Does it bother you?

[musicman]

Bach iz korrect. Ya always put tha periud after tha qutashun marcs if it ain't a complte senense i hate peepul that aint gooder spelers and don no how to use punkuashun

An i agre wit bregon that itz ok to korrekt a speler tha kant reely spel and punkshoeate

omelette that slide.

[ricco67]

The thing about the english language is that it's been evolving from the very first words were created hundreds of years ago.

A book that I happen to be reading is basically a biography of the language called "An Adventure In English" by Melvyn Bragg. It's quite fascinating actually.

[Subdude]

I just read one called "Empire of the Word," which is about the development of a number of major languages. Really interesting.

[escapee]

Thanks for the tips on the books. Etymology is facinating. I enjoy watching the language evolve. Unfortunately, it seems to be DEvolving at a rapid rate. Guess I'm just a diehard wordsmith.

[RedScare]

The winners of the Bulwer-Lytton Literary Parody contest were announced recently.

Bulwer-Lytton

While some may think the winner resembles some posts on this forum...

"Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you've had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean."

...I think the runner-up is more appropriate.

The 2006 runner-up, Stuart Vasepuru from Scotland, played with one of the most famous pieces of dialogue from the Clint Eastwood movie Dirty Harry.

"I know what you're thinking, punk," hissed Wordy Harry to his new editor, "you're thinking, 'Did he use six superfluous adjectives or only five?' -- and to tell the truth, I forgot myself in all this excitement; but being as this is English, the most powerful language in the world, whose subtle nuances will blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?"

[escapee]

The winners of the Bulwer-Lytton Literary Parody contest were announced recently.

Bulwer-Lytton

While some may think the winner resembles some posts on this forum...

...I think the runner-up is more appropriate.

What a hoot! I can see that I didn't win over many converts to the "periods and commas belong INSIDE quotation marks" rule. This site is replete with misusages. Oh, well. You know what they say: "You can lead a whore to water, but you can't make her take a bath."

[bachanon]

[TheNiche]

What a hoot! I can see that I didn't win over many converts to the "periods and commas belong INSIDE quotation marks" rule. This site is replete with misusages. Oh, well. You know what they say: "You can lead a whore to water, but you can't make her take a bath."

Question to a grammar expert:

If you're quoting a phrase that ends in a question mark but are making a statement with the same sentence, do you need to use both a question mark and a period in the same sentence?

[Montrose1100]

I use to ride on the old 'English is a second language' excuse, but it does not even apply anymore. As common language knowledge goes, it would be easy to assume my words should be more precise, old world, and maybe too "formal" for an internet forum. (Being German, that is).

I hope my typing skills become better with time and learning; looking back at old posts I have made as early as 5 months ago, I feel that I have embarrased myself and reputation [permanently] among you all for the extremely poor way of typing and overall structure of my wording. :closedeyes: I have probibly pointed this out on other topics similar to this, probibly losing its meaning.

I know my typing etiquette is only slightly improved, but atleast I can say I'm trying. Some people just don't care and even type poorly on purpose. Having high standards for proper grammar is not something bad. I'm glad that there are still people left in this 'NuAge' world that still care about the beauty and elegance of proper english. Discussing this reminds me of that American Modernist Author. Emerson? I believe that was his name. Anyways, I hope I have not lost total 'credibility' as a forumer by some of you, simply because of the grammar you see here. Slightly -hypocritically- speaking against my statement about people still caring for english, I hope you don't judge me as a whole because of the words you read (or choose not to because of previous postings). If so, What can I say? Your loss? Yes proper wording and such is important, but is it so hard to see threw errors for the quality of the post? Is it wrong to judge so quickly on the grammar, then simply dismissing the entire 'credibility' of a person on just that?

Yes, it is wrong. It's good to be concerned but can you not see past your harsh judgements if not just for this informal & friendly website, but entirely? How obsurd does it seem if I blew off everyone that dressed in tacky atire? Do you find it fair to completely go against any previous praises you had for this 'author'? Have you read "Flowers for Algernon"? How do you feel about the poor grammar used to emphasize his condition? How do you feel in general about any story or novel using poor grammar to show the reader how the character sees, thinks, and feels?

[escapee]

Question to a grammar expert:

If you're quoting a phrase that ends in a question mark but are making a statement with the same sentence, do you need to use both a question mark and a period in the same sentence?

First of all, thanks for the vote of confidence. I am not a grammar expert -- I love words and believe that accurate communication is really important. As to your question, I found this interesting link http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotation.htm

Check out "DOUBLE PUNCTUATION WITH QUOTATIONS."

[escapee]

I use to ride on the old 'English is a second language' excuse, but it does not even apply anymore. As common language knowledge goes, it would be easy to assume my words should be more precise, old world, and maybe too "formal" for an internet forum. (Being German, that is).

I hope my typing skills become better with time and learning; looking back at old posts I have made as early as 5 months ago, I feel that I have embarrased myself and reputation [permanently] among you all for the extremely poor way of typing and overall structure of my wording. :closedeyes: I have probibly pointed this out on other topics similar to this, probibly losing its meaning.

I know my typing etiquette is only slightly improved, but atleast I can say I'm trying. Some people just don't care and even type poorly on purpose. Having high standards for proper grammar is not something bad. I'm glad that there are still people left in this 'NuAge' world that still care about the beauty and elegance of proper english. Discussing this reminds me of that American Modernist Author. Emerson? I believe that was his name. Anyways, I hope I have not lost total 'credibility' as a forumer by some of you, simply because of the grammar you see here. Slightly -hypocritically- speaking against my statement about people still caring for english, I hope you don't judge me as a whole because of the words you read (or choose not to because of previous postings). If so, What can I say? Your loss? Yes proper wording and such is important, but is it so hard to see threw errors for the quality of the post? Is it wrong to judge so quickly on the grammar, then simply dismissing the entire 'credibility' of a person on just that?

Yes, it is wrong. It's good to be concerned but can you not see past your harsh judgements if not just for this informal & friendly website, but entirely? How obsurd does it seem if I blew off everyone that dressed in tacky atire? Do you find it fair to completely go against any previous praises you had for this 'author'? Have you read "Flowers for Algernon"? How do you feel about the poor grammar used to emphasize his condition? How do you feel in general about any story or novel using poor grammar to show the reader how the character sees, thinks, and feels?

As Shakespeare said, "Me thinks thou dost protest too much." My original post was about people who throw around their adamant opinions while using poor grammar, puntuation, and spelling. And I'm not talking about the occasional mistake or typo. It seems that some people enjoy butchering the language and don't care to learn and/or change. I just hate to see our language deteriorate at such a rapid rate because of apathy or misplaced egotism. I realize that languages evolve. But ours seems to be DEvolving.

I don't have a problem with authors using poor grammar for literary effect. And I don't blow off everyone who uses poor grammar. I live in NE Texas now. If I were that much of a snob, there would be nobody to talk to up here. (or I could be a real snob and say, "Nobody with whom to talk.")

I appreciate it when people point out my grammar errors. I'm willing to learn. Perhaps you might enjoy learning that but is it so hard to see threw errors for the quality of the post? should be "through," not "threw." If English were my second language, I would be even more interested in learning to speak/write precisely.

I never intended to offend anyone with my post. Just curious to see if there were other likeminded people out there who actually care about the English language.

Edited July 12, 2006 by escapee

[ssullivan]

I'm pretty picky about grammar. I can't help it. Mom was an English teacher, so we only heard standard English spoken around the house. When my sisters and I came home with non-standard expressions heard at school from other kids, they were quickly corrected. It's not that Mom was being mean about it; she just wanted us to not grow up sounding like uneducated hicks.

As for e-mails and online forums, I still prefer to write in complete sentences with proper spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. I don't profess to be a grammar expert, and I occasionally make my own errors. But I do try to be as correct as possible, use the spell check function in my Internet browser before completing a post and read over what I've written before posting it.

It does bother me when other people post things that are almost unintelligible because the grammar, spelling, and punctuation are so bad. Just taking a few seconds to slowly read your post aloud before submitting it should make it apparent if it's easy for your readers to comprehend what you've written.

Writing skills are still highly valued in much of the professional world. I do a lot of writing in my job, and most of it is for people who work in higher education who are very intolerant of non-standard English. It's easier for me to have one style that's correct, than to get lazy in some places like this forum. I know that in my company when we see a r

[dbigtex56]

Oh, well. You know what they say: "You can lead a whore to water, but you can't make her take a bath."

Might you be thinking of the famous Dorothy Parker quote?

While playing a word game, she was challenged to use the word 'horticulture' in a sentence. After a moment she said, "You can lead a horticulture, but you cannot make her think".

But I like the bathing version, too. Reminds me of that girl in the Beach Boys song:

She's my little douche, Scoop.

You don't know what I've got.

(And, grammatically speaking, shouldn't it be "You don't know what I have"?)

[sevfiv]

She's my little douche, Scoop.

You don't know what I've got.

(And, grammatically speaking, shouldn't it be "You don't know what I have"?)

well, i do suppose it is better than being "wrapped up like a douche"

(i don't care how many runners are there in the night!)

Edited July 13, 2006 by sevfiv