I want to fucking punch every douchebag who calls themselves a "creative writer".
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I hate people who make retarded mistakes like you mention as well. It drives me up the wall.
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On December 30 2010 02:31 Seltsam wrote:
Additionally, some mistakes that simply shouldn't happen are actually understandable, given how commonly they appear. For instance, the past tense of the verb "to sneak" is "sneaked," not "snuck." The verb "snuck" appears so often, however, that it's understandable how someone might make that mistake.
I'm assuming you've never heard of a past participle, huh?
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I don't know the grammar rules for it that well, but I feel like a lot of people use "what" in a question where "which" is more appropriate to use. What do you think?
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EPT
