[pet peeve/rant] Grammar, people!!

[Mouseferatu]

In a word... AAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

It's a messageboard. I don't expect formal writing. I don't use formal writing. I expect, tolerate, and make mistakes. But if you're going to write in English, and it's your native language, for Pete's sake, try to get it mostly right!!

"Should have," not "should of." If you think you've heard people say "should of," what you've actually heard is "should've." It is never grammatically correct to say "should of." Never.

"Less" vs. "fewer." These are not interchangable, people. If you can count them, you have fewer. If you can't, you have less. I have less water. I have fewer cups of water. I'm spending less money (as money is not a unit of measurement), but fewer dollars. This is the line for 12 items or fewer.

There is no such word as "gots."

I have multiple dice. I have one die. You cannot use "dice" as a singular; it's a plural word.

I'm sure there are others, but that'll do for now.

Rant--tentatively--over.

 

[Crothian]

Do you at least feel better now?

 

[Piratecat]

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

 

[Mouseferatu]

lol

I do feel better now, actually. I just have to empty the grammar bladder every so often.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Otherhow folks'll got fewer respect for you're patience.

Here, kitty, kitty. I have a nice sock-full of quarters I'd like to show you. Multiple times.

 

[The Other Librarian]

I'll support your rant, but only up to a point. You're right, this is not formal writing, and I suspect many of the posts would qualify as brainstorming/rough first draft type stuff, where the focus should, rightly, be on getting raw ideas down. I make gadzoodles of grammar gaffes on here, and I fix them sometimes, if they bother me or make my meaning unclear.

Also, language changes. It only bugs me when syntactical rules are violated, as in your "should of" case. The other examples you cite depend more on word meaning, which is notoriously protean. As far as I'm concerned, "gots" is a word. If you can use it in a sentence, and it conveys an agreed meaning, it's up for grabs. Not that I suggest using it on a resume or cover letter, but fine for informal jibber-jabber.

The "die/dice" example, I think, is pretty much a lost cause. English has always tended to eliminate inflections in favor of word order and context. And dialects will always play with the "official" rules, which is great. All encompassing media is ironing out a lot of those differences, but I'm hoping it never crushes variation and dialect completely. If I have to put up with colloquialisms to preserve growth and variety, so be it.

 

[GlassJaw]

The misused words that annoy me the most are "your" and "you're". I can't tell you how much those irk me.

Your = possessive. Ex. Are these your books?
You're = you are. Ex. You're really cool.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Oh, I know--and accept, albeit grudgingly --that language changes. But I think those changes can sometimes be harmful to communication.

I'll admit, "gots" just bothers me because it sounds wrong. 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.

If it makes you feel any better, I've already dropped some of my Grammar Battles because I decided they were lost causes, or didn't really have a useful distinction. 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, except when I'm feeling really contrary.

 

[Crothian]

except when I'm feeling really contrary.

This isn't you feeling really contrary??

 

[Chorn]

I feel the need to echo Mouseferatu's rant with a <AOL>me too</AOL>. I must add to it my hatred of people who can't be arsed to use proper capitalization and punctuation. Writing in all lowercase with sentences strung together haphazardly with ellipses shows disrespect for the reader by making it hard to read. If you can't be bothered to communicate your thoughts properly, why should I waste my energy trying to decipher them?


P.S. My grammar is hardly the best so I don't have too much of a leg to stand on in criticisizing, but at least I try to obey basic rules on grammar if I can remember them. Plus, I hit up Dictionary.com if I don't remember how to spell a word so I can spelz it reel gud!

P.P.S. My hate of bad grmamer know no limit. Someone's bound to say it sooner or later.