Ahhhhhh, stop typing that!

[Simia Saturnalia]

Wow. That's just...

I cannot begin to express how wrong I feel that is. Rules of grammar and spelling and punctuation exist for a reason*. I'm really glad I wasn't in that class; I'd have been kicked out for arguing with the professor.

*(And even if they didn't have a reason, they still exist. Anything that breaks those rules is incorrect. The fact that rules may eventually shift and change in the future doesn't alter the fact that something is wrong now.)

Dr. Steven Pinker, author of The Language Instinct, would disagree with you.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Dr. Steven Pinker, author of The Language Instinct, would disagree with you.

I'm sure he would. I'm sure there are others who would, as well.

Doesn't mean I think they're any less wrong, and there are plenty of linguistic scholars and professors who agree with me, too.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It occurred to me while watching "Mail Call" that "Damn" has become an infix in the English language as well, evidenced in his common exhortation "Out-damn-standing!"

 

[Cameron]

After reading this I got to thinking about what words annoy me. I came up with "Pwnd", "n00b" and "1337 or leet" as my most annoying words. Anyone else?

Don't know if it came up already. My vote is for "munchkin". I feel like making up a word just to describe those that like using the word "munchkin" every time I see or hear someone use that word.

 

[Thunderfoot]

It occurred to me while watching "Mail Call" that "Damn" has become an infix in the English language as well, evidenced in his common exhortation "Out-damn-standing!"

Nah, that's just a military thing. He would drop the F-Bomb, but the censors would ... um ... crap.

Doonesbury (the comic) once had a revelatory statement about language in the military when the National Guard troops were called up for the 1st Gulf War.

Unnamed Officer - This is ridiculous, I haven't been on active duty for 15 years, an I'm supposed to lead a battalion?
Doonesbury - Don't worry sir, it will all come back. They didn't make you a Lt. Col for no reason.
Officer - I don't even remember how to use the "F" word.
DB - It's easy, just use it like a comma.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Oh, I know it originated in the military, but I've heard RW uses of Damn as an infix by civilians as well.

It may not have quite the broad usage as "F" but even that word didn't start off as an infix.

As for the "F" word, there is a hilarious bit of legal argument out there dealing with it. I used to have a copy of it, but lost it back in 1991- searching for it on the Internet has not revealed it, but has shown me some sites that have obviously paraphrased it, including sites that post it as a joke (typically containing the phrase "With all of these multi-purpose applications, how can anyone be offended when you use the word?")

Essentially, a guy got fired for using the word, allegedly for flinging it at a superior in anger.

His attorney at the hearing tried to make it seem as if the guy had used it one way and the boss had taken it another, and in the process, told the history of the word and its flexibility, denoting how many ways it could be used, providing conversational exemplars for each part of speech.

Abso-damn-lutely stupendously funny.