Grammar nazi...

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I don't pay any attention to grammar and spelling on a discussion board. And if I do notice a mistake I sure won't point it out because I think to do so is petty and rude. Besides, English is not the first language of everyone who posts, and some use translation programs, or spell based on how the word sounds. And then there are those of us who are dyslexic.

All that matters is that I can understand what the person is saying or asking. Grammar and spelling doesn't affect that in most cases.

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I see your point, but as somebody who corrects spelling and grammar for a living (I teach German to English translation), I find it difficult to simply overlook such mistakes, unless it's obvious that the poster is dyslexic.

But doesn't it make you feel funny inside, seeing "their to much too take"? While the writing is still legible, reading something filled with my pet peeves is like hearing flat notes in a song.

Admittedly, my grammar is far from perfect. I've never learned what a dangling preposition is and I have been known to start sentences with "and". Bad spellings bug me most, my spelling isn't always great but Firefox has a spell checker, and the effort required to right-click an underlined word is not immense.

Originally Posted by jcat

I seen that yesterday

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Use of the word "seen" drives me insane!!!

Every time I type "your/you're" or "there/their" I have to stop & think to make sure I use it right. And I still fudge it up sometimes!

Originally Posted by cata_mint

But doesn't it make you feel funny inside, seeing "their to much too take"?

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No, because I know what they meant, that's all that matters.

Now if I were in a classroom and marking papers that would be a different story, but this is a discussion board, not school, and I am not the grammar police.

Also, spelling and grammar may not have been a strong point in school for some people. I also think that pointing out petty things like grammar or spelling on a discussion board can be hurtful.

But we (or at least I) don't point it out. I tend to wince slightly if the error made it hard to understand what the other person meant, but then I move on.
If I did write posts to people correcting their grammar I would be a jerk, but I see nothing wrong in being quietly peeved.

Oh gosh, no, I wouldn't point it out on a discussion board, either! In fact, someone recently posted the text of a letter she was sending someone, and although I thought about letting her know that it had some errors in it, I decided against it. She hadn't asked for that kind of feedback, so I didn't offer it.

I think I can safely say that nobody here wants to make others so self-conscious about their writing skills that they can no longer post freely and comfortably. But these occasional threads on the subject may help raise awareness and encourage some of us to hone our skills a bit... which is a good thing all around.

Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

Your list is almost identical to mine!!!

Lose - to misplace
Loose - not tight enough

To - toward (among many other definitions)
Too - also (I can't believe how many people misuse this word!!!)
Two - the number 2

There - in, or at, that place (among other definitions)
They're - they are (contraction)
Their - possessive form of them, meaning belonging to them

Than - when, as, or if
Then - at that time, next in order, at another time, (among other definitions)

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add to those -
its - something that belongs to it
it's - contraction of the words 'it is'

Originally Posted by cata_mint

But doesn't it make you feel funny inside, seeing "their to much too take"? While the writing is still legible, reading something filled with my pet peeves is like hearing flat notes in a song.

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bugs me, i know that... especially if it's a consistent error - i.e. the writer always always always uses the incorrect forms.
i don't point it out, tho, because i don't know the reason behind the usage - dyslexia [or other learning disability], non-native English speaker, poorly educated, etc.
however, online i do use shortened forms of words [like tho] & i rarely use caps, except for emphasis. that's laziness - i dislike messing w/my shift key. for 15 years, i typed on a computer w/o a shift key - it typed in all caps, all the time - & i got used to not using it. when i'm typing something for work, i use MSword, & it capitalizes stuff for me!

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

No, because I know what they meant, that's all that matters.

Now if I were in a classroom and marking papers that would be a different story, but this is a discussion board, not school, and I am not the grammar police.

Also, spelling and grammar may not have been a strong point in school for some people. I also think that pointing out petty things like grammar or spelling on a discussion board can be hurtful.

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I usually resist the temptation to actually correct posts (sometimes I do it when quoting, but normally I don't). While it might be hurtful when mistakes are pointed out, right now it's being done in an entirely separate thread, and I think people are trying to educate, rather than belittle.

If somebody posts the draft of a letter they're (yes, it should read he/she is) planning to send when applying for a job, etc., and it's full of mistakes, I believe a lot of us feel obligated to help, so that that individual can make a better impression.

It's true that both "dove" and "snuck" are widely accepted today. As someone says, that's because in the U.S., we make our grammar books and dictionaries descriptive rather than prescriptive. A lot of what we hear is actually controlled by neither of those, but rather by the "style book" of various TV and radio networks.

In other words, just because a misspelling or grammatical error is accepted today does not make it right.

Both grammar books and dictionaries were produced for a reason. They were designed to aid the comprehension of those who would read our writing without knowing us, and who might even pronounce words differently. An example is French, which, thanks the Academie Francaise, has changed almost not at all in over 500 years. English from that period, on the other hand, is almost incomprehensible to the modern American.

And no, I don't worry about it on a discussion forum.

I took the original post to be more of an "in general" type of thing and not specifically tied to the posts that show up on this board... yeah, I see a lot of spelling and grammatical errors on here and I also make plenty myself, but I usually just spot them and move on lol... I only bust on my close friends with that kind of stuff, unless someone is asking me to proofread their work.

Originally Posted by cata_mint

But we (or at least I) don't point it out. I tend to wince slightly if the error made it hard to understand what the other person meant, but then I move on.
If I did write posts to people correcting their grammar I would be a jerk, but I see nothing wrong in being quietly peeved.

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Being an English major myself, I have to resist the urge to correct others... I usually take a deep breath and decipher the misspellings in front of me. Quietly.

I have now decided to go for my MA/PhD in English/Creative Writing so I can teach the subject I love. And so, hopefully, I can curb the 'txt spk' curse that has emerged in our society. Don't get me wrong, when I'm TEXTING, I use it, but only because there's a character limit. There is no limit on discussion boards, etc... I do go back over my post before hitting the Submit button. I type faster than the hamsters in my brain can run on their wheels... *snerk*

I go so far as to add a little note in my online personals (yes, I do that): If you cannot speak/write/spell properly, don't bother emailing me. If you want to impress me, use your language.

Yes, I am a writer. Yes, I do own several grammar books, including the hefty Chicago Manual of Style. Is my grammar perfect? Heck no. But it's a lot better than what I tend to read on a daily basis. I'm one of those sick puppies who will pick out grammatical and spelling errors in published books... I'm strange, and proud of it!!

Amanda

Originally Posted by mrblanche

It's true that both "dove" and "snuck" are widely accepted today. As someone says, that's because in the U.S., we make our grammar books and dictionaries descriptive rather than prescriptive. A lot of what we hear is actually controlled by neither of those, but rather by the "style book" of various TV and radio networks.

In other words, just because a misspelling or grammatical error is accepted today does not make it right.

Both grammar books and dictionaries were produced for a reason. They were designed to aid the comprehension of those who would read our writing without knowing us, and who might even pronounce words differently. An example is French, which, thanks the Academie Francaise, has changed almost not at all in over 500 years. English from that period, on the other hand, is almost incomprehensible to the modern American.

And no, I don't worry about it on a discussion forum.

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Agreed, but one thing I love about English is that it evolves. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had the transition from "ketjap" to "catsup" to "ketchup". There seems to be a constant flux which many languages lack. Why not accept "no one", "noone", or "no-one"?

Improper grammar is a bit harder to condone if it's being used by native speakers.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Also, spelling and grammar may not have been a strong point in school for some people. I also think that pointing out petty things like grammar or spelling on a discussion board can be hurtful.

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I have yet to see anyone correct another poster here. I think what people are saying that when they see it that it bothers them. I know that's what I'm saying. Sometimes I find it incredibly hard to read, especially "text speak". When I come across a post where someone is using text speak, I'm annoyed...before I was a mod, I would have passed it over. Now I have to read them.

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Yes, it's true that "dove" as a verb has become an accepted usage -- and thereby hangs one of my own hot buttons: the idea, propagated by the usage panels of dictionary publishers, that a mistake somehow becomes right just because a whole lot of people make it!

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Language belongs to its speakers, and if a lot of them start to use something one way then it isn't a mistake. Railing against change in language is completely futile and if it never changed then it wouldn't exist. One of the vital features of human languages is that it is adaptable.

Mistakes are things you didn't say intentionally. Other than that, in speech at least, there are only dialectal differences and idiosyncratic usages. Some of them might be marked as being the typical speech of someone in a lower socioeconomic status, but that doesn't make them wrong.

In standard written English, it is a little different, but written language is an artificial process and is convention- and rule- driven. Most of the things people have listed here are spellings conventions, which we have to be taught.

By chance, mrblanche, I suspect that your dialect doesn't have "dove" at all, because to people who have "dove" it doesn't sound the same as the bird "dove". The verb rhymes with "stove", the noun with "shove".

I personally say dove, I don't think I have ever heard anyone say dived that sounds really funky to me
I dived off the edge of the pool weird!

I'm not so much interested in grammar, as spelling, I'm probably one of the worst at grammar, but I know I can spell! My biggest pet peeve in the case of spelling is "congradulations" makes me cringe

I have never singled out anyone to correct their grammar or spelling. It would be rude to do so.

I really had to stifle myself back when I was admin on a (now defunct) cat chat board. One person who posted had a difficult time with spelling. She posted a thread about a "Super Bowel Party." Oh my...it took everything I had (and then some) to keep from correcting the title of that thread, lol!!!

I just thought this was a thread to post your pet peeves, and discuss grammar and spelling!

Originally Posted by katiemae1277

I personally say dove, I don't think I have ever heard anyone say dived

that sounds really funky to me

I dived off the edge of the pool

weird!

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"Dove" is completely standard in our dialect.

Then again, we also have the bizarre-to-any-outsider forms like "My hair needs washed" or "My carpet needs vacuumed"

"I dived into the pool" sounds totally wrong! "I dove" sounds right

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

Then again, we also have the bizarre-to-any-outsider forms like "My hair needs washed" or "My carpet needs vacuumed"

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what's wrong with those phrases?? Sounds perfectly normal to me!!

My "maternal" dialect is Michigan, my "native" dialect is Colorado. People from Texas know I'm not from here, but that's no big deal.

Actually, my original point is that language bothers us all to some degree, whether we want to admit it or not, and just what bothers us is often very funny.

I don't think "dove" or "snuck" actually comes up in conversation all that often, although I have heard those forms used on NPR...and I've written them notes about it, too!