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  3. We all know grammar Nazis. What incorrect grammar are you completely in defence of?

We all know grammar Nazis. What incorrect grammar are you completely in defence of?

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  • C [email protected]

    @[email protected]

    As in, doesn't matter at all to you.

    janus2@lemmy.zipJ This user is from outside of this forum
    janus2@lemmy.zipJ This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by
    #25

    Conversational/informal English, there are no rules and anything goes, speak/type however the fuck ya want. if you wouldn't wear a tuxedo to the gas station you don't need 100% proper punctuation and sentence structure for internet shitposting

    written formal English, yeah I personally will judge you if you use the wrong "there/their/they're," but maybe future generations will collectively decide on one universal spelling cuz it's just fuckin easier, and that's fine! languages evolve no matter how much grumpy old women like me enjoy bitching/memeing about it lol

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    • A [email protected]

      I like to put apostrophes where they do'nt belong.

      janus2@lemmy.zipJ This user is from outside of this forum
      janus2@lemmy.zipJ This user is from outside of this forum
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      wrote last edited by
      #26

      i like to omit them when i shouldnt

      (i use gesture typing and used to be so aggressively into coming off as too cool to punctuate that i would manually remove apostrophes. i have since ceased because i actually don't care anymore and this is probably a metaphor about being a poser. I've learned NOTHING)

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      • abbotsbury@lemmy.worldA [email protected]

        Close gate? No it's all the way over there.

        janus2@lemmy.zipJ This user is from outside of this forum
        janus2@lemmy.zipJ This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #27

        "shut gate?"
        "no, it's open"
        "latch gate!!"
        "no this one has a knob, see?"
        "listen here u lil shit–"

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        • C [email protected]

          @[email protected]

          As in, doesn't matter at all to you.

          W This user is from outside of this forum
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          wrote last edited by
          #28

          Have to / need to - At some point in my 20s it was pointed out to me that "need to" is the correct phrase and that "have to" isn't correct. But actually "have to" is used in both English and Spanish "tengo que" which is "have to" or technically "have that". Grammatically, if "have" is a state of being then "have to" is like a state of being with a direction or target implied.

          D 1 Reply Last reply
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          • setsneedtofeed@lemmy.worldS [email protected]

            A slight tangent into spelling, but I think "milktoast" is perfectly evocative of the idea the user is trying to get across.

            janus2@lemmy.zipJ This user is from outside of this forum
            janus2@lemmy.zipJ This user is from outside of this forum
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            wrote last edited by
            #29

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            • W [email protected]

              You must have hated Mark Twain.

              A This user is from outside of this forum
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              wrote last edited by
              #30

              No one points a gun at Data and stays on my good side.

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              • B [email protected]

                I don't know if shouldn't've is grammatically correct but I hear it a lot so it seems like fair play. Same for other contractions that I never see in text, possibly because they're wrong. Because've. He'd've.

                Also like I'ma which can't possibly be ok, but "I am going to" is for suckers.

                P This user is from outside of this forum
                P This user is from outside of this forum
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                wrote last edited by
                #31

                Would've: fine.
                Would have: fine.
                Would of: me go mental! Why do people do this?! Argh!

                T N 2 Replies Last reply
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                • C [email protected]

                  @[email protected]

                  As in, doesn't matter at all to you.

                  K This user is from outside of this forum
                  K This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by
                  #32

                  As long as we can understand each other, I am very forgiving with these sorts of things. Different cultures and communities of all sizes use the same words in different ways, as it has always been. And like it will always be, I imagine. So who cares if they don't say it the way you would? If you understand what they are communicating and are not explicitly there to help them learn to speak differently, that would make you a dick for correcting them. Or even for looking down on them as if your use of the same has more value simply because you believe it does. It doesn't and that should be perfectly okay with any reasonable person imho

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                  • C [email protected]

                    @[email protected]

                    As in, doesn't matter at all to you.

                    F This user is from outside of this forum
                    F This user is from outside of this forum
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                    wrote last edited by
                    #33

                    I feel like a lot of the grammar sticklers out there only speak one language, and their lack of sympathy towards people speaking English as a second or third language is low.

                    If you can convey your point– good enough for me!

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                    • C [email protected]

                      @[email protected]

                      As in, doesn't matter at all to you.

                      gradually_adjusting@lemmy.worldG This user is from outside of this forum
                      gradually_adjusting@lemmy.worldG This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #34

                      The one thing I will insist on is the use of is/are. It's pretty simple, if referring to a countable set, use "are". E.g. there are four turtles in my sewer. You would not say "there are too much shit on this webpage", because that shit is uncountable.

                      T H C 3 Replies Last reply
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                      • B [email protected]

                        I don't know if shouldn't've is grammatically correct but I hear it a lot so it seems like fair play. Same for other contractions that I never see in text, possibly because they're wrong. Because've. He'd've.

                        Also like I'ma which can't possibly be ok, but "I am going to" is for suckers.

                        S This user is from outside of this forum
                        S This user is from outside of this forum
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                        wrote last edited by
                        #35

                        I like y'all're

                        S 1 Reply Last reply
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                        • m137@lemmy.worldM [email protected]

                          Nothing, and the whole "grammar nazis" thing is rotten. There is never a reason to have any other reaction to being corrected about objective things than learning from the mistake. If someone shows you the spelling or grammar mistakes you made, read it and memorise the corrections. You're not losing anything by getting better at communication, you only gain. It doesn't take you five minutes longer to spell the words correctly and you don't make yourself look like an idiot, child with learning disabilities or someone who seriously doesn't care about the most basic and expected shit we do for others.
                          Language is an astounding tool and people who spot on it by not caring about spelling and grammar should be forced to take classes and taught to see how important it is.

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                          wrote last edited by
                          #36

                          The issue is when it is done publicly, it is almost always done in bad faith to try and shame/put someone down and dismiss everything they said due to a mistake.
                          If you want to teach someone you should send them a private message. Don't put them on blast in front of everyone. It shows a lack of empathy and depicts you as someone who wants to appear superior/better than them.
                          Of course, there are ways to do it publicly but courteously, for example something like "just fyi, it's they're not their 🙂 but anyway, I do agree with what you're saying [or] it was interesting to read your take on this"

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                          • C [email protected]

                            @[email protected]

                            As in, doesn't matter at all to you.

                            H This user is from outside of this forum
                            H This user is from outside of this forum
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                            wrote last edited by
                            #37

                            Putting question marks or exclamation points after "quotation marks"! I've never understood the point of putting the punctuation inside the quotation unless it's part of the quotation itself.

                            T W R starlinguk@lemmy.worldS 4 Replies Last reply
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                            • C [email protected]

                              @[email protected]

                              As in, doesn't matter at all to you.

                              S This user is from outside of this forum
                              S This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by
                              #38

                              It is perfectly cromulent to use "less" in place of "fewer".

                              T slvrdrgn@lemmy.worldS 2 Replies Last reply
                              6
                              • H [email protected]

                                Putting question marks or exclamation points after "quotation marks"! I've never understood the point of putting the punctuation inside the quotation unless it's part of the quotation itself.

                                T This user is from outside of this forum
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                                wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                #39

                                This is how you're supposed to do it in Dutch.

                                The teacher said "silence!".

                                Vs

                                The teacher said "silence"!

                                Mean something completely different. Although a few large literature publishers do punctuation before bracket because of translation ease, and novels almost never contain partial quotes anyway AND they include the optional comma at all times, which causes

                                "Silence!," said the teacher.

                                Shudder

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                                • H [email protected]

                                  Putting question marks or exclamation points after "quotation marks"! I've never understood the point of putting the punctuation inside the quotation unless it's part of the quotation itself.

                                  W This user is from outside of this forum
                                  W This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                  #40

                                  Especially also when you're using them to be facetious.

                                  He's "talented".

                                  He's "talented."

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                                  • C [email protected]

                                    @[email protected]

                                    As in, doesn't matter at all to you.

                                    W This user is from outside of this forum
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                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #41

                                    The right to gleefully split infinitives.

                                    R 1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • P [email protected]

                                      Would've: fine.
                                      Would have: fine.
                                      Would of: me go mental! Why do people do this?! Argh!

                                      T This user is from outside of this forum
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                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #42

                                      I will accept "would ve" before "would of"

                                      B 1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • abbotsbury@lemmy.worldA [email protected]

                                        Close gate? No it's all the way over there.

                                        S This user is from outside of this forum
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                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #43

                                        "Where wolf? There wolf! [points] There castle!"

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                                        • P [email protected]

                                          This is just practically and technically wrong. You're lightyears off.

                                          Of course there are incorrect grammars. They wouldn't be called grammar. While the tolerance for these errs is greater than the textbook, if you stray too far then the meaning you're trying to convey would be lost.

                                          No, grammar isn't some kind of made up notion. Without grammars, it's just a bunch of words with no meaning.

                                          S This user is from outside of this forum
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                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #44

                                          I like to say, for instance, "pool-go" instead of "go to the pool" when I'm amongst friends, because I'm pretty sure I heard constructions like this in a novel once where aliens learned to talk English. But incorrect, or at the very least uncommon usage like that definitely straddles the line between comprehensible and unintelligible.

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