Why Grammar Matters: A Place To Discuss Matters Of Grammar

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I don't know if this makes it any less depressing, but consider that the FaceBook poster was aware that correctly spelling a word of 8 or more letters was beyond that poster's abilities and so used a variation of phonetics to convey a thought. "A" for effort? —especially if the poster's message was uplifting and/or informative. 

We used to call this stupid.

[shapeshifter]

11 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

We used to call this stupid.

Yes, "used to." I had a college classmate in the 1990s who was a dyslexic woman who went to college after she learned to read with her children. She needed to listen to books-on-tape, but her intelligence was higher than most.

[SrOfficial]

21 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

We used to call this stupid.

We still do.

Sometimes "auto correct" will change something, but I'm sure it's not the case in most instances.  One should always check what one posts!

[Milburn Stone]

Nothing to see here.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Milburn Stone

[Browncoat]

These Weather Channel people are killing me.  One just said that the residents "have fleed" the rising flood waters.

[Annber03]

It's not really a grammar thing, but your post about the Weather Channel reminds me that a month or so back when we were getting severe storms here in Iowa, while talking about one of our counties being under a warning, the guy talking completely mispronounced the word "Winnebago". He said "Kossuth" wrong, too.  

[Browncoat]

Oh, yeah, @Annber03, they can never pronounce our local place names correctly. 

[Pallas]

On 9/17/2018 at 3:05 PM, Browncoat said:

These Weather Channel people are killing me.  One just said that the residents "have fleed" the rising flood waters.

That reporter just ped on his foot.

[GaT]

On 9/14/2018 at 5:58 PM, SrOfficial said:

Somebody on FB just referred to a handy cap parking spot.

I've been sitting here thinking "wth is a handy cap?" Since this forum is about bad grammar, I got that it was wrong, but I really couldn't figure out what this could possibly be. Until I kept reading the comments. Then I suddenly thought "oh. OH" & laughed my ass off.

On 9/16/2018 at 6:23 AM, SrOfficial said:

I think it's a matter of not being aware (or flunking Spelling).  They see sign saying "handicapped" parking, but it doesn't register.  I have a whole list of these types of things.  Examples:  pedal stool (pedestal) , lued behaviour, fame hoar, in vein (in vain), knit-pick.  Too depressing.

My favorite was when I kept seeing people typing "wallah" or "walla" on comments. I had no idea what that meant until somebody explained to me that the word they thought they were using was "voila". 

[SrOfficial]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

My favorite was when I kept seeing people typing "wallah" or "walla" on comments. I had no idea what that meant until somebody explained to me that the word they thought they were using was "voila". 

Oh, good lord!  

I have a new one -  "physical" for "fiscal" - sheesh!

Edited September 18, 2018 by SrOfficial

[shapeshifter]

31 minutes ago, SrOfficial said:

Oh, good lord!  

I have a new one -  "physical" for "fiscal" - sheesh!

Have you seen that? I would think spelling challenged typists would begin with an "f" rather than "ph" and let predictive text do the rest.
It seems the opposite would be more likely.

[SrOfficial]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Have you seen that? I would think spelling challenged typists would begin with an "f" rather than "ph" and let predictive text do the rest.
It seems the opposite would be more likely.

I have no idea how they arrived at this spelling.  I think, perhaps, they are not familiar with the word, "fiscal" & actually think the words sound the same.

[Brookside]

On 9/16/2018 at 6:34 AM, shapeshifter said:

But I'm really not sure what was intended with "It's an canny." 

• Its canny
• Its uncanny

Even the spelling-handicapped poster above who typed "handy cap" at least made clear what was intended.

Not sure if you're being ironic here, but I think you want "It's canny" and "It's uncanny".

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Brookside said:

Not sure if you're being ironic here, but I think you want "It's canny" and "It's uncanny".

Oops. Sure. That's what I meant. 

[meep.meep]

See how hard it is!

Sunday's episode of Fear the Walking Dead featured a grammar nazi.  She pointed out a further/farther discrepancy right before killing someone.  Folks, you don't have to go that far!

[Haleth]

Poor grammar will be the start of the zombie apocalypse.

[Milburn Stone]

23 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Poor grammar will be the start of the zombie apocalypse.

"Him and me eat brains."

[Haleth]

Literally.

[Quof]

19 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

"Him and me eat brains."

"Me and him"

[Browncoat]

"Him and myself"

[NutMeg]

Yesterday, I got very mad for a minute, before I realised there was no reason to - or so I hoped.

Background: while checking my account, I noticed that a client who usually pays me on time hadn't. I send a mail asking if they had given transfer instructions.

The reply I got was "Not sure I'll do it if it hasn't been done yet. I'm currently away in [...] so have limited Internet access."

So there I was, mad that the guy wouldn't make the payment until he was back. Until I thought, well that's not how that usually works with them, maybe he just forgot a comma.

And lo and behold, early this morning he sent another payment email saying he had made the payment.

People, commas matter!

Edited September 21, 2018 by NutMeg
slip on the tongue, sorry :)

[Brookside]

It drives me mad when people use possessives wrongly, as in:

"He was a friend of my son's," or, "I got it from a cousin of my dad's."

Son's what?  Dad's what?

[topanga]

On 9/21/2018 at 10:48 PM, Brookside said:

It drives me mad when people use possessives wrongly, as in:

"He was a friend of my son's," or, "I got it from a cousin of my dad's."

Son's what?  Dad's what?

LOL. I’ve made that mistake a few times. 

 

I looked up the word nonplussed because I had a feeling I was about to use it I correctly in a post (I was). 

And this is the definition I found:

 

non·plussed

nänˈpləst/

adjective

1. (of a person) surprised and confused so much that they are unsure how to react.

"he would be completely nonplussed and embarrassed at the idea"

2. INFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN

(of a person) not disconcerted; unperturbed.

 

So we NORTH AMERICANS misuse this word so often that there is now an informal definition made just for us? How embarrassing. 

[Bastet]

18 minutes ago, topanga said:

So we NORTH AMERICANS misuse this word so often that there is now an informal definition made just for us? How embarrassing.

I don't remember the last time I heard it used correctly; it seems as if every single time I hear/see it, it's being used to mean the exact opposite of what the word actually means.  That informal definition has taken complete hold here.

[shapeshifter]

24 minutes ago, Bastet said:

46 minutes ago, topanga said:

So we NORTH AMERICANS misuse this word so often that there is now an informal definition made just for us? How embarrassing.

I don't remember the last time I heard it used correctly; it seems as if every single time I hear/see it, it's being used to mean the exact opposite of what the word actually means.  That informal definition has taken complete hold here

I work in academia near Chicago and do not recall ever hearing it misused. Maybe its regionalism is more specific than just North America? We have a lot of first-generation, scholarship students from nearby areas who use non-standard English, but that is not one of the word usage variations that I have heard.
Anyway, I just used it correctly on the Manifest board—or perhaps I should say I used it with its original definition.

Edited October 7, 2018 by shapeshifter

[Milburn Stone]

52 minutes ago, topanga said:

So we NORTH AMERICANS misuse this word so often that there is now an informal definition made just for us? How embarrassing. 

Not only is our informal definition made just for us--it's the complete opposite of correct!

[Browncoat]

One of our local news readers just said that Hurricane Michael "ann-hill-iated" parts of Florida.  I'm pretty sure she meant "annihilated".

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

One of our local news readers just said that Hurricane Michael "ann-hill-iated" parts of Florida.  I'm pretty sure she meant "annihilated".

Maybe it was a clever ploy to echo the destruction of the hurricane with a destruction of the English language.

[rur]

As soon as I saw this cartoon, I knew the audience that would appreciate it. I think this should show up. https://www.facebook.com/ScottMetzgerCartoons/photos/a.1570557416512854/2187220228179900/?type=3&theater

Edited October 15, 2018 by rur

[Anela]

On 9/16/2018 at 12:06 PM, SrOfficial said:

We still do.

Sometimes "auto correct" will change something, but I'm sure it's not the case in most instances.  One should always check what one posts!

Auto-correct does that to me, a lot. It happens more than you might think. 

On 9/21/2018 at 10:48 PM, Brookside said:

It drives me mad when people use possessives wrongly, as in:

"He was a friend of my son's," or, "I got it from a cousin of my dad's."

Son's what?  Dad's what?

I’m sure that I’m guilty of this one. 

My mother went to grammar school, and was always on at me to pronounce “schedule” properly. She started with “shh” I say it starting with “sc” with a hard “c”. 

One of the few things that drives me batty, is on the walking dead, when they say, “I got bit”. It’s BITTEN. B I T T E N. “I was bitten.” 

[SVNBob]

5 minutes ago, Anela said:

My mother went to grammar school, and was always on at me to pronounce “schedule” properly. She started with “shh” I say it starting with “sc” with a hard “c”. 

Technically both are correct.  However, the former is more prevalent in British pronunciation, whereas the latter is more American.  (Not sure about Australian.)

[Anela]

On 8/24/2018 at 10:31 PM, shapeshifter said:

The use of the obective form after the comparison word "than" seems obviously wrong to me if I tack on an additional verb, as in: 

   My sister is older than I am. [correct]

   My sister is older than me am. [wrong]

But I am increasingly hearing an object used rather than a subject by reporters on NPR and now see it used by a New York Times writer who "has been a columnist for The Times since 2009. . . . and has served as a foreign correspondent and foreign editor," here near the end of his piece:

   "The problem is way deeper than him."

Shouldn't it be: "The problem is way deeper than he [is]"?

Or is it acceptable to use "him" for some grammatical reason unknown to me?

I also use the Oxford comma for clarity.

My problem there, would be with a journalist saying “way deeper” and I don’t know why. It just doesn’t sound right, coming from a professional. 

7 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

Technically both are correct.  However, the former is more prevalent in British pronunciation, whereas the latter is more American.  (Not sure about Australian.)

Thank you. :) Mum was English, and most of my schooling happened over there.  My dad is American, and we moved back here when I was a teenager.  

7 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

Edited October 15, 2018 by Anela

[Joe]

2 hours ago, SVNBob said:

Technically both are correct.  However, the former is more prevalent in British pronunciation, whereas the latter is more American.  (Not sure about Australian.)

Sadly, Oz is more prone to Americanisation these days. I always use Britsh. Not because I'm a hardcore Anglophile or loyal to the queen or anything, but because I have a strongstubborn and curmudgeonly streak. If the Yank version is rising, I'm going to use the Pom version out of spite.

[Brookside]

From the Grauniad:  "I grew up in a stable, working-class home in Hull in the 1980s, but I always craved excitement.  That's probably why, aged 18, I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma."

Nothing like growing up in a stable in Hull and then moving to Tulsa for the stimulation.

[Milburn Stone]

21 minutes ago, Brookside said:

From the Grauniad:  "I grew up in a stable, working-class home in Hull in the 1980s, but I always craved excitement.  That's probably why, aged 18, I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma."

Nothing like growing up in a stable in Hull and then moving to Tulsa for the stimulation.

That comma after "stable" does create some unintentional misdirection.

But I don't think the sentence is wrong, per se. It would be wrong if the article "a" was inserted before "working-class"--"I grew up in a stable, a working-class home in Hull..." (Unless the writer really were born in a stable.) As written, however, it's simply a pair of adjectives which don't need to be separated by a comma but which can just about permissibly be separated by a comma. (Much like the following: "I grew up in a large, ungainly house...")

The writer should have looked at the effect that comma created--even if technically not wrong--and then not done that.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Milburn Stone

[shapeshifter]

10 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

31 minutes ago, Brookside said:

From the Grauniad:  "I grew up in a stable, working-class home in Hull in the 1980s, but I always craved excitement.  That's probably why, aged 18, I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma."

Nothing like growing up in a stable in Hull and then moving to Tulsa for the stimulation.

That comma after "stable" does create some unintentional misdirection.

But I don't think the sentence is wrong, per se

I agree that it's not wrong, but thanks, @Brookside, for sharing your interpretation; I needed a good chuckle.

[Brookside]

"Almost thirty years after his mum and dad married Prince William"

Always good to keep weddings in the family.

https://www.heart.co.uk/news/royals/7-of-the-most-beautiful-royal-wedding-dresses-ever/

[Jacqs]

I first found out about this hobby with the youtube correcting people who were saying Trump was literately Hitler rather than *figuratively* Hitler.

[shapeshifter]

Heard by a 9-1-1 operator recently, "A woman is attempting to ride a horse through the Taco Bell drive-though, but the horse is not having it."

[Jacqs]

One i hate is "might of". MIGHT OF?! And yet if you complain, you get called an "ELITIST".

[Milburn Stone]

4 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

One i hate is "might of". MIGHT OF?! And yet if you complain, you get called an "ELITIST".

That's awful when you see it in print. When you hear it spoken, it's not so bad (IMO) because it sounds practically identical to the correct contraction, might've. Only the subtlest of vowel sounds separate them--an "uh" in might of, an "a-as-in-have" in might've. But lots of people pronounce "uh" even when they know full well to write it as might've or might have.

[Brookside]

I'm bothered when people add an unnecessary verb to phrases that already have one, as in "The question is is whether or not to take the bus,"  "My problem is is I hate the IRS."  The other day I heard Michael Caine say something along the lines of "What happened was is that I decided to retire."  Made my skin crawl.

[shapeshifter]

When did "honestly" begin to be used superfluously? 

It doesn't bother me when I hear it, but seeing it typed is annoying.

 

ETA: Apparently I need to get over it, since the OED recognizes it:

Quote

 4. Used parenthetically or as a sentence adverb.

 a. Expressing asseveration or as part of a rhetorical question: to be honest, in all honesty.

1819 London Literary Gaz. 28 Aug. 557/2 Honestly, I am sorry to refuse you.

1873 T. Hardy Pair of Blue Eyes II. v. 79 But I want to, papa. Honestly, I am restless at having been so ignominiously overcome.

1898 G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Professioniii. 204 Honestly, dear Praddy, do you like seeing them together?

1913 E. Ferber Roast Beef Mediumi. 14 ‘Honestly, kid,’ said the voice, ‘I could be crazy about you, if you'd let me.’

1944 J. Joyce Stephen Hero xvii. 56 Well, honestly, isn't he a dreadful-looking artist?

1989 in R. Graef Talking Blues vii. 240 But you get the minority..who are, quite honestly, a bit dim.

2010 R. Thomas On Third Day 434 I'm fine, honestly. I'm just tired.

—or maybe not, since it does seem to be only used conversationally.

Beginning sentences with "Now, . . . " is in the OED too.

Since all of my mother's emphasis on using correct, proper grammar did not in anyway buy me a higher economic station in life (the opposite has occurred), maybe I should try billionaire double speak.

Edited October 25, 2018 by shapeshifter

[Sandman87]

One of the local solar panel installers is running an ad where they announce that they're "giving away a free solar system." I guess that's fine, but the winner will probably need a spaceship to get there.

[shapeshifter]

14 minutes ago, Sandman87 said:

One of the local solar panel installers is running an ad where they announce that they're "giving away a free solar system." I guess that's fine, but the winner will probably need a spaceship to get there.

I was thinking the winner would need a really big backyard.

[legaleagle53]

1 hour ago, Sandman87 said:

One of the local solar panel installers is running an ad where they announce that they're "giving away a free solar system." I guess that's fine, but the winner will probably need a spaceship to get there.

Aren't gifts by definition free?  I've always hated that particular redundancy.  Simply say "They're offering a free" whatever, or "They're giving away a" whatever.  But DON'T say "giving away a free" whatever -- and NEVER call anything a "free gift"!

[ABay]

Aaaargh!!! I'm watching old Inspector Lynley episodes on Britbox and have the closed captioning on. Twice so far-TWICE--the CC has "would of" instead of "would have." There are a lot of other errors which seem to stem from mishearing dialogue (Anna for Helene, for example) but come on! The captioner clearly heard the common contraction for "would have" and honestly thought it's supposed to be "would of"? WTF? How is this person allowed to do this job?

[Jacqs]

Would of and might of seem very "Murdoch tabloid reader".

[Pallas]

On 10/19/2018 at 11:26 PM, shapeshifter said:

Heard by a 9-1-1 operator recently, "A woman is attempting to ride a horse through the Taco Bell drive-though, but the horse is not having it."

This made me laugh, but where is the grammatical error?  At worst it's a pun. "Not having it" -- colloquial for refusing, referring to the drive-through, and "not having it" -- Taco Bell, on the hoof or otherwise. 

[meep.meep]

What's a drive-though ?

Was the 911 operator reporting this on TV?