[pet peeve/rant] Grammar, people!!

[talinthas]

Less caffeine, Ari. Less caffeine. Otherhow folks'll got fewer respect for you're patience.

argh! you're killing the grammarian within me, pkitty! trying to parse this just broke me =)

 

[Henry]

Boy, you GOTS ta feel better now, with fewer stress to deal with. But, if it makes you feel any better, i'll be more better careful with my grammer and spellingosity, from now on.

I've had those days, myself.

 

[The Other Librarian]

But I believe there's a useful distinction between "less" and "fewer," and between "die" and "dice," so I'm going to keep fighting those.

I see your point on less/fewer, but dice/die is so arbitrary to begin with. Why not dice/douse, as in mice/mouse, or lice/louse?

 

[Hypersmurf]

It is never grammatically correct to say "should of." Never.

Everyone should of course be aware of this already...

-Hyp.

 

[EricNoah]

I've been reading and thinking a lot about the line between written and spoken language, and how technology allows (or sometimes forces) us to blur that line. I think some of this isn't (just) sheer ignorance -- it's due to the fact that some posters treat a post "more like speech", where spontaneity and speed are valued more than in writing.

And these same people may not feel a strong need to revise/edit -- again, just as in speech where "once it's out of your mouth there's no fixing it." Each person will place a different value on the "correctness" of their message board posts depending on how much they think of EN World as a "conversation" vs. a written archive. If it IS a conversation, then what has already been said is in the past and needs no correction. And if it IS a conversation, getting the idea out of your head and into a post quickly while the idea is still fresh is more important than written correctness.

 

[Piratecat]

The thing is, Eric, that it's a conversation where we're substituting grammar and spelling (and smilies) for the normal nuances of vocal tone and expression. While we're online we don't have anything to represent us other than the quality of our ideas and the means in which we express them. It's an interesting way to judge people, because it means that some people come across very differently online than they do in real life.

I used to be a real hard-nose about the difference between "hung" (a picture) and "hanged" (a condemned criminal), for instance, but I've more or less abandoned that one.

My Dad always said that a man is hung and a criminal is hanged. It was a subtlety that I didn't understand until I was into my teens.

 

[talinthas]

Exactly, eric. People like to cite IMs and message boards and chats in computer games as evidence of the decline of language, but they fail to note the context of these messages. when people are talking, they aren't concerned as much with the cleanliness of their conversation, so much as quickly conveying their point. When people write articles, or posts that are meant to explain ideas or whatever, there is a lot more care put into them.

it's an interesting phenomenon of communication.

 

[DaveStebbins]

Everyone should of course be aware of this already...

You forgot the commas after 'should' and 'course.'

 

[MrFilthyIke]

This whole discussion makes me want to AXE y'all a question...

 

[EricNoah]

This whole discussion makes me want to AXE y'all a question...

That was my favorite running gag from the Futurama TV show... any time Leela says, "Can I axe you something?" I just giggle.