Why is it that language threads make us crazy?

[elSicomoro]

Hearing yourself talk.

[piercehawkeye45]

You always got to love the...

"God, your grammer is absoultely terrible"

[DanaC]

yeah.....but strictly speaking that last example shows, not bad grammar, but poor spelling.

[lumberjim]

i dare you to criticize my grammar or spelling. i'll treat you to an ass whooping, the likes you;ve never seeeeeen. and my apostropholon is my trademark, so don;t fuck with that either.

[limey]

Originally Posted by zippyt

What the HELL am I doing in this thread ?????

Someone else must be using Zip's log-in - that was all spelllllt corectley!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Dagney

IMO, it's not the content of the thread, it's the 'holier than thou' attitude that bleeds through the postings that I think people tend to take offense to.

Absolutely, especially when the intent and meaning are clear.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by Dagney

I'm by no measure a grammar nazi....heck, I'm lucky to have it all spelled right

Grammar Nazi really should be capitalized, and an elipsis should have only three periods and a space before and after it.

Just sayin'.

[Dagney]

Originally Posted by wolf

Grammar Nazi really should be capitalized, and an elipsis should have only three periods and a space before and after it.

Just sayin'.

See, this is why I'm not one I burnt my copy of Little Brown and my Style Guides after I graduated from college.

But I certainly don't mind being corrected, as long as the underlying tone isn't 'I'm better than you are, neener neener neener.' Because, well, that just cheeses my goat more than you would ever believe.

[Trilby]

Why is everybody being such a dick lately?

BTW, I like coz, hey, who doesn't love a dragon on a flag? and coz it's got a pot leaf on it.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Some of us are experts at performing a semicolonoscopy, and others of us can't see it for shit.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by ravenranter

will use of lower case really offend people? i'm intelligent enough, but lazy.

If you want to exhibit good waterfowl management, capitalize when required. Otherwise, it looks like both your Shift keys are broken, and left unrepaired. Lame? You make the call.

Some wag just called no-caps writing "e.e. mail."

What the HELL am I doing in this thread ?????

Risking a spanking. With the ball gag and other bondage gear, or without? -- getting out the naughty toys is going to extra trouble.

Ellipsis: dot space dot space dot. Simply trailing off at the end of a sentence, three or more dots...

Anybody who can actually use a coma is frightfully clever. I suppose it's a bit less clever to tell someone else he could use one.

For stylistic and semantic atrocity, there is nothing in the English language to beat The Eye of Argon. Of which the less said the better -- except that it's the basis of a perennial amusement at Fantasy and Science Fiction conventions. They sit around in a reading circle and pass a typescript from hand to hand...

...And try to read it aloud without breaking up. Once you've started to giggle, you must pass it to the next reader.

Originally Posted by Cloud
Why is it that language threads make us crazy?

Nice play on words (i.e. threads = clothing)! While "dressing up" even one's informal writing has its advantages, it's still the person (content) that makes the clothes (writing), not the clothes that make the person.

A fundamental of sociology and principle of effective communication is that it's the responsibility of the person trying to communicate an idea to make themselves understood and not the responsibility of the person receiving the message to somehow understand it. If you can accomplished that, I don't particularly care how you write, more power to you.

[Shawnee123]

I think we are talking about two different things. A thread about grammar and language is by definition a discussion about that topic presumably for those who are interested in the art and mechanics of the language.

Correcting another's post outside of such a thread is a different matter completely.

I admit I'm O-C about language, and had my own a-ha moment this weekend when I was thinking about something I had posted and realized I had used the wrong word! (Maybe this belongs in "You know you spend too much time in the Cellar when..." thread.) I try not to jump on others, though, unless they're jerks and I feel like screwing with them, or if the typo or error is just really funny in some way and I can't resist.

I am not even close to perfect either, but I do love the art and science of our language.

[Trilby]

I think none of youse here has a sense of humour at all.

I gots me one.