For intensive purposes I don’t let bad grammar bother me to much. 
Grammar Nazi
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For intensive purposes I don’t let bad grammar bother me to much.
You got a bad gradma too? We kept our bad grammer downstairs.
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I've been reassured that nervous tic I've developed will go away as soon as I'm retired.
I've been reassured that nervous tic I've developed will go away as soon as I'm retired.
I also love this!!
Today, I was told that being a grammar nazi makes me classist. I get where she was coming from but disagree.
Cool. By that standard, I can take the Lord's name in vain, work on the Sabbath, dishonor my parents, steal, murder, hump everything that moves, imagine time alone with Anne Hathaway***, and lie... because the rules are made to be broken.
I think some rules are meant to evolve. Especially language rules. Language effects communication. Language rules provide clarification to communication so that we can all understand what is being communicated. But as our use and understanding changes, so does the language, y'all.
***I might do this already.
I disagree, too. If you are being condescending to others or constantly correcting people's grammar then I can see her irritation, but I doubt you are doing that. To call someone classist for placing an importance on education and using correct grammar and proper spelling is stupid. I'd take it as a compliment.
If it's earnest, it's not classist. But if overused, it's annoying and counterproductive.
One of "those" moments in my life came when a former secretary said, "Do you know how hard it is to talk to you?" Meaning that I'm such a literalist and so grammar-conscious (and comfortable with her, unfortunately) that my corrections stifled expression.
That gave me pause. For the rest of my life. It pains me to think that my alleged good intentions might give people pause to express something that they otherwise would say. That is not what I want.
So I've learned to leaven my critique. Save it for the right time.
I used to be really bothered by the phrase (?) "these ones". Gesturing to a stack of papers, "Do you mean these ones?" I lived in Oregon for several years and assumed it was a local stupidity based colloquialism. Yeah, that was some damn bad grammar! I'm not sure what a colloquialism is, and am shocked the SK forum spell check fixed it! Anyhoo, coming from the south, a southerner wouldn't say "these ones" if you put a gun to their heads! Now I'm in Illinois and am again hearing -- guess what -- "these ones"! You can't just say "these" and stop? Are you five years old? But I've let it go. I'm trying to be more tolerant. Maybe not. A guy at work said, "My bad" the other day, and I snapped! He's over 30! Not acceptable.
Yeah, I was pointing out to my friends that our trivia host used "begs the question" when he meant "raises the question". This is a common one and I don't judge people for not knowing the difference but I was surprised our trivia host didn't know the difference. It sparked a whole conversation about how language doesn't matter "as long as we understand each other's meaning" and how judging people based on their use of language is classist. I can't get behind that line of thinking. For instance, Mr. Blue sends me texts without proofreading every single day and they are riddled with terrible auto-corrections. I can usually manage to decode them but I still wish he'd take the time to care about communicating effectively with me.
Even though rules are meant to be broken, it doesn't negate the consequences of doing so.Cool. By that standard, I can take the Lord's name in vain, work on the Sabbath, dishonor my parents, steal, murder, hump everything that moves, imagine time alone with Anne Hathaway***, and lie... because the rules are made to be broken.
I think some rules are meant to evolve. Especially language rules. Language effects communication. Language rules provide clarification to communication so that we can all understand what is being communicated. But as our use and understanding changes, so does the language, y'all.
***I might do this already.
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
effects or affects? I always struggle with this one
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
Good point - when it's difficult to understand someone and what they're trying to say due to auto-corrections, after a while you start to question why they're in such a rush or why can't they get it right? It's judgemental, but it happens
The struggle is not only real, it's common.
The way I remember it is:
To effect is to begin something.
To affect is to change something.
(I have another mnemonic device for the noun forms of those words, but let's not muddy the waters.)
In this case, I mean to put into place, to enable, to spark. Effect.
A fine riposte there, sir.
Is it ‘personalise’ or personalize?’ Or will we now be required to post in the king’s English with the software update?