Grammar Pet Peeves

[breal76]

What's wrong with wanting to have your ego stroked?

Nothing as long as it isn't at the expense of others.

I don't feel the need to show people how stupid they are in a conversation. That's just me.

I have walked away from conversations because of horrible grammar.

I find this statement to be incredibly sad.

I welcome people from all backgrounds and all walks of life to speak to me. I would never judge someone by the way they talked.

There is nothing wrong with corrections when it comes to teacher/student relationships or if a friend asks you to proof read their resume. However, I just don't find it very nice when people correct people on stuff like this when I feel it's just another form of snobbery.

 

[icklemiss21]

Originally Posted by Breal76

I find this statement to be incredibly sad.
I welcome people from all backgrounds and all walks of life to speak to me. I would never judge someone by the way they talked.

I agree. I know I have seen grammatical mistakes that annoy me, generally when I know the person has an office job and speaks English as their only (or main) language. This is however, the internet and there are people on TCS speaking many languages and with different levels of education and I think it is unfair to walk away from them (or a thread) because of poor grammar, unless it makes it too hard to read.

I am more likely to walk away from a post because of a wall of text that the poster can easily break up than poor grammar not knowing if they are only learning English.

Originally Posted by Kitties4ever

Sorry y'all that I keep bringing up old members that it appears no one remembers (LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but does anyone remember that poster "Catgirl" who had sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooo many typos. She seemed nice enough but WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The grammar would drive me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think it is nice to name names or single out anyone. As I said above, we don't know their education level or history and are not in a position to judge.

 

[annericebowl]

Originally Posted by Breal76

Nothing as long as it isn't at the expense of others.

I don't feel the need to show people how stupid they are in a conversation. That's just me.



I find this statement to be incredibly sad.

I welcome people from all backgrounds and all walks of life to speak to me. I would never judge someone by the way they talked.

There is nothing wrong with corrections when it comes to teacher/student relationships or if a friend asks you to proof read their resume. However, I just don't find it very nice when people correct people on stuff like this when I feel it's just another form of snobbery.

I said the first two lines as a joke.

I also welcome people from all walks of life. There just comes a time when enough is enough. My ears can handle only so much. If that makes me a snob, then I guess I am a snob.

 

[catcaregiver]

Originally Posted by GingersMom

Well...that and the fact that I'm GingersMom, not GinersMom.

And the word "ounce" has a "u" in it.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

But seriously, the occasional typo due to typing too quickly I have much less of an issue with. In fact, I've been known to miss a letter here or there...

I'm with you GingersMom, typos are going to happen.

I've gone back and reread my posts and noticed typos I've made.

Sometimes I notice words I've misspelled. I just started using Firefox instead of IE7 and it's great because it underlines misspelled words.

I never knew it did that!

 

[carolpetunia]

Originally Posted by Maija

...I did copy sentences from backside of the Bruce Springsteen album for my English homework. I hadn't any idea that "ain't" was slang

Hey, if it's good enough for Bruce, it's good enough for me!

 

[carolpetunia]

About the issue of correcting people...

1. I would never correct someone in speaking! As much as I love the English language, I would never put it ahead of someone's feelings, and I wouldn't want to embarrass someone or make him feel self-conscious.

The only exception is when it's my job to help make someone look good -- like my former boss. I used to work with him regularly on speech patterns and word use, to help him become a more effective speaker and leader.

2. I don't even correct people in writing, unless they've asked for that kind of help. At most, I will word my response to them in a way that allows me to repeat the word or phrase they misused, which gives me a chance to demonstrate the correct use.

3. People for whom English is a second language are usually eager to have their usage corrected, but I hate to do it! Their word use and sentence structure are so refreshing, so much fun... think of Rigel (CoolCat) down in the Yucatan! I love to read his posts, and his unique brand of English is a charming part of his personality.

 

[strange_wings]

I correct my online friends all the time.

I also get to play dictionary when they're unsure what to look up to get the proper translation in English.
An example from earlier, a Finnish friend said "recepye" when he meant recipe. I don't consider correcting that rude at all, and it turned into an entertaining conversation about cooking...

I resist correcting people on forums, no matter how many times they misspell breeding as breading, beding, or beading.

 

[pookie-poo]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I resist correcting people on forums, no matter how many times they misspell breeding as breading, beding, or beading.

OMG!!! I used to be admin on a now-defunct cat forum. We had a gal there who couldn't spell to save her soul! The titles to some of her posts just cracked me up...
Especially the one about the "Super Bowel Party"!!!

Must. Resist. Correction!



Okay...I'm sorry...that's incredibly rude.

It's also hysterically funny!!!

I never changed it....but I wanted to!!!!

 

[mzjazz2u]

It bugs me when people use "alot" when it is really "a lot." I've heard people argue that "alot" is proper but not in my book! It also bugs me when people use sloppy words in speech like, "I'm gunnew speak tomorrow." Obvious misspellings also bug me. Especially when they see it spelled correctly but ignore the correct spelling anyway. An incomplete sentence bugs the

out of me. I really don't have time to guess what you're trying to communicate with me!

Abbreviations bug the

out of me too! Not everyone knows what abbreviations mean! And the last one I'll mention tonight...... mixing up know and no or know and now.

 

[catcaregiver]

Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

It bugs me when people use "alot" when it is really "a lot." I've heard people argue that "alot" is proper but not in my book! It also bugs me when people use sloppy words in speech like, "I'm gunnew speak tomorrow." Obvious misspellings also bug me. Especially when they see it spelled correctly but ignore the correct spelling anyway. An incomplete sentence bugs the

out of me. I really don't have time to guess what you're trying to communicate with me!

Abbreviations bug the

out of me too! Not everyone knows what abbreviations mean! And the last one I'll mention tonight...... mixing up know and no or know and now.

You must find this a very stressful place to be some days .

 

[zissou'smom]

Originally Posted by AnneRiceBowl

What's wrong with wanting to have your ego stroked? An ego needs to be stroked just as much as a cat needs to be stroked or petted.

Seriously though, it's a refle for me to correct someone's grammar. Like GinersMom, I have to use every once of will power to not correct someone, especially if it's someone with authority over me. A few remarks have slipped out before, which have landed me in hot water. Like I stated earlier, I have walked away from conversations because of horrible grammar.

I've refrained from getting in on this thread until today, because linguists and grammarians are natural enemies.

Spoken language is the way it is. If something is natural for someone to say, it's part of their idiolect, and who are you, or anybody else including Lynne Truss, to judge it? Every single one of us uses constructions, words, and pronunciations that make others go "Wha?" Some of those things are standard for where we are from, like in this area of the country there is nothing odd about saying "My hair needs washed," regardless of socioeconomic position, and in this city some people say "shtreet" and nobody ever notices until you point it out. We do all kinds of things in speech, marked and unmarked, that reveal our background.

Anyway, any value judgements you place on other people's speaking is a value judgement on them. It is purely a function of sociology. You might be a speaker of the white, educated, upper-middle-class dialect (as am I), but it isn't any more correct, logical, or proper than anyone else's. The very idea that there is a standard form of spoken language at all is new, and it comes from bookish people studying Latin grammar and trying to apply it to English. Heck, it's only recently that people even thought English had a grammar at all.

If someone speaks a dialect that is typical of a socioeconomic group outside of yours, but which you feel superior to, then you think they're speaking "wrong." Just remember the way you speak isn't grammatical according to their grammar either.

Don't get me wrong, I teach my students to write in standard English and explain to them why its necessary, but in speech many many factors come into play and in some cases trying to make someone talk like me would be robbing them of some part of their identity (see William Labov). Everyone has numerous dialects already, one they use in very formal situations, for example, or one with their parents, one with their friends, one they use when their normal manner would be conspicuous for whatever reason, etc.

 

[carolpetunia]

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

...I teach my students to write in standard English and explain to them why its necessary, but in speech many many factors come into play and in some cases trying to make someone talk like me would be robbing them of some part of their identity...

Yes! Writing is one thing, speaking is another... and writing in an online forum is really a substitute for speech.

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

...Everyone has numerous dialects already, one they use in very formal situations, for example, or one with their parents, one with their friends, one they use when their normal manner would be conspicuous for whatever reason, etc.

Absolutely true! In formal situations or when I need to exert authority, I can sound so upscale and hypereducated it's scary, but my normal way is much more relaxed... and among friends, I often do accents and character voices for comic effect. It's great to know how to speak formally, but if everyone spoke that way all the time, what a bland world it would be!

 

[annericebowl]

Apparently, a few of you have the wrong idea about me. I understand that there are many different dialects of the English language. I have lived in and visited enough states and countries to figure this out. I don't not talk to people just because they have a different dialect or may not have perfect English. I don't not talk to people because their first language isn't English. I am not stuck so far up my own butt to be anti-social with most of the world's population. What I do have a problem with are people that were offered the same if not better level of education that I was, yet still chose to talk as if a goat taught them the English language. A dialect is only so much of an excuse, but in the modern world, everyone in the United States has been offered the same basic opportunity to learn the English language.

Do I use proper English at all times? No. That would get old really fast. I also use voices when I talk to friends. The only times that I make sure I use proper English is when I meet someone new, at work, or I am with certain people.

 

[icklemiss21]

My post regarding levels of education was a general statement and not directed at you. I have seen it happen on forums, to the point where moderators have to get involved because the person is so upset about 'mean' corrections and they have a learning difficulty or grew up where there are no schools and feel that they are being flamed because of that.

 

[annericebowl]

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

My post regarding levels of education was a general statement and not directed at you. I have seen it happen on forums, to the point where moderators have to get involved because the person is so upset about 'mean' corrections and they have a learning difficulty or grew up where there are no schools and feel that they are being flamed because of that.

It wasn't directed to you.

 

[butzie]

I grew up in NY and used to have a NY accent but I have been in CA for 24 years and it has faded (except for my pronunciation of dog and water).
When I was in college, I bought a car and took my best friend and her now husband to Jones Beach. There is a toll both to get in and when we got there the toll keeper said "Go 'head" without us paying. We were all laughing until we got to the parking lot at the beach we liked and there was a park ranger checking the parking passes. John said that he would take care of it. I pulled up to the ranger and said to her, "Wuldya believe I lost da ticket?" John said, "Yeah, we put in on the dashboard and it blew out the winda." The ranger asked what color the ticket was and I told her aquamarine. She said, "Go 'head." John asked me how I knew the color and I told him I watched the cars in frontafme.

 

[katachtig]

Being picky about grammar may seem petty, but it really does enable one to communicate with more people both native and foreign speakers. When the wrong words are used or sloppy spelling is all over the place, the message is harder to obtain. And if it is hard to read, most people won't bother or will misinterpret the message.

And isn't communication the real reason we bother with writing at all?

 

[weldrwomn]

Awright, since all y'all in here seems to be educated, would y'all school me in the proper conjugation of the word "sneak"? I tell people that "snuck" is not right, and that the word should instead be "sneaked". Whats yers druthers on this here topic?

 

[zissou'smom]

Originally Posted by AnneRiceBowl

A dialect is only so much of an excuse, but in the modern world, everyone in the United States has been offered the same basic opportunity to learn the English language.

I don't think I'm wrong about your feelings on other peoples' English. You don't learn your first language in school. By saying everyone has the same opportunity to learn English, you are revealing that ouy think English is the refined way it is taught by grammar mavens.

But a bunch of arbitrary rules being followed don't make your way of speaking correct.

"Still choose to talk as if a goat taught them English"

No, their parents and friends did. Again, value judgements on a dialect are value judgements on a person. Saying someone's way of speaking is 'wrong' is the same as saying 'we don't like your kind here'.

 

[jcat]

Originally Posted by WELDRWOMN

Awright, since all y'all in here seems to be educated, would y'all school me in the proper conjugation of the word "sneak"? I tell people that "snuck" is not right, and that the word should instead be "sneaked". Whats yers druthers on this here topic?

Both are acceptable, though "snuck" is more informal: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/sneak
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/sneak?view=uk

This question came up in one of my translation classes last week, and I told my students I felt it was better to use "sneaked" in a text, but perfectly all right (alright) to say "snuck".