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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 This user is from outside of this forum
    C This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by
    #1

    @[email protected]

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

    T M setsneedtofeed@lemmy.worldS F G 41 Replies Last reply
    19
    • C [email protected]

      @[email protected]

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

      T This user is from outside of this forum
      T This user is from outside of this forum
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      wrote last edited by [email protected]
      #2

      i'm not prescriptive with grammar. it is ]descriptive. so "common usage" is fine by me.

      and there are even racist undertones to a lot of it. sometimes the word "ask" gets pronounced as "axe" which some people throw fits of hissy all over the place.

      Chaucer, the grandfather of modern English, had no problem using the "axe" version. so i'm more down with common usage for speech but knowing the variety of rules and how they have been used historically is a fun exercise in linguistic study and discourse.

      but its all good.

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • C [email protected]

        @[email protected]

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

        M This user is from outside of this forum
        M This user is from outside of this forum
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        wrote last edited by
        #3

        If I am clearly referring to myself (as in a text), I shouldn't have to inlude myself in the sentence. Ex: "just grabbing food" vs "I'm just grabbing food".

        N H 2 Replies Last reply
        8
        • C [email protected]

          @[email protected]

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

          setsneedtofeed@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
          setsneedtofeed@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by
          #4

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

          N janus2@lemmy.zipJ 2 Replies Last reply
          2
          • C [email protected]

            @[email protected]

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

            F This user is from outside of this forum
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            wrote last edited by
            #5

            I is agreeable.

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • C [email protected]

              @[email protected]

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

              G This user is from outside of this forum
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              wrote last edited by
              #6

              Anything logical...

              Grammar is less rules that we have to follow and more a description of what people are using.

              So when shit doesn't make sense, we should all just agree that's dumb and switch.

              1 Reply Last reply
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              • C [email protected]

                @[email protected]

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

                gedaliyah@lemmy.worldG This user is from outside of this forum
                gedaliyah@lemmy.worldG This user is from outside of this forum
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                wrote last edited by
                #7

                End a sentence with a preposition if you want to. And start one with a conjunction.

                D despoticruin@lemmy.zipD 2 Replies Last reply
                29
                • C [email protected]

                  @[email protected]

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

                  m137@lemmy.worldM This user is from outside of this forum
                  m137@lemmy.worldM This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by [email protected]
                  #8

                  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.

                  W R maiq@lemy.lolM 0 sortekanin@feddit.dkS 6 Replies Last reply
                  16
                  • 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.

                    W This user is from outside of this forum
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                    wrote last edited by
                    #9

                    You must have hated Mark Twain.

                    A 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • C [email protected]

                      @[email protected]

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

                      A This user is from outside of this forum
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                      wrote last edited by
                      #10

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

                      janus2@lemmy.zipJ 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • C [email protected]

                        @[email protected]

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

                        C This user is from outside of this forum
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                        wrote last edited by [email protected]
                        #11

                        I think outside of highly formalized writing (usually found exclusively in academia) grammar only matters to the extent that it doesn't interfere with the voice of the author.

                        It matters because it makes things easier to read. A wall of text with no punctuation or capitalization is difficult to parse, both for the reader and for the writer if they need to go back and make changes.

                        On the other hand, punctuation can be used incorrectly to convey things that might be part of how the author speaks. Examples being: using ellipsis to indicate trailing off at the end of a sentence, perhaps because you're still trying to find words to finish the thought, or using parentheses to indicate a slight tangent or clarifying statement, or failing to use a period at the end of a text message to indicate a softer tone and an openness to a response.

                        Capitalization and misspellings can be used similarly. Such as intentionally misspelling a word to indicate that it should be pronounced differently than usual, or capitalizing all or part of a word to add emphasis.

                        TLDR: Proper grammar matters for clearly conveying information, but intentionally breaking grammatical rules is a good way to add your voice, personality, and tone into your writing. And that is more important than being technically correct.

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                        • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldG [email protected]

                          End a sentence with a preposition if you want to. And start one with a conjunction.

                          D This user is from outside of this forum
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                          wrote last edited by
                          #12

                          That's not just you, that's people who know the rules of the English language and don't care about Latin or what dead idiots thought.

                          https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/prepositions-ending-a-sentence-with

                          gedaliyah@lemmy.worldG 1 Reply Last reply
                          6
                          • M [email protected]

                            If I am clearly referring to myself (as in a text), I shouldn't have to inlude myself in the sentence. Ex: "just grabbing food" vs "I'm just grabbing food".

                            N This user is from outside of this forum
                            N This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote last edited by
                            #13

                            And we can drop "the" sometimes, "close gate".

                            N abbotsbury@lemmy.worldA 2 Replies Last reply
                            3
                            • C [email protected]

                              @[email protected]

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

                              carbonicedragon@pawb.socialC This user is from outside of this forum
                              carbonicedragon@pawb.socialC This user is from outside of this forum
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                              wrote last edited by
                              #14

                              I've recently come to the position that really, there isn't truly such a thing as incorrect grammar. There's grammar that doesn't fit the norm for the people one is speaking to, and if it's different enough to impair the ability for the intended audience to understand what you're communicating it can be impractical or inadvisable, but since grammar isn't an intrinsic part of the universe outside of human creation, and since the way it's used changes whenever people "break it's rules" in numbers over time, it can't actually be wrong. After all, someone could view something written in a very closely related foreign dialect as another similar language written correctly, or one's own language written incorrectly, and there isn't really a non-arbitrary way to decide which is the case.

                              P 1 Reply Last reply
                              2
                              • N [email protected]

                                And we can drop "the" sometimes, "close gate".

                                N This user is from outside of this forum
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                                wrote last edited by
                                #15

                                I see you also play 80s text adventure games...

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                8
                                • carbonicedragon@pawb.socialC [email protected]

                                  I've recently come to the position that really, there isn't truly such a thing as incorrect grammar. There's grammar that doesn't fit the norm for the people one is speaking to, and if it's different enough to impair the ability for the intended audience to understand what you're communicating it can be impractical or inadvisable, but since grammar isn't an intrinsic part of the universe outside of human creation, and since the way it's used changes whenever people "break it's rules" in numbers over time, it can't actually be wrong. After all, someone could view something written in a very closely related foreign dialect as another similar language written correctly, or one's own language written incorrectly, and there isn't really a non-arbitrary way to decide which is the case.

                                  P This user is from outside of this forum
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                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #16

                                  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 F 2 Replies Last reply
                                  3
                                  • C [email protected]

                                    @[email protected]

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

                                    vanth@reddthat.comV This user is from outside of this forum
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                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #17

                                    I work in a job with contractual language and care deeply about the placement of every comma in that context.

                                    Outside that in everyday life, I don't care about any grammer rule so long as I can understand the writer's intent.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    3
                                    • 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.

                                      R This user is from outside of this forum
                                      R This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #18

                                      But, at the same time, this isn't a master's thesis.

                                      Sometimes autocorrect picks the wrong there, and I don't notice. And when someone swoops in and says "it's they're" with nothing else to contribute to the actual conversation that's happening, they can fuck write off.

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                                      • C [email protected]

                                        @[email protected]

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                                        A This user is from outside of this forum
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                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #19

                                        outside of like academic settings, anything should go. check out the previous sentence where i inserted an unnecessary “like” as an example. it reflects my train of thought and i type as i think. same thing should go for slang and stuff, if the best way to get your point across is with ideas that have not been accepted by the academic world then that’s totally skibidi tubular, man.

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                                        3
                                        • N [email protected]

                                          And we can drop "the" sometimes, "close gate".

                                          abbotsbury@lemmy.worldA This user is from outside of this forum
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                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #20

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

                                          janus2@lemmy.zipJ S 2 Replies Last reply
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