Poll: Grammar Nazi-ism: Am there a point to it?

[Caliostro]

Earlier this evening, after I had thrown off my hangover from new years, I found an article [http://speedywap.com/20556/the-32-most-commonly-misused-words-and-phrases/] about misused words, which got me thinking about how many people at the party I went to last night used (or rather mis used, yes I know I should get an award for my jokes /sarcasm) words on that there list, which then made me think that the sheer number of people that make mistakes is astounding, and that maybe, people should point out peoples mistakes, and for grammar nazis to become just people who point out mistakes. Overall though, simply just to keep english free of a few more synonyms, though that was just thinking.
So all in all: What words that aren't on the list do you hate being misused?
Do grammar nazis have a point?
Am I summarising this well?
Anyway, try not to let this turn into a flame war and discuss...

What the dick happened to your post man? It starts out alright (except the title... "Am there a point to it? The fuck?) but then suddenly turns into a disaster area...

Anyways, making the occasional mistake is one thing, but some mistakes are just too profoundly stupid to ignore. I mean, a couple of typos on a post... that's ok, you know, I can live with that, nobody's perfect. The issue is when posts start looking like they were written by Sarah Palin [http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/07/palin-speech-edit-200907].

Yes, "Grammar Nazis" have a point. If nobody ever points out your mistakes, you'll never fix them.And come on some stuff is just depressing... I cringe every time I see someone confuse "their" and "they're". Come the fuck on people... One is a possessive the other is a contraction, you should have this mastered by third fucking grade.

 

[little bear]

I would consider myself a relatively benevolent grammar Nazi, just because misuse of the English language annoys me so much.

This summarizes my feelings on this subject.
I'm actually a grammar nazi in real life. I always correct the sentence when I notice a mistake from a friend or a relative.

I'm somewhat the same, although I was recently disheartened by the fact that some of my friends have started saying 'LOL' in real life.

Anger...rising.....

you think you have it bad eh?

I'm going out with someone who says "LMAO" aloud. (I love her to death, this one pet peeve aside)

 

[Labyrinth]

Grammar trolling is one thing. Expecting people to use proper grammar and spelling because this is site where the staff are comprised of writers and editors, and many of the mods either write or are physically injured by misuse is another.

There is also a distinction between the kind of "omg lol lyke ho da fuk uses grammer" language which is painful to read and occasional typos or syntax errors. It's deliberate abuse that gives me headaches. Hell, I make typos enough anyway for all I proofread my posts and use Mozilla's spell-check add-on.

Of course there is a point to it. Bad spelling and grammar are discouraging to read and slogging through them in order to find something worth replying to gets less likely the worse it is.

Moral of the story is don't take all the shortcuts you possibly can and wind up typing like an 11 year old who's just discovered this fad known as Websp33k.

 

[Sven und EIN HUND]

I'm pretty tight on my own grammar, but correcting other people's just makes you look like an arrogant prat.

What annoys me is when people just misspell basic words. There, they're and their. Your and you're. Though something worst, people that type mii instead of me. What the hell is wrong with them? That's not being cool and individual, that's just slaughtering the English language for no reason, despite it just being easier to write me.

If anybody is interested, here is Encyclopedia Dramaticas depiction of the issue. Careful, it's NSFW in some aspects. http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Grammar_nazi

Don't forget this great comic: http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/4/45/Sex_and_Grammar_Nazis.png

ED never fails to amuse. Also, I agree with you. What's worse is that most of those people are in my age group, daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn my age group

 

[skywalkerlion]

I'm a grammar Nazi, and believe me, I get uber pissed off when I see some one typing like 'hi im here on te escpst n wantd t as thngs bout reltnsip prbz.'

..just an example.

This site is getting more and more infested with grammar defying, spell correction-forsaken (does that make sense?) abominations from 4Chan daily. God help us.

In fact, normally if I see a spelling mistake in a post I immediately stop taking it seriously. Harsh, but true. I'm very biased. I'm kinda a hypocrite too, cause anytime the spell checker tells me somethings spelt wrong, I just ignore it, hehe.

 

[YoUnG205]

I type fast when on Forums and do not really pay that much attention towards grammer. I don't see why I would need to as long as people get the gist of what Im saying.

 

[Caliostro]

I'm pretty tight on my own grammar, but correcting other people's just makes you look like an arrogant prat.

Or, you know, educated... There's also that...

 

[SeanTheSheep]

What the dick happened to your post man? It starts out alright (except the title... "Am there a point to it? The fuck?) but then suddenly turns into a disaster area...

Anyways, making the occasional mistake is one thing, but some mistakes are just too profoundly stupid to ignore. I mean, a couple of typos on a post... that's ok, you know, I can live with that, nobody's perfect.

Sorry for my bad spelling and grammar and loss of sense making, but I haven't slept since December 31st, at about 10AM, meaning that I'm not very awake, and wasn't at the time of posting that at about 00:37, so I'm sorry for losing a bit of my sentence structure after being awake for 38 AND A HALF DAMN HOURS, though the "that there" part was my "Somerrrse' voice" that I do sometimes, but doesn't come through particularly in writing. If you want to know about the title, read the third post on this page.
Also, if you read the little footnote at the end of that post, you'll see that I already apologised for my sleepiness.

Sorry to everyone else for making a useless post.

 

[Caliostro]

so I'm sorry for losing a bit of my sentence structure after being awake for 38 AND A HALF DAMN HOURS

Why are you posting on an internet forum instead of sleeping?

 

[Nerdfury]

As a self-professed member of the Grammar Nazi Party, writer, editor, and full-time written correspondent for an ISP, I also consider myself a benevolent Grammar Nazi.

My main issue is with misuse of common words and apostrophes, and my main concern is that the beautiful English language is going to be degraded so that your average Twitter/Facebook spelling will become the norm in professional matters.

I get customers and companies emailing me, and people wanting me to proof-read their reviews and writing, and their manuscripts and writings are filled with misuse of words and apostrophes and general poor spelling. Teacher friends tell me that the same issue is rife in schools!

What really gets me, though, is that people correct me on my grammar. I once had a person tell me that the plural of mangoes was mango's. They didn't even know what a possessive plural or adjectival possession was!

I just don't want us to enter an era where commonly misspelled are noted by the OED as 'acceptable substitutions' and our wonderful commas and apostrophes are described as 'optional.'

 

[SeanTheSheep]

so I'm sorry for losing a bit of my sentence structure after being awake for 38 AND A HALF DAMN HOURS

Why are you posting on an internet forum instead of sleeping?

Because I can't sleep, my body isn't letting me, because it's (effectively) thought "Right, we didn't go to sleep at a normal time so we're going to wait until the next one comes around"
So I'll probably be completely zonked by 6, but until I do go to sleep, I'll stay up.

 

[magnuslion]

It is usually weak, pathetic little punks who do not have the guts to be a real troll. Most people who are obsessed with things like this are just not very intelligent, but like to act as if proper grammar and spelling makes them a genius.

 

[Radelaide]

If you use proper grammar at school/uni/work, don't be lazy. Use it everywhere else and don't annoy me. Because I will beat you to death with the Oxford dictionary until you learn to punctuate and spell!

 

[Treblaine]

Well the point is IN REAL LIFE (can such a place actually exist) of professional life and sending important letters good spelling is important because rightly or wrongly people are judged on how good their spelling and punctuation are (or is that "spelling and punctuation is"?)

My grammar used to be terrible 5 years ago but after much forum surfing it has hugely improved and I can see the results in my key skills tests. See, pointless debates about whether PS3 or 360 is better or whether PC is still relevant (and it IS) are not so pointless as all this time you spend composing a response to a reasonable grammatical standard you are improving your writing and typing ability.

 

[Normalgamer]

I really don't mind it, it's when it enters real life that I have a problem.
It's gotten so bad that some of my friends have convinced themselves and others to yell "FUCKTARD!" at anyone who says "Lol" in real life. Lol. (C wat i did thar?)

 

[CymTyr]

I think they have a point if they're trying to be genuinely helpful. If they are just trying to troll, then no, there is no point to it.

 

[PlainTwo]

I think people should at least try to use proper grammar on a forum like the Escapist, it takes relatively no effort.

But, if someone chooses not too, I don't think they should be taken down by grammar Nazis, yelling at someone pointlessly is just going to piss them off.

 

[Teh Karn]

I don't mean to be rude, but I believe there is an inconsistency with your chosen grammar in the topic title.

This is a warning. *slips into darkness*

 

[Undercover]

I've pretty much given up on being a grammar nazi. If people over the age of 11 still don't know how to spell or put together a proper sentence, nothing I say or do will help as its obviously far too late. Enjoy your lives of mediocrity and internet abbreviations.

Just as there will always be poorly educated nimrods who can't even master the simple skill of SPELLING, there will always be self-important grammar nazi types to point them out for ridicule.

Unless you never went to school, have a serious brain injury or some kind of learning disorder, the only excuse for shitty spelling is that you're an idiot, or you're too lazy to bother doing anything right the first time.

 

[AC Medina]

If left unchecked, poor English (written or spoken) may eventually change the language. And I, for one, don't want English to evolve into: "DiD j00 seez da f00tb4ll g4me?! iT wuz Ep1cz!!!!111ONE"

We've already got tweens using internet shorthand in common speech, not to mentioning needlessly shortening words in order to sound hip. We, the educated, must stop it, lest we all be drawn asunder by it.

Bravo!

I'm really sorry to be a jerk, but this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but could you put something else rather than just one word?
Explain why you agree with him, elaborate on his point!

I don't think you're being a jerk, but I don't see why someone can't think another person's post presented a complete, well-argued point and simply wanted to express their appreciation and agreement.