Grammar faux pas!
- Thread starter jas72
- Start date
lul, pwnt.
Because for anally-retentive self-superior tools like myself it jumps out of the monitor at me and screams in my face. I can't understand how people can write something that is so obviously nonsense. Things lose their meaning without the right grammar.
I say, learn some self control and keep it to yourself.
It jumps out at me too, but not everyone is well educated in the grammatical arts (yeah, I know
). It's not your place or mine to tell someone that they're stupid or poorly educated (which is what is amounts to, really). As long as the general meaning of their post is clear, I don't see any reason to do it.
Soldato
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While I agree with this, I think it might be useful to the posters if they were made aware of their errors. They may not have realised they were making an error, in which case they'll then know for future posts, or indeed any articles they type/write, not to make the same error again.
Soldato
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The dog's dinner... is how Koreans might announce what's for tea. The apostrophe means there's been a contraction of 'the dog is'.
The dog's dinner... is also (confusingly for non-English speakers) the dinner belonging to one dog, if used in that context.
The dogs' dinner... is the dinner belonging to several dogs.
The dogs' din, ER!... is how you complain to the Queen about her Corgis making a racket while you're trying to play croquet.
All the trailing apostrophe does is save you writing something as ugly as dogs's to indicate the fact that you're talking about something belonging to more than one dog.
For me watching bad or lazy grammar is like watching someone using a hammer to drive a screw... it might work after a fashion, but the finished job will be inferior and potentially unsafe/confusing. If we use the right language tools for the right job we get better understanding, and that's become more important in the internet age, rather than less. Because more people than ever before are using the written word to communicate.
Obviously there's no need to stamp on every typo, but I do think those of us who type English as a first language have a duty to look after it and make life more comprehensible for non-English speakers. Otherwise life online could get very muddy.
Andrew McP... frequently guilty of using a linguistic hacksaw to cut paper.
The confusion arises because "people" already describes lots of human beings without the need for an s. So posts that people have made are people's posts.
In A-Level English I was told that you should add the extra "s" after the apostrophe if that is how you would pronounce the word (e.g. if you would say "dogs" you use "dogs'", but if you say "dogses" you would use "dogs's".) Personally, I add the extra "s" if the word is a singular noun (e.g. "the boss's car") but not if it is plural.
I think "peoples" is valid as well. It's used to describe a specific set of human beings, rather than the general "people", and in that case "peoples'" would be fine. However, most people would use "people"
If that is what you were told in A Level English, I weep for the future of this country.
The correct construction is: dogs'. The "s" denotes the plural; the apostrophe denotes possession. You do not say "dogs's".
"Boss's car" is correct. If more than one boss: bosses'.
I think "peoples" is valid as well. It's used to describe a specific set of human beings, rather than the general "people", and in that case "peoples'" would be fine. However, most people would use "people"
"Peoples" is correct when referring to a plurality of different groups; ie. "The indigenous peoples of Asia". You should not really use the term "indigenous people" in this context, since it implies that they are all the same. (Asia actually contains a number of different indigenous peoples).
"The people of Australia" is correct, since this a general reference to the entire population.
"The indigenous people of Australia" is also correct, since this refers to one specific ethnic group.
"The peoples of Australia" might sound a little odd, but is technically correct since Australia is a multicultural nation inhabited by an indigenous population and a non-indigenous population with a high percentage of immigrants. However, it would not normally be used, since it generally implies that the "peoples" referred to are indigenous.
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Well, thats is just the point. In a vast majority of cases the grammar and spelling is so poor that it is incredibly difficult to decipher what a forum post is trying to communicate. Re-reading posts because someone is too lazy to put in a seconds worth of time just makes the forum unpleasant at best. Typographical errors are one understandable problem we can all put up with, as are the occasional grammatical error. However, spelling is basically done automatically for you with modern browsers and any unknown words are easily located through Google and on-line dictionary resources.
What is really worrying is the repeated abuse of the English language to such an extent that one worries about the future of the country and culture. Much of the youth of Great Britain speaks and writes some of the worst English in Europe now.
Language is incredibly important in modern society and is critical for anyone wanting to peruse a respectable career.
In the end, normal people should welcome friendly correction of repetitive grammatical errors in order to improve their key language skills. As long as the corrections are not abusive or excessive in nature then they do no harm and other people can learn from example.
/sign
If that is what you were told in A Level English, I weep for the future of this country.
Why? As I said, I would use "dogs'" and not "dogs's", but there is nothing wrong with using the latter if you like making life harder for yourself.
I tend to point things out quite regularly even though I have no illusions about being perfect myself.
I've explained many times that it is not genuine dyslexics or typos that are the problem (for me) but people who's attitude is "it doesn't ******* matter! it's an internet forum".
I regularly read posts by people who mention that they are at uni' and yet their use of the language is so bad that they appear as school children rather than people in higher education.
Most people know the difference between the spoken "would've" and the written "would have" but some quite clearly, do not.
I also see many misquoted gems like the ones pointed out earlier ...... "all over the shot", "seen as" etc ........ seriously, if one of your mates came out with something similar down the pub and you knew what it shoud be, you would take the **** first and point out the reason later.
It IS a forum and it's not the end of the world but some people will learn later than others that the impression one gives by the use of the language, is often quite important and although my opinion here is probably of very little significance, if I were reading job applications or conducting interviews and came accross some of the errors mentioned above, I would not take "you know what I mean ffs!" as an excuse.
Usually it is not spelling or grammar that are the problem but wrong use of words or no punctuation.
I find that people with genuine problems actually make much more effort when posting than the "don't give a ****" brigade who just want to use any excuse to justify their appalling efforts.
Group hug!
I've explained many times that it is not genuine dyslexics or typos that are the problem (for me) but people who's attitude is "it doesn't ******* matter! it's an internet forum".
I regularly read posts by people who mention that they are at uni' and yet their use of the language is so bad that they appear as school children rather than people in higher education.
Most people know the difference between the spoken "would've" and the written "would have" but some quite clearly, do not.
I also see many misquoted gems like the ones pointed out earlier ...... "all over the shot", "seen as" etc ........ seriously, if one of your mates came out with something similar down the pub and you knew what it shoud be, you would take the **** first and point out the reason later.
It IS a forum and it's not the end of the world but some people will learn later than others that the impression one gives by the use of the language, is often quite important and although my opinion here is probably of very little significance, if I were reading job applications or conducting interviews and came accross some of the errors mentioned above, I would not take "you know what I mean ffs!" as an excuse.
Usually it is not spelling or grammar that are the problem but wrong use of words or no punctuation.
I find that people with genuine problems actually make much more effort when posting than the "don't give a ****" brigade who just want to use any excuse to justify their appalling efforts.
Group hug!
Thanks for pointing out my mistake.
I should have spell checked my text knowing that the grammar nazis would read it.
However there is nothing wrong with faux pas. I have used that even before I came to Belgium, in fact I've never heard it said in Belgium. Here we say J'ai fait une gaffe.
I use faux pas and not faut pas since I'm talking about grammar mistakes not a grammar mistake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faux_pas
My original question seems to have been somewhat lost.
It's a forum and grammatical errors don't usually detract from the context of the subject being discussed, however, it was a response to reading a thread where someone had misspelled ridiculous 4 times in 2 paragraphs. Should I make constant errors (and I do, license and licence still trip me up) then I would expect some help.
I should have spell checked my text knowing that the grammar nazis would read it.
However there is nothing wrong with faux pas. I have used that even before I came to Belgium, in fact I've never heard it said in Belgium.
Here we say J'ai fait une gaffe.I use faux pas and not faut pas since I'm talking about grammar mistakes not a grammar mistake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faux_pas
My original question seems to have been somewhat lost.
It's a forum and grammatical errors don't usually detract from the context of the subject being discussed, however, it was a response to reading a thread where someone had misspelled ridiculous 4 times in 2 paragraphs. Should I make constant errors (and I do, license and licence still trip me up) then I would expect some help.