Why Grammar Matters: A Place To Discuss Matters Of Grammar

[SnideAsides]

Uneducated weigh in:   Since the word it's an adverb of is literal, I would have to strenuously object (tm Demi Moore) to (the British pronunciation of) lit-tra-lly.   It does sound quite lovely and watercress sandwichy but I gotta vote no.

Except for the slight problem that people who pronounce literally "litrally" will also almost always pronounce literal "litral".

 

In other grammar news: I realise "verse" sounds like "verb", but that doesn't mean it is one, television. At least not in the "compete against" sense.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I could care less if you respond to a post that was posted a month old, but irregardless of that, for all intensive purposes it's like closing the barn door after the chickens have come home to roost. Literally.

 

I cannot express how much I love this. Literally.

[ZaldamoWilder]

I could care less if you respond to a post that was posted a month old, but irregardless of that, for all intensive purposes it's like closing the barn door after the chickens have come home to roost. Literally.

 

Damn ya'll.  Now I can't remember what the actual saying is. 

 

 

Except for the slight problem that people who pronounce literally "litrally" will also almost always pronounce literal "litral".

 

In other grammar news: I realise "verse" sounds like "verb", but that doesn't mean it is one, television. At least not in the "compete against" sense.

 

N'uh uh!  Girl stop it, you have not heard this before!  Lol.    That's cause for some hurt feelings right there. 

 

My kid was on a sports team in middle school.   On the way to a game I asked her who they were playing (yes, it should be whom, don't obsess lol).  She goes we're versing Clifton's Avengers.   <----- I'm sorry?   A cabillion dollars a year in tuition and the entire 8th grade thought versing was a thing.   {{shudder}} 

 

I've also heard that on something, Amazing Race maybe. 

[Sandman87]

it's like closing the barn door after the chickens have come home to roost

 

 

Damn ya'll.  Now I can't remember what the actual saying is.

I've heard several variations of it: "Closing the barn door after the horses are gone."

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I've heard several variations of it: "Closing the barn door after the horses are gone."

 

When I was a kid, if your barn door was open, it meant you needed to zip your fly.

[Wings]

This may ruffle some feathers but it bugs me.  The pronunciation of vase is vas (long a) NOT vahz.  Vahz is the British pronunciation that some have adopted, thinking it is correct but it is not, if you are American.  Emily Post said "you only have a vahz if you have dahzies."  

Edited October 22, 2014 by wings707

[SnideAsides]

N'uh uh!  Girl stop it, you have not heard this before!  Lol.    That's cause for some hurt feelings right there.

Well, I live in Australia, where the silent E is the standard pronunciation for both. So, yeah. Not only have I heard it, I find "lit-uh-ral" offensively weird.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

My kid was on a sports team in middle school.   On the way to a game I asked her who they were playing (yes, it should be whom, don't obsess lol).  She goes we're versing Clifton's Avengers.   <----- I'm sorry?   A cabillion dollars a year in tuition and the entire 8th grade thought versing was a thing.   {{shudder}} 

 

I have never heard of versing, but even Urban Dictionary says it's not actually a word, which amuses me.

 

I'm even more amused that you're riled about the use of it, but can still say/type "She goes." ;-)

[ZaldamoWilder]

I have never heard of versing, but even Urban Dictionary says it's not actually a word, which amuses me.

 

I'm even more amused that you're riled about the use of it, but can still say/type "She goes." ;-)

 

...and if the likes of urban dictionary won't have it, I shant either.   (Microsoft wanted to correct the hell outta shant, but left *outta* alone.  I giggled)

 

LOL!!  I love that it stood out.    I'm sort of British so you'd think that my own grammar would be at or above par.  But, no.  Raised in the U.S. which in my case, means I write the way I speak and am snootily committed to correcting only other peoples' grammar.   No, really, it's a gift.  :D

[walnutqueen]

ZW - I lurve the word "shan't" - one must use only the last apostrophe when faced with a double abbreviation, or some such happy horseshit I may have just pulled outta my ass, eh.    ;-)

 

Fuck spellcheck.

[Wings]

...and if the likes of urban dictionary won't have it, I shant either.   (Microsoft wanted to correct the hell outta shant, but left *outta* alone.  I giggled)

 

LOL!!  I love that it stood out.    I'm sort of British so you'd think that my own grammar would be at or above par.  But, no.  Raised in the U.S. which in my case, means I write the way I speak and am snootily committed to correcting only other peoples' grammar.   No, really, it's a gift.  :D

 

 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!

[backformore]

"Pit of my stomach" means the bottom of my stomach. The saying " a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach" generally meant a feeling of dread or anxiety.

When did this saying change to "I feel a pit in my stomach?" I first heard it on Amazing Race, and I'm willing to forgive it on a reality show. But last night it was on Chicago Fire. Who are these writers?

Is a pit in your stomach the feeling that you get when you accidentally swallow a peach pit?

Edited October 22, 2014 by backformore

[ZaldamoWilder]

"Pit of my stomach" means the bottom of my stomach. The saying " a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach" generally meant a feeling of dread or anxiety.

When did this saying change to "I feel a pit in my stomach?" I first heard it on Amazing Race, and I'm willing to forgive it on a reality show. But last night it was on Chicago Fire. Who are these writers?

Is a pit in your stomach the feeling that you get when you accidentally swallow a peach pit?

 

...because if so, things are, literally, about to take a turn for the worse.    Hee!  It doesn't get old.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

ZW - I lurve the word "shan't" - one must use only the last apostrophe when faced with a double abbreviation, or some such happy horseshit I may have just pulled outta my ass, eh.    ;-)

 

Where else would you get happy horseshit but from your ass?

 

Don't get up, I'll kick myself out.

[Sandman87]

Tonight one of the guests on PBS Newshour referred to tough competition between high-tech companies by saying "...it's a doggy dog world." No, it's a dog eat dog world, unless Google and Apple are selling adorable puppies now.

 

 

 

LOL!!  I love that it stood out.    I'm sort of British so you'd think that my own grammar would be at or above par.  But, no.  Raised in the U.S. which in my case, means I write the way I speak and am snootily committed to correcting only other peoples' grammar.   No, really, it's a gift.  :D

I was raised in California, which means that it's nothing short of a miracle that I don't write and speak like a Valley-Caveman. "Like, Atook...Lana...zug-zug, you know?!"

 

 

Where else would you get happy horseshit but from your ass?

From my horse? My ass produces donkeyshit. Yeah, I'll kick myself out too...

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I was raised in California, which means that it's nothing short of a miracle that I don't write and speak like a Valley-Caveman. "Like, Atook...Lana...zug-zug, you know?!"

 

OMFG. I could have sworn I was the only one who'd ever even heard of Caveman, much less seen it.

[slensam]

 

OMFG. I could have sworn I was the only one who'd ever even heard of Caveman, much less seen it.

Ringo!

Tonight one of the guests on PBS Newshour referred to tough competition between high-tech companies by saying "...it's a doggy dog world." No, it's a dog eat dog world, unless Google and Apple are selling adorable puppies now.

Or you're a fan of Snoop Dogg from the early 90's.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Just when I thought "Bob and I's relationship is great" was the bottom of the barrel, I hear "your guys's" as a possessive.  As in, What is your guys's relationship like now?  And "guys's" has two syllables, with all the letters pronounced.

 

This was uttered by two different hosts on various Teen Mom reunion shows last week.  One was female in her 20s who never referred to the group of 23-year-old "teen moms" as anything other than "you guys" and used "your guys's" every single time there was a possessive to be made.  It drove me so crazy I stopped watching before the show ended, and the count at that point was easily a dozen.  The other show had middle-aged Dr. Drew Pinsky (a real doctor, with an education) who, to his credit, used it only once, but he did it. 

 

And goddammit, "He talked to Mary and I" is starting to almost sound correct.  I still audibly groan whenever I hear it on TV, but I fear that's becoming more of a tic than anything because it's burrowing its way in there. 

[Aquarius]

Ringo!

 

And wife!

 

You are not alone, Cobalt!

[Qoass]

A headline on the website for E! Entertainment Television:

 

"Are One of These Stars Leaving The Vampire Diaries?"

 

My head hurts.

[StatisticalOutlier]

I just remembered that I single-handedly saved a TV show from being mentioned in this thread. 

 

I have a friend who works for a late night national talk show, and earlier this year I spent a day tagging along and looking around.  The show makes video clips, and this day they had a fake and very profane commercial for the company that was hired to fix the healthcare.gov website.  When the clips are ready, they send them to my friend's computer (she's the one who punches a button to make them run during the show--surprisingly stressful work), I guess to make sure they'll work or whatever.  

 

So I'm watching over my friend's shoulder, with her assistant next to her, and as part of the fake commercial there are screens with words on them, like slogans or bullet points, and my eagle eye caught the word "propriety" when the voice-over said "proprietary."  When it was finished, I pointed it out and nobody knew what I was talking about, so I had them run it back and there it was.  Fleeting, but definitely there.  But they still weren't sure it was wrong, and I insisted that it was, so the assistant got on the phone to the video producers and much conversation ensued (not helped by the fact that she was pronouncing it "proprietory"), and I was so adamant that it rubbed off on the assistant and she wouldn't take "no" for an answer.  They said they'd look into it.

 

And sure enough, about 30 minutes later, a new clip appears on the computer, and yep--it's fixed.  We won!

 

Then shortly before they started taping, the monologue producer comes down and they go through all the video clips that will be on the show one last time, and the assistant pointed out to the producer that I was the one who caught the error.  I've never been so proud.  (And later, it was pointed out to me that the host is a real stickler for spelling and that I might very well have saved a couple of heads from rolling.)

 

So FINALLY, it's revealed that yes, if everybody WOULD let me look over everything before it goes out, it WOULD make a difference.  Man, that was satisfying.

[CoderLady]

That's so cool! If I could 10+ you, I would. Cheers!

[Sandman87]

I just remembered that I single-handedly saved a TV show from being mentioned in this thread...

 

I used to do that all the time at my old local TV job with the recorded programs that we produced. Not only did I earn brownie points with the manager, but I got to make fun of our video editors. A double victory!

[StatisticalOutlier]

I used to do that all the time at my old local TV job with the recorded programs that we produced. Not only did I earn brownie points with the manager, but I got to make fun of our video editors. A double victory!

 

My dream job.  Hell, I'd do it for free. 

 

Wait, I did do it for free.

 

I read this entire thread in one day, so I can't keep everybody straight.  Are you easier on local haircasters because of your experience?  I watched a few behind-the-scenes shows about local news, and since then I've been much more forgiving about the inadvertently hilarious or cringe-worthy things they do.  So, for example, I called a moratorium on saying, "Yoo hoo, over here," when they look at the wrong camera.  That fruit is just hanging too low, even for me.

 

But when they really stumble, I actually kind of feel for them.  Unless it's something The Soup deems heinous enough to include among their clips, usually from bigger markets.  Then the gloves are off.

[legaleagle53]

...and if the likes of urban dictionary won't have it, I shant either.   (Microsoft wanted to correct the hell outta shant, but left *outta* alone.  I giggled)

.

 

That's because it's "shan't."

[Aquarius]

That's because it's "shan't."

 

The contraction of "shall not."

[ZaldamoWilder]

lol, I stand corrected.   See how your spell check feels about cant and wont (because mine thought it was fine) lol. 

[Portia]

lol, I stand corrected.   See how your spell check feels about cant and wont (because mine thought it was fine) lol. 

That's because cant and wont are both words.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

That's because cant and wont are both words.

 

That reminds me. If you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, can you be just.....whelmed?

[BetterButter]

 

If you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, can you be just.....whelmed?

I think you can in Europe.

[Ohwell]

If you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, can you be just.....whelmed?

Well, by golly, I just found the word "whelm" in the dictionary, so I guess you can be whelmed.

[Sandman87]

I don't think I've mentioned it here before, but the use of "quality" as an adjective makes me want to hurt someone. Yet another mangling of the language by marketing twits which is gaining acceptance. "We sell quality cars!" is like saying "We sell taste food!"

 

 

Are you easier on local haircasters because of your experience?  I watched a few behind-the-scenes shows about local news, and since then I've been much more forgiving about the inadvertently hilarious or cringe-worthy things they do.  So, for example, I called a moratorium on saying, "Yoo hoo, over here," when they look at the wrong camera.  That fruit is just hanging too low, even for me.

 

But when they really stumble, I actually kind of feel for them.  Unless it's something The Soup deems heinous enough to include among their clips, usually from bigger markets.  Then the gloves are off.

Firstly: I'm adding "haircasters" to my vocabulary right now.

 

Secondly: Hell no. I've been behind the scenes often enough to see the difference between a professional and a harebrained ninnyhammer. Professionalism is purely a function of attitude and competence, and I've seen plenty of examples of excellent jobs being done under impossible conditions. The only time I cut anyone some slack is when they're a newbie or when someone else is doing the screwing-up.

 

 

That reminds me. If you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, can you be just.....whelmed?

According to my Webster's Unabridged (11+ pounds of pure grammatical goodness), "whelmed" can mean:

1) Cover, submerge, or engulf.

2) Crush, ruin, or destroy.

[shapeshifter]

Tonight one of the guests on PBS Newshour referred to tough competition between high-tech companies by saying "...it's a doggy dog world." No, it's a dog eat dog world, unless Google and Apple are selling adorable puppies now....

This made me LOL, so I just have to know: Did the captioning read "doggy dog world," or did it just sound like that's what was said? Some people drop hard consonants at the ends of words.

[ZaldamoWilder]

That's because cant and wont are both words.

Agreed but my point was there was no autocorrection to cant and wont (apostophe omission intentional) but there was to shant, when all are words/contractions. Do appreciate y'all staying on top of things though ;-) (no snark).

[Bastet]

Do you mean it added the apostrophe to "shant" but not to "cant" and "wont"?  That would make sense, because while cant and can't are both words, as are wont and won't, only shan't is a word; there is no word shant.

[ToxicUnicorn]

According to my Webster's Unabridged (11+ pounds of pure grammatical goodness), "whelmed" can mean:

1) Cover, submerge, or engulf.

2) Crush, ruin, or destroy.

Oh, dear.  I'm not sure I can take that.  Of course, my nerves are already frayed by having heard "impassioning" the other day.  That one had me reaching for my Big Bottle of Antacids.

 

On the positive side, quite a few coaches on The Voice are well-spoken.  Shakira, especially, used consistently correct grammar.  I also enjoy Blake Shelton.  When he throws in colloquialisms, he seems to do it with a wink and a nod toward correct English.  Adam usually makes a good effort.  CeeLo used to mess up, occasionally, but he also seemed to try.  

[Sandman87]

Oh, dear.  I'm not sure I can take that.  Of course, my nerves are already frayed by having heard "impassioning" the other day.  That one had me reaching for my Big Bottle of Antacids.

Sounds as if you've been thoroughly whelmed by it all.

[LADreamr]

 

 

According to my Webster's Unabridged (11+ pounds of pure grammatical goodness), "whelmed" can mean:

1) Cover, submerge, or engulf.

2) Crush, ruin, or destroy.

 

Yikes.  They both sound overwhelming.

[Wings]

This is barely in this category but the overuse of words, dilute the meaning, or change the definition altogether. 

 

I am not religious (gross understatement) and loathe hearing "I am blessed" en lieu of lucky, fortunate, good creator for myself or worked for this.  Sacred is now used for every damn thing including a bed or morning coffee time!  

 

It has been said people who swear a lot lack vocabulary.  Now lets find some alternatives for these you fuck heads.  

Edited October 26, 2014 by wings707

[Ohwell]

I have to admit that I do get annoyed with the "I'm blessed" line when I casually ask someone how they're doing.  All I'm expecting to hear is "Fine, how about you?" (even if you're not) and then go on about business.

 

However, I don't mind "bless you" when someone sneezes because that's just something mindless  and expected for someone to say to another.  I don't see it as a big deal at all.  The only issue I have is when someone sneezes multiple times and you wonder how many times you should say "bless you."    My limit is twice. :)

[Wings]

I have to admit that I do get annoyed with the "I'm blessed" line when I casually ask someone how they're doing.  All I'm expecting to hear is "Fine, how about you?" (even if you're not) and then go on about business.

 

However, I don't mind "bless you" when someone sneezes because that's just something mindless  and expected for someone to say to another.  I don't see it as a big deal at all.  The only issue I have is when someone sneezes multiple times and you wonder how many times you should say "bless you."    My limit is twice. :)

 

If you must say it, once is plenty.  As I have said, when someone sneezes I say, "stop it!"   :>)

[Cobalt Stargazer]

It has been said people who swear a lot lack vocabulary.  Now lets find some alternatives for these you fuck heads.  

 

In the movie Burn After Reading (see it if you haven't) , John Malkovich and Brad Pitt both use the word 'fuck' in various forms all through the film. John's character says it primarily to display his anger/aggravation, and Brad's because he's too dense to know any other way to express himself.

[Wings]

I will put that on my movie list, thanks.  

[Ohwell]

I saw Burn After Reading and, while I remember the swearing, the thing I remember most is the look on Brad Pitt's face when he's hiding in the closet and they guy opens the closet door to kill him.  Hilarious.   

[potatoradio]

Oh, thanks, Mucinex, for trying to get cutesy with shortened sentences. "Take Mucinex at the first sign of sick." See, I've only seen 'sick' used like that in books from really ye olde fashioned times when vomit was occasionally referred to as "her sick." I don't think I take Mucinex when I puke, so you're not only being annoying with improper grammar, you're also giving me bad medical advice.

 

 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I saw Burn After Reading and, while I remember the swearing, the thing I remember most is the look on Brad Pitt's face when he's hiding in the closet and they guy opens the closet door to kill him.  Hilarious.   

 

"Oh, my fuck. I killed a fucking spook. What the fuck are you doing, you motherfucker?!"

[ABay]

I have a friend who answers "I'm blessed" when asked "how are you?". But then she asks "how are you?" so although it was disconcerting the first time, Ive become used to it as a form of "fine, thanks." Saying grace before eating is a little weirder to me, but she doesn't make a big deal of it and it's silent, so it's not a holier-than-thou thing. Live and let live.

[Ohwell]

Unfortunately, I have some relatives/friends who, when they say "I'm blessed," have a look on their faces that says "And you're not!"  That's what bugs me.

"Oh, my fuck. I killed a fucking spook. What the fuck are you doing, you motherfucker?!"

Brad Pitt's eyes--OMFG!

[Shannon L.]

I just heard a sports broadcaster say "That point's mute". 

 

Burn After Reading is one of the only Coen brothers' movie that I liked. 

[Sandman87]

"Oh, my fuck. I killed a fucking spook. What the fuck are you doing, you motherfucker?!"

It's like a bad-attitude version of The Smurfs: "Oh, my smurf. I killed a smurfing spook. What the smurf are you doing, you mothersmurfer?!"