Grammar gripes

I know this has been done before to a degree, and I'm also no grammar Nazi, but there re a few really bad ones which seem to be becoming more and more pervasive. Worse, these errors seem to be becoming self-sustaining, with people "confirming" they're saying things the right way because they keeping seeing them the same way so often on the internet. These grammatical errors have become so pervasive online that people are using them more and more in everyday life.

I believe people (kids and adults) must be reading (books) much less than they used to, and also not putting any effort forth to learn proper English in school or on their own. In my own experience, parents are also teaching their children poorly, and reinforcing poor language skills.

Anyhow, here's my biggest gripes about what have become sickeningly pervasive linguistic errors:

"mine as well" - the idiom is supposed to be "might as well", meaning it is better to do something than to not do something. "mine as well" would be used properly in the following examples:

1) At the nickel mine, I mine as well as 75% of the other miners.
2) Since the car is in both of our names, it's mine, as well as hers.

"should of" - this one is simple. IT'S "SHOULD HAVE" - I believe the confusion stems from the contraction for "should have", which would be "should've."

"I seen it" - no you didn't. You SAW it. You were SEEN using bad grammar.

Their / They're / There - this one is hard to believe that native English speakers get wrong. It is drilled into children in school, and by their parents. At least it was when I was a kid. If your schools and parents failed to teach you such a basic and important part of the language, take some responsibility and train yourself. This one is probably the most understandable to mess up if English is a new language to you. If it isn't, then it is simply embarassing to get wrong beyond age 6.

So there it is, my primary list of grammatical annoyances. I don't speak or write with perfect grammar, and I don't expect others to either. I won't point out errors in a post either, but I cannot help but to perceive posts as less credible or worthy of my attention when these, and other similar wrrors are so pervasive. To those guilty of these transgressions, do yourselves a favor: learn how to use the language properly. Your thoughts and ideas will be more well-respected if you do.

This was my "nitpicky" attempt to stave off what is rapidly becoming an all-out assault on the language, using wrong words and terms which don't even make sense.

G.A.L.

If grammar is worth you creating a rant thread, I pity you for not understanding what's important here.

Sad.

Why do people even bother posting these? no one cares.

Oh well until next time...

Behave. Sort out your own errors before picking on others.

Who cares. Well aside from you obviously.

The OP does have a valid point though. I find, sometimes, that spelling and grammatical errors can make a post hard to read. This can lead to a misunderstanding in what the poster is trying to convey.

Originally posted by RedShirt73
The OP does have a valid point though. I find, sometimes, that spelling and grammatical errors can make a post hard to read. This can lead to a misunderstanding in what the poster is trying to convey.

Ok if you think that people should be more accurate when using Grammar and punctuation can you please explain why you used OP in your sentance as you are only supposed to use acronyms after the full term has been used once. Also what are the two , doing in your second sentance they are completely unnecessary?

Originally posted by dogstar23and I'm also no grammar Nazi,

i think you may be a grammar nazi in denial or else you would not make this thread. its okay though just dont go around correcting people over stupid stuff nobody cares about, those kind of people are the worst.

Originally posted by michael1983l

Originally posted by RedShirt73
The OP does have a valid point though. I find, sometimes, that spelling and grammatical errors can make a post hard to read. This can lead to a misunderstanding in what the poster is trying to convey.

Ok if you think that people should be more accurate when using Grammar and punctuation can you please explain why you used OP in your sentance as you are only supposed to use acronyms after the full term has been used once. Also what are the two , doing in your second sentance they are completely unnecessary?

Sorry, Original Poster (OP), lol.

And

The proper use of commas, lol.

Number 4:

Use a comma to set off parenthetical elements, as in "The Founders Bridge, which spans the Connecticut River, is falling down." By "parenthetical element," we mean a part of a sentence that can be removed without changing the essential meaning of that sentence. The parenthetical element is sometimes called "added information." This is the most difficult rule in punctuation because it is sometimes unclear what is "added" or "parenthetical" and what is essential to the meaning of a sentence. Use of commas

Or you can use number five, lol.

Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives. You could think of this as "That tall, distinguished, good looking fellow" rule (as opposed to "the little old lady"). If you can put an and or a but between the adjectives, a comma will probably belong there. For instance, you could say, "He is a tall and distinguished fellow" or "I live in a very old and run-down house." So you would write, "He is a tall, distinguished man" and "I live in a very old, run-down house." But you would probably not say, "She is a little and old lady," or "I live in a little and purple house," so commas would not appear between little and old or between little and purple. Use of commas

reply to post by RedShirt73


Yes and the two commas are still unnecessary as neither of those rules apply to your sentance.

If your going to complain about people's grammar then expect to be criticised yourself when you get your own grammar wrong. That is the point I am trying to make because you will get your grammar wrong at some point, much like the rest of us do.

reply to post by michael1983l

Please read full post, then the website and tell me how you would write the sentence?

I absolutely hate when people use "nothing" as a double negative. It's even worse when they use it along with "ain't". For example, "I ain't got nothing".

The OP is fundamentally right, because the principles of grammar and spelling are there for a reason.
Language is about communication, and communication is only possible when people are using words in the same way.
Once people are using words in different ways, the whole thing begins to break down and communication becomes impossible.
Once we're all exercising our freedom to write our own private languages in our own way, that does matter because we're not going to understand one another.

Oh hell, another one...
I very rarely use apostrophes. shouldve, couldve, wouldve but i dont and i dont care.

Spelling has been evolving and even new words have been created since the birth of chat rooms, get used to it.

reply to post by DISRAELI


Agreed.

Originally posted by Juggernog
Oh hell, another one...
I very rarely use apostrophes. shouldve, couldve, wouldve but i dont and i dont care.

Spelling has been evolving and even new words have been created since the birth of chat rooms, get used to it.

edit on 1/18/2013 by Juggernog because: (no reason given)

It's like running with scissors, grammar be damned, lol.

Originally posted by RedShirt73

Originally posted by Juggernog
Oh hell, another one...
I very rarely use apostrophes. shouldve, couldve, wouldve but i dont and i dont care.

Spelling has been evolving and even new words have been created since the birth of chat rooms, get used to it.

edit on 1/18/2013 by Juggernog because: (no reason given)

It's like running with scissors, grammar be damned, lol.

Yea, Im such an adrenaline junkie

Originally posted by Juggernog
Oh hell, another one...
I very rarely use apostrophes. shouldve, couldve, wouldve but i dont and i dont care.

Spelling has been evolving and even new words have been created since the birth of chat rooms, get used to it.

edit on 1/18/2013 by Juggernog because: (no reason given)

Xactly. y won't ppl cept dat lingo evolvs. We shd jst uz WE maks us hpE n evry1 Ls shd jst hav2 deal W it.

Amen, OP.

Any time I run across a more than occasional misspelling or grammatical error, I mentally discount what the poster is trying to say, as I often simply have to work too hard to figure out what they are trying to say (and then it's often not worth the effort if I do!) I just have to presume they have done little in the way of learning, research or thought and thus their (not they're or there!) opinions lack substance or validity.

This is not meant to include people who are working with a second or third language, more power to you! But if you grew up in an English speaking household and went to an English speaking school, there is no excuse for an adult of any age to not know the simplest of communication skills. If it's beyond you for some reason, please refrain from writing until you actually learn how to do it. No one cares about your one-sentence, badly crafted, brain dead commentary. You're trying to run before you learn to crawl and in the process, falling flat on your face.

We are not grammar Nazis, we are aghast at how fast the ability for people to think clearly, write clearly and communicate clearly is deteriorating. This is, after all, a written medium. Stick with small talk with your friends if putting your thoughts down on virtual paper is beyond your abilities.

reply to post by GMan420

Yes, language is always evolving.
But for practical reasons, there needs to be some sort of drag so that it evolves at the same speed and in the same directtion for as many people as possible.
Otherwise, as I said, everybody is speaking their own private langauge and communication breaks down.
Your post illustrates my point.