Grammar police, unite!

[+ purplekow]

I'm scheduled to see Mike Gaite in a couple of weeks. Ugh....now I'm worried if it's "Oooooh, baby! or "Oh, baby! when I'm ready to explode. LOL. As long as he's silently correcting me then I suppose it won't matter much.

He prefers to silently correct you, but when you correct him, the silence turns to a deafening roar. Forcing him to say: "Whom is your Daddy?" over and over again and after each time, asking "Is it a subject or an object? Now try again bad boy" is particularly effective.

[+ purplekow]

We all have our pet peeves. If I spent more than one millisecond letting mine get to me, my head would have exploded a long time ago.

 

Being a member of the "Grammar Police", "PC Police", "Bareback Police" or any other Police that finds it necessary to dictate rules to others sucks the joy of life out of one.

You make getting sucked sound so unpleasant.

[Lookin]

Whilst my grammar is moaning in delight in sotto voce.

 

That was a moo, Honey, not a moan!

[nycguy]

You make getting sucked sound so unpleasant.

 

No, I did not. That was a huge and ridiculous stretch to try to make a joke out of something that wasn't there.

[+ purplekow]

No, I did not. That was a huge and ridiculous stretch to try to make a joke out of something that wasn't there.

Thanks.

[+ Charlie]

my grammar is so bad, I'm sure many users here get irked at me

if its not typos its misspellings or run-on sentences

 

i need a teacher to teach me and then after were finished teach me other things this young boy isn't experienced in

I'll start with where to insert apostrophes, and then we can move on to where to insert other things.

[whipped guy]

Languages evolve for better or worse, and mostly not for the better. Still, it boggles the mind how in everyday and accepted usage it is used incorrectly and even by yours truly!

 

My personal opinion is that if a certain word or usage makes it into the grammar book then it becomes acceptable. However, most common every day usage has not yet made it into any grammar book that I have seen.

 

In contrast, if one compares a book on Italian grammar and usage from the last century there is a marked difference. As an example, years ago it was proper to say "Egli è un bravo giovanotto." He is a fine young man. Now it would be, "Lui è un bravo giovanotto." Lui was and still is the pronoun for him. So in essence nowadays it is proper to say the equivalent of "Him is a fine young man." Consequently every time I hear someone say something such as, "Him and I (or even him and me!) went to the store" it always makes me wonder if and when that will make the grammar books as being acceptable!

 

In any event, it is usually best to be silent regarding the correction of others, unless you are Alex Trebek or Judge Judy!

 

 

 

[Samfoslom]

"Let's eat grandma" vs. "Let's eat, grandma" shows how grammar and punctuation can save lives.

[+ Rickee]

"Let's eat grandma" vs. "Let's eat, grandma" shows how grammar and punctuation can save lives.

That one got me to chuckle damn hard after an otherwise rotten day. Thanks! :)

[amused1]

It makes me cringe inside when people use "who" for "that" and vice versa.

[+ ArVaGuy]

[mike carey]

There would however be 'American dialects of English.'

I was alluding to a meme that had the Queen saying that 'American English' was actually bad English rather than a variant. I agree that there is American English (or Englishes) but I'm not sure that American variants of English are dialects. To me 'dialect' implies a greater variation of vocabulary, grammar and syntax than there is between US and other English usages. Maybe some Louisiana, Appalachian and African American usage would cross my line to being dialect. That said, sometimes linguists use the word for minor regional and social variations. But there are variations in English that go beyond accent. There are several British and US variants of English, as well as Canadian, South African, Indian, Philippine, Australian and New Zealand varieties of English. The English don't own the language any more (if they ever did).

[+ Charlie]

Languages evolve for better or worse, and mostly not for the better. Still, it boggles the mind how in everyday and accepted usage it is used incorrectly and even by yours truly!

 

My personal opinion is that if a certain word or usage makes it into the grammar book then it becomes acceptable. However, most common every day usage has not yet made it into any grammar book that I have seen.

 

In contrast, if one compares a book on Italian grammar and usage from the last century there is a marked difference. As an example, years ago it was proper to say "Egli è un bravo giovanotto." He is a fine young man. Now it would be, "Lui è un bravo giovanotto." Lui was and still is the pronoun for him. So in essence nowadays it is proper to say the equivalent of "Him is a fine young man." Consequently every time I hear someone say something such as, "Him and I (or even him and me!) went to the store" it always makes me wonder if and when that will make the grammar books as being acceptable!

 

In any event, it is usually best to be silent regarding the correction of others, unless you are Alex Trebek or Judge Judy!

 

 

 

When I try to speak Italian, I always sound like a character from 19th century opera.

[+ Gar1eth]

Found on cnn.com this morning:

 

"Malia Obama, the oldest of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama's two daughters, will attend Harvard University.''

 

I'm sorry but what was wrong with the above?

Other than my pure hatred of the word gifted, I try to be tolerant, but media these days need better proof-reading. And what is wrong with the phrases:

I

gave

her a book.

I was

given

a book.

I'm going to have to say that there is nothing wrong with either of the above except for the fact that you called them 'phrases' when 'phrase' usually implies a non-independent clause, i.e. one that can't stand alone. Both of these are complete sentences. So they can stand alone.

Now stylistically someone decided awhile back, and others decided to agree, that the Passive Voice was not preferable in English. But personally I don't agree with that.

 

Leaving aside the contention that there is no such thing as American English (or by extention, Australian English), only English and mistakes, in Australian English present and gift are interchangeable. That said I would never say Christmas gift or birthday gift, it would always be a Christmas or birthday present.

 

In American English 'present' or 'gift' are pretty much interchangeable in that I can say either Christmas presents/gifts or Birthday presents/gifts. I'm probably more likely to use 'gift' without Birthday or Chrismas in front of it as in "I'm out buying him a gift." But I could easily use 'gift' with Birthday or Christmas without thinking it sounded terribly strange. Now what does sound terribly strange is saying "Happy Christmas" as opposed to "Merry Christmas."

 

Gman

 

 

[mike carey]

I'm sorry but what was wrong with the above?

I'm thinking he was referring to the use of oldest rather than older.

Both of these are complete sentences. So they can stand alone.

'What is wrong with' was meant as 'why wouldn't you use one of these constructions' rather than use that 'abomination' gifted.

[BabyBoomer]

"Happy Christmas"

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Christmas (War is Over) was a holiday song by John & Yoko from 1971.

 

~ Boomer ~

[swallows22]

Happy Christmas (War is Over) was a holiday song by John & Yoko from 1971.

 

~ Boomer ~

I'm thinking he was referring to the use of oldest rather than older.

 

Of course. When there are two, you use the comparative, not the superlative. How did OP miss that?

[+ purplekow]

Found on cnn.com this morning:

 

"Malia Obama, the oldest of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama's two daughters, will attend Harvard University.'

Other than my pure hatred of the word gifted, I try to be tolerant, but media these days need better proof-reading. And what is wrong with the phrases:

I

gave

her a book.

I was

given

a book.

In the passive voice, A book was gifted to me is just awkward.

 

Whilst I'm at it, Extra Points if anyone can tell me the difference between a gift and a present.[

 

The President has two daughters, Malia is the elder. She would be the eldest should the couple have other children.

[Samfoslom]

Ok. I missed that too. But the sentence is not in passive voice, and the clause in the middle is a dependent clause. Any thankfully, there is a comma on both sides where it is inserted into the independent clause.

[mike carey]

*Pedant alert* - The part between the commas is a phrase (or phrases), not a clause as it has no verb and subject.

 

I think the reference to the passive voice was to I was given a gift not to any part of the sentence about Obama's daughter.

[whipped guy]

When I try to speak Italian, I always sound like a character from 19th century opera.

 

E avanti a lui tremava tutta Roma! (Tosca)

 

Ah! La maledizione! (Rigoletto)

 

È compiuta la vendetta! (Semiramide)

 

Gran Dio! Ed anch'io! (Great God! And I too!)

[whipped guy]

"Let's eat grandma" vs. "Let's eat, grandma" shows how grammar and punctuation can save lives.

 

That one actually got me to chuckle real damn hard after an otherwise rotten day. Thanks! :)

 

As did I, but perhaps the example should have been structured so as to include grammar, punctuation, and capitalization!

 

"Let's eat, Dick!"

vs.

"Let's eat Dick!"

vs

"Let's eat dick!"

[TruHart1]

E avanti a lui tremava tutta Roma! (Tosca)

 

Ah! La maledizione! (Rigoletto)

 

È compiuta la vendetta! (Semiramide)

 

Gran Dio! Ed anch'io! (Great God! And I too!)

Note: Tosca premiered January 14, 1900.

 

TruHart1

[whipped guy]

Note: Tosca premiered January 14, 1900.

 

TruHart1

Sorry! January 14, 1900 is the 19th Century! Every opera fan worth his salt knows that Puccini's "shabby little shocker" (aka Tosca) was premiered in 1900! However, not everyone knows that a century begins with the -001 year! For the record Verdi's Rigoletto dates from 1851 and Rossini's Semiramide from 1823! So all meet the criteria! I may not be overly swift in my usage of grammar, but I know my opera!

 

From Wickipedia:

 

The 20th century was a century that began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000. It was the tenth and final century of the 2nd millennium. It is distinct from the century known as the 1900s (sometimes written as 19XX), which began on January 1, 1900 and ended on December 31, 1999.

‎

PS: To my good opera bud @TruHart1 : We only break 'em off when we are good buds with someone! Feel privileged!!!

[AdamSmith]