99 replies to this topic

[SUPERSquatch]

Bad grammar doesn't upset me, but I'm in a newspaper class and see run-ons, spelling errors all over the place, poor capitalization, etc. And, I'm wondering, these people go to school, so why are they not using correct grammar? Teacher says it is because of laziness.

[JGirl]

Hasina, on 03 November 2012 - 04:51 PM, said:

this was great thanks for posting it!
not only did i love listening to this man's voice, i enjoyed the visual too.
i just finished reading a book called Eats, Shoots and Leaves - The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
it sounds dry, but it was a very amusing and enlightening book - apparently a best seller in england.

[ouija ouija]

maxcred, on 02 November 2012 - 05:42 PM, said:

Poor grammar bother me too. It can reduce someone's ability to comminucate effectively in writing. I don't it point it out much and have never done that in this forum. It's taught in grade school and I would have thought everyone learned it there. For instance in English when you make a noun plural you add the letter s, no apostrophe. All the time you see people adding apostrophes when they are making a noun plural instead of just the letter s. Adding an apostrophe means that is the possessive form of the noun, not the plural form. When I see that I think 'What did this person do all those years in school'. They had to have come across this a few times. When I was in school you had to take an English class every year 1st through 10th grade. Most people had one in junior and senior years too. If some one didn't learn something as simple as that all the years they were in school then I have to wonder about their ability to learn.

And what exactly do you wonder? That perhaps they actually aren't able to learn in the way their teachers want them to? That they have poor teachers? That they didn't attend school much because of ill health or home circumstances?

It really doesn't matter as long as we understand each other, and if something isn't clear then we can ask for clarification, can't we?

In the forum I've noticed that there does seem to be a connection between being intolerant of other peoples' communication skills and being generally intolerant.

Sometimes I think people don't read through what they've typed because they're in such a rush to get their comment posted.

Last but not least: children perhaps don't read nearly as much as they used to. There's nothing like reading well-written books to instil in children how things should be done.

[Bling]

Lilly, on 03 November 2012 - 09:37 AM, said:

So, Grandma doesn't bother you much...but what about Grandpa?

Grandpa smells

[FlyingAngel]

Subconciously trying to revenge on others because they got punished by english teacher when they are young

[EllJay]

One really doesn't need that many letters to understand what is written, or even in the right place.
But they cant be too jumbled up.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

[Euphorbia]

Kazoo, on 02 November 2012 - 03:43 PM, said:

I'm not talking about smart asses or people who are being witty correcting the grammar of others.

I'm talking about people who just get angry and feel the irrational need to correct everything to the point it upsets them. Why is this? Is it some form of OCD?  Maybe bad grammar symbolizes a sort of disrespect?  

I'm not trying to be smart like "lul grammar nazi stupid". I'm seriously curious why.

I don't in general correct peoples grammar as mine is certainly not perfect, but I and several others had to repeatedly tell a certain UM user about two years ago that he needed to format his posts as they were simply unreadable. He used absolutely no punctuation, had run-together sentences, no paragraphs, and basically created very long "walls of text". Some of you might know who I'm talking about. He posted in the two religious forums.

This man simply couldn't write. Most just skimmed his posts and then told him to use proper formatting. He closed his account soon after. I really wish he would have kept his account open and learned how to properly format a post, but some just don't want to learn.....

[Viviana98]

Okay, so I read all of your posts and made a list of everyone's errors. Haha some of you guys are so clever, it cracks me up.

Unless its completely horrible and hard to follow or they use like "wuz" and "dis", I don't pay too much attention to the grammar. I'm more interested in what the person is saying.

[_Only]

Viviana98, on 10 November 2012 - 05:02 AM, said:

Okay, so I read all of your posts and made a list of everyone's errors. Haha some of you guys are so clever, it cracks me up.

Unless its completely horrible and hard to follow or they use like "wuz" and "dis", I don't pay too much attention to the grammar. I'm more interested in what the person is saying.

wel ya ur a idiot to

Count the mistakes. You'll be graded at the end of the quiz.

[Cybele]

I recognize that language evolves over time, and improper grammar doesn't always bother me. However, I do have one major pet peeve--I hate it when people say "Where are you at?". The "at" is totally redundant.  I sometimes hear it from highly-educated people who should know better.

[Orcseeker]

Cybele, on 10 November 2012 - 05:26 AM, said:

I recognize that language evolves over time, and improper grammar doesn't always bother me. However, I do have one major pet peeve--I hate it when people say "Where are you at?". The "at" is totally redundant.  I sometimes hear it from highly-educated people who should know better.

That could be attributed to the shortened "Where you at?" but with a small everyday additional word. Will we one day be reduced to saying "where you?". It is the evolution of the shortening of colloquial language.

As for these people who make grammatical mistakes it could be associated with laziness, ignorance, lack of education, mind altering substances etc. But a lot of the time you have to be wary, they may be dyslexic.

[Old Man Waffles]

I hate peeopl hoo corect my gramer

[ouija ouija]

Cybele, on 10 November 2012 - 05:26 AM, said:

I recognize that language evolves over time, and improper grammar doesn't always bother me. However, I do have one major pet peeve--I hate it when people say "Where are you at?". The "at" is totally redundant.  I sometimes hear it from highly-educated people who should know better.

You'd go mad living around here: a favourite expression is 'Where's he to?'

[Cybele]

Orcseeker, on 10 November 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

That could be attributed to the shortened "Where you at?" but with a small everyday additional word. Will we one day be reduced to saying "where you?". It is the evolution of the shortening of colloquial language.

As for these people who make grammatical mistakes it could be associated with laziness, ignorance, lack of education, mind altering substances etc. But a lot of the time you have to be wary, they may be dyslexic.

It's not much shorter than the correct "Where are you?", so I don't see it as a function of ease, but of convention.

ouija ouija, on 10 November 2012 - 05:02 PM, said:

You'd go mad living around here: a favourite expression is 'Where's he to?'

That's even worse.

Edited by Cybele, 10 November 2012 - 05:55 PM.

[Hilander]

Bad grammar doesn't bother me unless its so bad its difficult to comprehend what they are talking about.  What really bugs me is lack of paragraphs.  I don't care if you break them up in the wrong place just do it.  I'll often skip over those long threads/posts that have no paragraphs.