Poll: Biggest Offender Against the English Language?

[PersianLlama]

Mainstream rap.

 

[DarkRyter]

You forgot 4chan, the land of atrocity.

 

[Socdk]

Like with everything else, I blame George Bush.

 

[PersianLlama]

"Yes" becomes "yuh", "certainly" becomes "fo sho"... and so on.

Recently, I've begun to hear "bet" instead of "sure". For example, someone may ask "Are you coming to the movies?" and the guy will respond with "bet".

...

 

[Shade Jackrabbit]

That's a good idea. One class could teach things like "Here's what you do with those little ";" fuckers," and the other could force you to read "THA KLACIX."
Also, make sure to bring enough for the rest of the class!

To be a smart-ass grammar nazi, that should actually read "Here's what you do with those little ';' fuckers." ;P

And why would I give the rest of the class spiked punching gloves? They're the ones who would get punched in the neck first. D=

As for "THA KLACIX" you forgot the silent "S". It's "KLACISX".

Yeah United states education doesn't need more money. The education system needs a revolution.

Totally agreed. I remember I wrote some blog posts about some education reforms that I thought were necessary. Let me see if I can dig out some choice quotes...

Here's one of them. [http://shadenexus.blogspot.com/2009/03/highschool-english-courses.html]

Now look, I'm not degrading critique or examination of themes or the like; I love those and thoroughly enjoy experiencing them. My issue is that we're not learning the right stuff. An English class should explain the language, how it works, how one can use it to express things, and what causes that expression to succeed instead of fail.

The problem here is simply that we are looking at pieces to find the end result, not what pieces built that end result. They're so similar the distinction is not obvious, but it's there. One of them, you can say "The lonely street makes the mood depressing." The other, you would say that as "The mood is depressing because of the setting being a lonely street, which is relate-able to most people living in suburban environments, such as most readers would be."

To "understand" literary work, only the former is necessary. Hence why that is the taught method. The latter though offers a better explanation and actually relates to the use of the language, and could better teach students how to manipulate it.

So what has to happen is that in academic English courses we start teaching the latter. I know it sounds more "social-studies"-centric than current English courses, and I hate to tell you this, but that's the point. Languages are a way for societies to communicate, and understanding how to communicate with one's own population through words is important and enlightening.

And here's [http://shadenexus.blogspot.com/2009/02/some-issues-with-school-system.html] another which is less English-centric, but has a LOT of major reforms for the system listed.

 

[Shade Jackrabbit]

That's a good idea. One class could teach things like "Here's what you do with those little ";" fuckers," and the other could force you to read "THA KLACIX."
Also, make sure to bring enough for the rest of the class!

To be a smart-ass grammar nazi, that should actually read "Here's what you do with those little ';' fuckers." ;P

And why would I give the rest of the class spiked punching gloves? They're the ones who would get punched in the neck first. D=

As for "THA KLACIX" you forgot the silent "S". It's "KLACISX".

By "the class" I meant "the rest of US." Also, sue me. I learned grammar from WoW, for gods' sake. I'm just amazed I know how to spell, let alone use quotation marks.
And no, there is no "S" unless you're a filthy Englishman.
Are you?

Sorta. I live in the really English part of Ontario and my dad's side of the family is pretty English. My mother's side is Austrian though...

So yeah, I'll see you in court. WHERE I VILL BREAK YOU! GRAHerrRAWR!

...after I'm done punching people in the neck. Speaking of which, I thought I already sent you all punching gloves. Didn't get them?

 

[Mstrswrd]

Fanfiction actually has some writers who take it very seriously, and write in such a way that you can tell. You know, proper grammer and the like.

Anyway, youtube comments.

 

[Neonbob]

I'd say all of the listed problems have impacted the english language, but another influence has been rappers. No, I'm not racist, but nobody who speaks english could possibly condone that kind of speech. Rednecks have done the same to some degree.

 

[GruntOwner]

What? No Uber1337?

 

[The Young One]

Tim Westwood.

 

[bodyklok]

Yep, youtubes to blame.

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

Has to be instant messaging. Most of the online acronyms and gibberish words got their start in IM'ing. Not to mention the atrocious grammar they use. "OMG LoL u tk him 2 da bar?"

Youtube is a close second in my mind, but it owes a lot to IM'ing.

 

[Clashero]

This, which I found on the Twenty Sided Blog.

I?m mulling over the idea of picking up STALKER- Shadow of Chernobyl. It?s a recent title with no demo, so it?s a risky proposition. While scanning the page at Gamestop looking for system Specs, I came upon this edifice of incoherent languacide:

iv nva playd this but it sounds so pointless 2 get this. their r only 2 reasons u would have this game. those r if u dont have a 360 which is known 4 shooter games lyk gears of war, graw 2, battlefield 2, splinter cell double agent and soon 2 b unreal tournament 3, and last but not least halo 1,2,3 which i have all but halo 3 but aalready reserved. Also if u have wii they have no good shooter games. ps3 is just an underpriced shitty blu ray player n games have no good exclusives. if u dont play ne consoles download gunz or soldier front off www.ijji.com if you want 2 get so pc games which r the best pc games n r free

I tried to put this into Babelfish to see what it really says, but they don?t offer Idiot -> English translations. So, I had to decipher it myself. Here is the review in English, as closely as I can render it:

I have not played this game, but I find the justifications for its purchase to be uncompelling. For readers who do not own an XBox 360, I?d like to inform you that the platform is noted for its many contributions to the shooter genre. The Halo franchise in particular is noteworthy, and I?m proud to announce that I have already paid for Halo 3 and am eagerly waiting for them to finish the game. Also, The Wii is a substandard platform for fans of the shooter genre. The Playstation 3 is underpriced. It is merely a Blu-Ray player of substandard quality. The Playstation 3 has no exclusive titles, which is a serious omission for a major platform. If you don?t list any consoles as your platform of choice, then might I suggest acquiring Gunz or Soldier from a particular game portal. PC games are superior to other forms of games, and they are free of charge.

This proves something I?ve suspected for years, which is that there are four types of people in the world:

1. I liked Halo
2. I did not like Halo
3. I did not play Halo
4. HALO is best gam 4 evar and ur retarded i u dont leik it.

This STALKER review is perfect. I am putting it here as a taunt to all of the Halo fans who have left me rude responses and sent insulting emails due to my scathing comments on Halo from last year. (The really rude ones have been deleted, since I have higher standards than Game Stop when it comes to allowing subliterate ankle-biters to pollute my site with crass asininity.)

This review sort of sums up the very essence of the debate with Halo zealots that I?ve witnessed over the years, and perfectly distills the very nature of the exchange. So from now on when I?m trying to explain the whole thing, I?ll tell people, ?I dislike Halo because it was a game with repetitive scenery and a threadbare story, while other people disagree and say this.? Which will be a link to this post, wherein a Halo fan reviews STALKER by not playing it, preordering Halo 3, and then talking about unrelated games.

Yes, I?m being childish and stupid, but the same can be said of Halo, which sold eleventy bajillion copies. So I?m in good company.

 

[Sable Gear]

I'd say fan fiction, not only the spelling and grammar which would blind even the most open-minded reader (and could be so easily corrected by paying attention to those squiggly lines in Word, they mean something's WRONG), but the content-

SOME THINGS SHOULD NOT BE WRITTEN, PEOPLE!! LEAVE THEM THAT WAY!!

No language should have to suffer being so horribly abused.../rant

 

[Laurefinde]

I blame the simple phonics system of teaching spelling in school initially where spelling generally lost its importance. Then the sound bite came along, assuming everyone could not pay attention for more than 20 seconds. They taught us that we have short attention spans and we believed them. It branched out into all the shorthand styles for texting and chatting.

There are fewer and fewer people who appreciate literature that is well-written, descriptive and thought provoking. I have heard people say "why don't they get to the point?"

I voted for texting because I see where using short codes and abreviations can become the norm after awhile. I hope this is not the case!

 

[Zersy]

I'd have to say Youtube hands down. It drives me nuts when I see comments littered with abbreviations and misspelled words to the point where I can't even tell if they liked or hated the video. >_<

There should be a new policy

"If thy Grammar is not up to standard then thy post shall not be posted"

 

[kat-24]

Youtube for sure, I mean, I slaughter the english language occasionally, but thats because I type how I talk (Using words like :Yeeyah, Wewt, and Huzzah), I also spell like I say things... But other than that I'm not as guilty