Grammar Nazis

[Kalli]

I hope that title didn't earn me a Godwin's Law stamp so early in the thread... it's a common label, so I don't think it counts :P

Anyway, Grammar Nazis! What does everyone think of this practice? I'm one myself, bad grammar annoys me terribly, but I do recognize the difference between a mistake and grammatical laziness. I don't harp on at people on message boards about using the wrong "your/you're" (although it does make me twitch a little), but I do call out repeat offenders within my circle of friends.

Anyway, interested to hear what people's thoughts are about the importance of using English correctly, or the audacity of Grammar Nazi's; whichever camp you are in.

[guywithashovel]

If you want to be taken seriously in life, it's essential to learn to use language properly. However, mistakes do happen, and I don't think people deserve to be brow-beaten or humiliated simply for typing a little too fast and using the wrong form of "there" or for spelling one or two words wrong. We all make mistakes like that, even when we know better.

Message boards can certainly be havens for bad grammar and spelling. However, when using message boards, I think language sticklers should remember that some of the grammatically incorrect posts they read might be written by people who don't speak English as their native language. I'm sure these people would appreciate help with their spelling and grammar, but I don't think they deserve to be brow-beaten for making a few mistakes. After all, they do know more than one language, which is more than can probably be said about many so-called "Grammar Nazis." :P

Also, I think a good rule of thumb is that if you're going to scrutinize people's grammar and spelling, get ready to have your spelling and grammar scrutinized as well.

[Pedersen]

I've seen a similar thread on here before sometime, though I forget where.

My rule of thumb is that the occasional mistakes happen. Let them slide. Especially since, despite my own best efforts, I make those same mistakes (like I'm fairly certain I did at the beginning of this sentence).

On the other hand, I have seen posters who were so bad about spelling and grammar that I do not even try to read their posts any more. It's an exercise in frustration to even contemplate it, and I refuse to frustrate myself that much. I do not mean consistently mixing up their/they're or your/you're, but rather someone who is so bad that ... never mind. I typed it up, and realized that I might as well hand over a link to the person's profile on CS.

Suffice to say that yes, they are that bad. They seem nice, but their posts are completely unreadable to me. And they have absolutely refused to use a spell checker, too.

People like that are just noise to me. I don't read, and don't reply, all because of a refusal to even try to communicate well.

[AdminAssistant]

There are several posters on CS that I don't read, because of grammer, spelling, punctuation, etc. I just can't read it. I have a few Facebook friends who post everything in all caps, and I tend not to read their posts either.

I correct poorly written papers as part of my job, so I don't really want to do that outside of classwork. So I won't call someone out on poor grammer, but if it's atrocious I won't read it. I'm also known to make the occasional mistake. But I don't mind so much if someone kindly points out a mistake that I've made. Especially if I've been translating something, then go to post a Facebook status or something on here, and it winds up being Franglish.

[joe hx]

There are several posters on CS that I don't read, because of grammer, spelling, punctuation, etc. I just can't read it

that's especially true of that pfb site

i get annoyed, when people put commas after the verb.
obviously i don't care about capitalization.
i laugh when i see to much use of "too" spelled "to"

oh, and "grammer" is spelled "grammar"

[powerboy]

I for one cannot stand the ones that will point out another person spelling faults. A teammate of mine, is like that. She is our proof reader and will only look over the important documents.

There is a website that offers spell and grammar checking for free. The website is Spell Checker and Grammar Check. I use that when every time that I can.

[LeChatNoir]

Incorrect spelling and punctuation irks me when I notice it. I'm not perfect, I probably make more mistakes than I should, but I do have a certain set of "standards" when it comes to reading internet postings, etc.

That being said, I usually don't say anything about problems because I hate to be seen as a nit-picker. Also, it's easier to just not read the offending post. If you don't use capitalization, punctuation, everything is a giant run-on sentence, don't be surprised if no one responds to what you have to say!

[Nyoibo]

Cn u plz expln wat u meen bye taht?

[Lace Neil Singer]

Incorrect spelling and grammar annoys me, but I'll only make an issue of it if it's obvious, glaringly, that the person is not bothering at all but just posting in a meaningless jumble.

On one message board I frequent, one of the rules is to at least TRY to type correctly; the odd shortened word like "coz", or "cept" is fine, but an entire post of shortened words, as tho the person is texting on a mobile, is unacceptable. Same goes for the following:

1. Stealing the Great Wall of China. That, people, is basically a giant block of text with zero paragraphing.

2. Spelling words badly on purpose. An accidental spelling mistake is fine; no-one's perfect. However, spelling words wrong on purpose is pointless and annoying.

3. Holy run on sentence, Batman! A run on sentence is painful to read. X_x

that some of the grammatically incorrect posts they read might be written by people who don't speak English as their native language.

Strange, I have noticed just the opposite; a lot of people who aren't native English speakers tend to type posts in a very correct form of English, sometimes better than those who are native English speakers.

[DrFaroohk]

The misplaced comma, irks me to no end. It disrupts my entire flow, of reading the sentence. It makes, me want, to pull, my, hair, out, and, stab, some, one.

And I hate it when after you point out that someone is typing like a three year old, they have to then search your post and read it and read it and finally they find the one mistake you made and they act like they won some sort of prize.

[Boozy]

The misplaced comma, irks me to no end. It disrupts my entire flow, of reading the sentence. It makes, me want, to pull, my, hair, out, and, stab, some, one.

I'm so with you there. I can ignore most mispellings and grammar mistakes, but the misplaced comma is terribly jarring.

The internet has turned quite a few people into writers when they shouldn't be. It used to be that if you didn't have to write for your job, the average adult didn't write much at all once they were out of school. So no one knew how poor their grammar and syntax was.

Now we have people who barely passed grade school (if at all) typing out incomprehensible diatribes on the internet for everyone to see. And we're shocked at their ignorance of their own language.

As far as the Grammar Nazi thing goes: It's poor form to correct someone's grammatical errors or mispellings. I consider it rude, especially when one does it publicly. If someone wants me to teach them how to conjugate a sentence, they'll ask me. Otherwise, my choices are to ignore the errors and read the post, or ignore the post entirely. The classy thing to do is to pretend you don't notice the minor faults of others when they don't harm you in any way.

[Greenday]

One or two mistakes per post, I don't really care. We all make mistakes. But when it's a ton of mistakes, I just stop reading. If it's in all caps, I refuse to read it. If It'S wRiTtEn LiKe ThIs, I refuse to read it.

I just think it's hilarious when grammar nazis get on someone's ass about poor grammar, then another person in and points out that they made a grammar mistake too.

[BroomJockey]

I'm an editor. Professionally. My job title is "editorial assistant." I'll proofread or copyedit any job too small to be contracted out to a freelancer. I consolidate edits from the author and the copyeditor. By training, trade, and disposition I read posts and notice spelling and grammar errors. Furthermore, since the only information we have in online communications is the text presented by a person, that is the only standard by which to judge someone.

If their text is full of errors, either they don't know, or they don't care. The people who don't know break down in to two groups: ESL and ignorant (which is different from stupid). I find ESL people tend to make a greater effort, and earn a break from me. Ignorant and the uncaring are about equivalent to me. There's tools available. Firefox and Opera both have built-in, in-line, spellcheckers. They will tell you if you're screwing up as you're typing. Grammar is slightly more difficult, but any word processor should have a grammar check. Just copy your post to there, run it through, then paste it back. It's a process of about 10 seconds if you leave the word processor open.

And yet for all this, I won't point out someone's errors unless there's a humorous aspect, or a point germane to the topic to be made.

[AdminAssistant]

oh, and "grammer" is spelled "grammar"

Exactly my point. *sigh*

[blas87]

My favorite thing to do is to correct the grammar and spelling of people who ought to know better than to make stupid mistakes.....aka, people making way more money than me.

You cannot tell me that you make nearly double what I do and you don't know the proper meaning of the word redundant?