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Post by mummifiedstalin on Dec 31, 2009 11:10:40 GMT -5
One grammar issue I *constantly* see when grading papers are dependent clauses used as complete sentences. So, this:
"Shakespeare wrote Henry V in order to praise kingship. Although he had some criticisms of monarchy."
We may talk like this (or at least imply it by how we pause sometimes when speaking), but it is WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.
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Post by Mod City on Dec 31, 2009 11:29:29 GMT -5
The "its/their/your" issues don't usually boil my blood. I think most people know what it should be; they just make the mistake in typing too quickly. At least, that's my excuse. Fast typing causes errors of all kinds. I also do it with hear/here. I know the difference and have ever since I was old enough to learn, but I still get those two turned around when I'm typing. It's embarrassing when copy comes back from the proofreader pointing it out. We used to have a little Dairy Queen-like food place around here that served Indian Tacos. Along with the words Malts, Burgers and Chili Dogs, the sign on top of the building proudly displayed Indian Taco's in foot-high letters. What's worse was how few people understood the error when I tried to explain it to them.
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Post by Bix Dugan on Dec 31, 2009 11:46:24 GMT -5
amateur-
I used to often misspell amateur, usually by trying to stick an E before the T.
But by making lots of web-searches of "amateur porn" I've managed to correct that flaw.
Luckily, the spell checker just corrected my misspelling of "misspell". That would have been embarrassing...
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Post by callipygias on Dec 31, 2009 13:33:15 GMT -5
My biggest problem (that I know of) is the homophone, especially when I'm going on short sleep. I hate when I do that. Since a thread or two like this got a little nasty a couple years ago I've been watching those of you who complained the most about others' problems, and, excluding typos, you've all (every one) proven pretty fallible. From what I've seen the only regular poster that has the right to complain (but who won't) is Crowfan; hardly ever even a typo. The "its/their/your" issues don't usually boil my blood. I think most people know what it should be; they just make the mistake in typing too quickly. At least, that's my excuse. I was pretty impressed to see you excuse something like that, but then I remembered... wasn't that what you were recently called on? Sort of loses its oomph.
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Post by mummifiedstalin on Dec 31, 2009 14:08:52 GMT -5
Heh. Guilty. Also proof that typing without reading what you're about to send out to the world is probably to blame for just as many spelling/grammar mistakes as ignorance. Oh, and crowfan (her username isn't capitalized, by the way) rarely posts more than three words, which makes it hard to have errors. But I think all of this brings up some interesting questions. Spelling/grammar are really only required in certain circumstances. When talking, we use incorrect grammar all the time, primarily by not speaking in complete sentences. But there's also plenty of slang. Texting, of course, has its own always-changing conventions. And email/board-posting/internet-comments seem like an odd middle ground where both formal writing and txt/internet lingo/abbreviations are commonplace. So when is correct spelling/grammar absolutely required? Are certain types of spelling and/or grammar conventions simply becoming obsolete? Why do we feel justified in complaining about spelling/grammar in certain situations but not others? I mean, when I'm playing English teacher, no one thinks twice when I correct a misplaced comma. But if I sent an email back to a student with the grammar/spelling corrected, I'd be seen as a total asshole.
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Post by callipygias on Dec 31, 2009 16:05:48 GMT -5
Oh, and crowfan rarely posts more than three words, which makes it hard to have errors. Not for me. The only time I get at all worked up is when these mistakes actually get published. In the one Christopher Moore book I've read, Practical Demonkeeping, there were between 7 and 10 obvious errors -- like of the typo variety even, like " He took the the rail." It was the second printing, too. Couldn't they have fixed that? I just read ... Goblins of Auschwitz, and it had several mistakes too. I found a couple from Goblins: on page 51 it says, "They vanished before I get the opportunity...," and on page 52, "All I want I Frannie." (Ha, that sounds like it was being used as a verb, but Frannie was obviously a character.)
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Post by solgroupie on Dec 31, 2009 16:14:56 GMT -5
obviously, you've never frannied much.
it ticks me off when i really try to proof something i've written in either a post or email and still discover (or have it pointed out to me) typos. my most common mistakes involve whose/who's and was/were. fortunately, i dont keer much.
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Post by Bix Dugan on Dec 31, 2009 17:51:21 GMT -5
Heh. Guilty. Also proof that typing without reading what you're about to send out to the world is probably to blame for just as many spelling/grammar mistakes as ignorance. Oh, and crowfan (her username isn't capitalized, by the way) rarely posts more than three words, which makes it hard to have errors. But I think all of this brings up some interesting questions. Spelling/grammar are really only required in certain circumstances. When talking, we use incorrect grammar all the time, primarily by not speaking in complete sentences. But there's also plenty of slang. Texting, of course, has its own always-changing conventions. And email/board-posting/internet-comments seem like an odd middle ground where both formal writing and txt/internet lingo/abbreviations are commonplace. So when is correct spelling/grammar absolutely required? Are certain types of spelling and/or grammar conventions simply becoming obsolete? Why do we feel justified in complaining about spelling/grammar in certain situations but not others? I mean, when I'm playing English teacher, no one thinks twice when I correct a misplaced comma. But if I sent an email back to a student with the grammar/spelling corrected, I'd be seen as a total asshole. And I thought "asshole" was a hyphenated word. Well, he's the English teacher. Let's see what the spell checker says... Nope. Asshole it is.
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Post by mrsphyllistorgo on Jan 5, 2010 13:06:02 GMT -5
I can't spell concious. It looks wrong and I can't look it up because I can't spell it! Gah!
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Post by mccloud on Jan 5, 2010 13:21:00 GMT -5
One of the places it really bothers me is in emails which are supposed to be from a professional company or government agency, e.g. I work for the Rehabilitation Services Commission...or Comission...or Commision.
That, and dating sites where people write their little stories about themselves and who they want to date. ALL CAPS, poor spelling, terrible punctuation and grammar...sheesh. It's an easy way to weed people out, though.
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Post by callipygias on Jan 5, 2010 14:05:12 GMT -5
Weed out the people in your life with grammar, spelling, and punctuation -- happiness can only be just around the corner!
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Jan 5, 2010 14:20:32 GMT -5
But I think all of this brings up some interesting questions. Spelling/grammar are really only required in certain circumstances. When talking, we use incorrect grammar all the time, primarily by not speaking in complete sentences. But there's also plenty of slang. Texting, of course, has its own always-changing conventions. And email/board-posting/internet-comments seem like an odd middle ground where both formal writing and txt/internet lingo/abbreviations are commonplace. So when is correct spelling/grammar absolutely required? Are certain types of spelling and/or grammar conventions simply becoming obsolete? Why do we feel justified in complaining about spelling/grammar in certain situations but not others? I mean, when I'm playing English teacher, no one thinks twice when I correct a misplaced comma. But if I sent an email back to a student with the grammar/spelling corrected, I'd be seen as a total asshole. I think it's a kind of necessity breeding inventiveness thing. When text messaging was starting, there would often be more limited space, and so messages needed 2 B concise. I've often heard that 1337 5p34k generated partially as a form of wordplay but also as a form of disguising messages from search engines so that teh 1337 hax0rs could write to each other without people finding their somewhat illegal activities. I've yet to do the research to see how much I believe that, though. As for speaking, I think it's a matter of timing. There are many reasons why people desire to make their point faster, and so we find shortcuts in talking that we wouldn't take in a typed out message. On a personal note, if I'm writing something I can proofread it and take more time to decide just what it is that I want to say. If I'm speaking to someone, I can't do that. I need to keep my statements simple when I talk, and the downside of that is that it leads to weird grammar errors that have become common for many of us. As for emails and message boards, I say treat 'em like formal writing. Send that email back with corrected errors, mummi. Serves 'em right. -Edit- I decided to look over me post for spelling errors (didn't find any, but I'm sure that they're there, just waiting for me to stop looking for them), and noted that there's a double meaning the way I typed "On a pesonal note." Heh. I love wordplay. No pun intended, obviously.
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Post by Bix Dugan on Jan 5, 2010 18:15:25 GMT -5
Conscious Commission
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Post by mccloud on Jan 5, 2010 20:33:51 GMT -5
Weed out the people in your life with grammar, spelling, and punctuation -- happiness can only be just around the corner! HI I AM A GOOD MAN LOOKIN FOR A GOOD WOMAN. I LIKE TO RIDE MY MOTROCYCLE, AND DO THAT A LOT IN THE SUMMER SUMMER IS MY FAVRITE SEASON. I LIKE A GOOD COOKOUT AND WATCHING SUNSETS TO. I DONT PLAY GAMES SO IF THATS WHAT YOUR INTO OK BUT IT'S NOT FOR ME. I AM A HARD WORKING HONEST MAN JUST TRYING TO FIND A SOMEONE TO SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH. MAYBE ITS YOU CALL ME OK.
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Post by solgroupie on Jan 5, 2010 20:40:50 GMT -5
....dad...??
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