Proper grammar
POSTED BY: OPPYH
UPDATED: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 03:09
VIEWED: 7099
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Quote:
Originally posted by Freebrowncoat:
Using a preposition to end a sentence with.
Churchill reportedly said, "That is something up with I will not put."
Not quite true but anusing. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/churchill.html
No idea where this started but it is fun.
Reminds me of Ben Affleck doing Keith Olbermann on SNL: "This is an outrage, the kind of outrage up with which we dare not put, sir!"
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Quote:
Originally posted by pizmobeach:Quote:
Originally posted by cljohnston108:
And I wish folks would remember the extra 'o' in 'too'!
And don't forget the same goes for "so" when used as an adverb:
"I'm soo tired." People always forget that one.
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[Raises hand]... Guilty. [/raises hand]
I SOOOOOOOOOO do that. REEEEEALLLLLY I do. :)
Mike
Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde
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Most things mentioned are in that grammar guide. It's a quite excellent grammar guide, I must say. I was and am so happy to find others who love and care for our wonderful language. I still consider, sometimes, starting a similar 'spelling guide' sort of thread, but I think that might be more difficult.
There is one that I like to promote, though.
D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y
Many people in this world seem to have uncommon trouble with that one. I'm not sure why. The root word is 'definite' here, not 'defiant.' You might, on some level, think it's defiant to say definatly or some variation thereof, but it really isn't. It's just not a word. At all. Thank you.
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The Internet and internet communications have been a terrible influence on my grammar. Things like typing instead of writing, and texting, and the informality of emails, and the abbreviated style of leaving comments, and the super informality of forums, my Engrish has gone toward teh crapper.
Now, I find myself having a harder time with punctuation; comma placement I'm about 50-50, and "how about a hyphen instead of a period since it's more of a continuation of the same thought?"
Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com
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Awesome website:
Common Errors in English Usage
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors
Wonderful resource and reference. I've spent time just looking through and finding errors that I've made, without even realizing.
The Interwebs can actually help us with the English language too...
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Quote:I LOVE it when people mix those up.
Originally posted by Kwicko: "Then" is a sequential measure of time. First this, THEN that.
"Than" is a comparative. It's better to be pissed OFF, than pissed ON.
RiverDancer: the misspelling of 'definitely' is one of my friend's biggest pet peeves.
My personal favorite is "a lot." Every time I see someone spell it "allot" or "alot" I die a little inside.
a lot: a quantity, as in "a lot of cookies."
allot: to assign as a share or portion -- completely different meaning from 'a lot'
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I'm sure I am not the only person who has become very discouraged by the fact that many people don't seem to care whether they use proper grammar or spell correctly, and they become outraged that anyone would ever call them on it.
One pet peeve I have is when someone voices a concern over another person's grammar but then spell that word incorrectly...grammer.
Another one I see a lot is that people seem to think something can peak their interest. The word is pique. It is possible for your interest to reach a peak, but only after it has been piqued.
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as a speech pathologist...who lives in rural NSW.I have learned not to be to thingy about "correct grammar usage" There are many variations and dialects of the English language used in Australian society and they are for the most part cultural variations. I used to cringe when I overheard people using "bad Grammar" now I cringe when I feel myself cringing in situations I know it's due to diversity rather than educational deprivation or slackness. Who gets to decide what is regarded as proper usage anyway.
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Quote:
Originally posted by boris:
Who gets to decide what is regarded as proper usage anyway.
Merriam-Webster has my vote. I'm willing to consider other expert sources.
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"Languages are not just sets of symbols. They also often conform to a rough grammar, or system of rules, used to manipulate the symbols. While a set of symbols may be used for expression or communication, it is primitive and relatively unexpressive, because there are no clear or regular relationships between the symbols. A language that also has a grammar can manipulate its symbols to express clear and regular relationships between them."
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Quote:
Originally posted by freelancertex:
My personal favorite is "a lot." Every time I see someone spell it "allot" or "alot" I die a little inside.
a lot: a quantity, as in "a lot of cookies."
allot: to assign as a share or portion -- completely different meaning from 'a lot'
Funny debunk I found in the Wired:
'Alot' The CORRECT form of the term meaning "a large amount" of something. "A lot" (as 2 words) means "a large empty piece of land" as in "a lot for used cars."
"I have alot of friends" means "I have a large number of friends," whereas "I have a lot of friends" means that your buddies are outside standing around in a big empty piece of land, looking like idiots!
LOL. Gotta give the guy credit for originality. :)
Now, for Dictionary.com's Word FAQ:
This should be written as two words: a lot. A lot of people make the mistake of writing them as one. You would not dream of writing, "I am going for alittle walk," so use that to remember that these are two separate words. Remind yourself that just as you would not write alittle you should not write alot.
While I would never write 'alot' myself, it's not so braindead as peeps would have us believe. I say it's akin to 'a while' and the contracted form, 'awhile.' While the latter is an adverb, of course, both these expressions are acceptable: "Stay awhile." and "Stay a while." I can't think of a real legit way to use 'alot' adverbially (like: "How do I love thee? Alot!" LOL). Nonetheless, I can see how people would come to use it that way.
--
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