New FFF.net Grammar Brigade...join here! by Caite

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New FFF.net Grammar Brigade...join here!

POSTED BY: CAITE
UPDATED: Monday, April 18, 2005 01:22
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VIEWED: 12969
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Friday, April 8, 2005 6:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by jake7:
Quote:
Originally posted by CALLMEATH:
"I could care less" Is the extra "n't" really that hard to say?

Well, now, that depends on what they mean.

Maybe they *could* care less (meaning they still care a little and they could lower their opinion).

If you *couldn't* care less, well, then that's the end of it.

I've never heard anyone say that who actually could have cared less. People usually use it to blow someone off.

"Invader's blood marches through my veins like giant radioactive rubber pants. The pants command me! Do not ignore my veins!"

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Friday, April 8, 2005 6:42 PM

TMURRIE

When people spell "awesome" without the "e", like "awsome", that ALWAYS gets to me.

Dumbo: I did good.
Me: You mean you did well.
Dumbo: No you are!
Me: Sigh.
Dumbo: dood dats so awsome!!1!1

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Friday, April 8, 2005 7:10 PM

CALLMEATH

Hey, grammer geniuses (no, I'm not being sarcastic; I bow to your greater knowledge), how does one pluralize "one"? Is it ones or one's? I did one's, but now I'm not sure if it was right. This thread has got me looking over my shoulder, so to speak.

"Invader's blood marches through my veins like giant radioactive rubber pants. The pants command me! Do not ignore my veins!"

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Friday, April 8, 2005 7:14 PM

CALLMEATH

Quote:
Originally posted by jake7:
Quote:
Originally posted by captaincdc:
Quote:
Originally posted by CALLMEATH:
Another pet peeve is when people say irregardless. I'm amazed every time I hear it used!

Hey! I didn't post that!! Who did?

Three posts on a row. I'm becoming a real thread hog. Sorry. Time to go to bed

"Invader's blood marches through my veins like giant radioactive rubber pants. The pants command me! Do not ignore my veins!"

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Saturday, April 9, 2005 3:45 PM

TALLGRRL

Quote:
Originally posted by Hell's Kitten:
Quote:
Originally posted by Tallgrrl:
Oh! There's also "good" and "well".
Ay caramba!!
Doesn't everyone know the difference?
One feels well.
One does good.
That's not entirely correct. For example: I did well on my exam. Good vs Well all depends on the useage of the word; I could "do good" when "good" is used as a noun.

I hates grammar anyhow.

无党派人士

Yep, you're right, but I was using the "does good" as in "one does good" as in good works.
"Girl Scouts do good."
Know what I mean?

Take me, sir. Take me hard. -- Zoe

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Saturday, April 9, 2005 4:38 PM

EMBERS

Caite, you have created one long and surprisingly interesting thread!

My pet peeve is on American TV, they always say:
'eat healthy food'
but if that chicken was healthy it would run away from you.

they should say 'eat healthful food'
(ie food that is good for you)
but the television advertisers are trying to destroy the brains of all Americans!

(which isn't surprising, since the food is unhealthful anyway)

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Sunday, April 10, 2005 8:24 AM

CAITE

I am glad that you have found the thread to be so interesting embers!

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Sunday, April 10, 2005 8:38 AM

PHOEBE

Quote:
Originally posted by CALLMEATH:
Hey, grammer geniuses (no, I'm not being sarcastic; I bow to your greater knowledge), how does one pluralize "one"? Is it ones or one's? I did one's, but now I'm not sure if it was right. This thread has got me looking over my shoulder, so to speak.

"Invader's blood marches through my veins like giant radioactive rubber pants. The pants command me! Do not ignore my veins!"

It's "ones". One's implies that one owns something.

ETA. Okay, this is more a problem with the English/American language barrier. But I *hate* it that the versions of Microsoft Word I use at school keep telling me words like "Colour" and "Realise" are inncorrect spellings. They aren't.

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Sunday, April 10, 2005 10:53 AM

DANFAN

This thread is like a breath of fresh air to me! At one time or another, I've been irritated by almost everything listed here. I find that I can tolerate (or not tolerate, as the case may be) different things depending on whether they are spoken or written. I can also make some allowances for the venue in which the communication occurs.

For example... lack of punctuation or capitalization in an IM chat is acceptable to me because of the time savings that it allows in a real-time communication via an awkward medium. But, people who post on a thread or send email without punctuation or capitalization drive me batty. Usually I can figure out what they mean. Sometimes it is difficult. Always it is annoying.

As for verbal communication, one peeve I've not seen mentioned here is the absurdity of people who SPEAK the abbreviation "i.e." For crying out loud, it's an abbreviation for a latin phrase! It serves a purpose in writing as a shorthand for "that is." But in the spoken language it saves no syllables. Even worse, most of the time I've heard it spoken, the speaker actually meant "e.g."! I assume that people speak it in the mistaken belief that it makes them sound more intellectual.

More verbal pet peeves: nucular (nuclear), perphial (peripheral)

Final thoughts... grammar, punctuation, and spelling are truly necessary only insofar as they promote clear communication. I understand the somewhat common opinion that much of it can be dispensed with. But it isn't all that infrequent that punctuation, spelling and grammar DOES provide clarity... and the use of such things allows people to communicate with more class and style. They add texture and nuance to writing that lower case IM monotone simply lacks.

Damn! This felt good. Thanks!

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Monday, April 11, 2005 9:46 AM

ODDNESS2HER

Montana Girl:

Lie and lay are tricky. You lie down to go to sleep. Lay is used when talking (or writing) about an object other than yourself such as,.
"Go lay this book on the table." However, you can use lay when referring to yourself as in "Now I lay me down to sleep." Lay is also the past tense of lie, so you say "Today I lay down for a nap."

Clear as mud?

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Monday, April 11, 2005 1:08 PM

ELWOODMOM

Quote:
Originally posted by Caite:
Okay, here's my pet grammar peeve: I really don't like people who overgeneralize grammar rules. The one that I am thinking of (that I hear most often) is when people want to say something like "Kaylee came over to talk to Mal and me," but because they've always heard that it's "Mal and I" they say that even though it's not correct.

The best way to keep from making this mistake is take out the other person. Would you say "Kaylee came over to talk to I?" No, you wouldn't. You'd say "Kaylee came over to talk to me."

Next person, por favor.

p.s. this is fun in a really sick and twisted way.

You know, I'm guilty of that! Thanks for clearing it up for me, I'll not make that mistake again!

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Monday, April 11, 2005 3:53 PM

CAITE

I only wish my students were quite so grateful. Today I did a bunch of mini lessons with my 10th graders (we have a block period, and I did sentence variety, run-ons, fragments, and subject verb agreement), and my 5th period just did not want to pay attention and do their work. Well, they'll get a reality check come Friday when the final drafts of their essays are due.

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Monday, April 11, 2005 4:20 PM

MERRIEB

I completely understand! I'm also from Texas. Plus I have a Master's degree in English.

I have to admit my biggest pet peeve (next to the your/you're bit, but that's been covered) is the misuse of y'all. Or the mispelling of y'all. I have no issues with the word itself, but use it properly! Y'all = you all. Meaning more than one person. Do not use it for the singular.

Secondly, it's not spelled ya'll. ARGH! I actually read a book by a respected fantasy writer and y'all was mispelled and misused. The horror!

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Tuesday, April 12, 2005 5:08 AM

CAITE

::blushes because she's been using y'all wrong::

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Wednesday, April 13, 2005 8:26 AM

ELWOODMOM

As your students get older, they'll realize that they don't want to sound illiterate and uneducated. "Knowdledge is power" means "blah blah blah" to them!

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Wednesday, April 13, 2005 12:24 PM

MALSDOXY

I know what did this...

more verbal pet peeves;
realitor ( realtor)
calvary (cavalry)
tri-ology (trilogy)

using conscience and conscious as if the same word!!!
ARRGGHH!!

"Haven't you killed me enough for one day ?"
- Mal, War Stories

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Thursday, April 14, 2005 1:03 PM

CAITE

My wonderful fellow brigaders...check this out if you haven't already.

ttp:// www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=9471

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Monday, April 18, 2005 1:22 AM

GAVIDA

Quote:
Originally posted by Hell's Kitten:
Quote:
Originally posted by Caite:
You put punctuation inside quotation marks...always
I had to look this up because of your use of the word "always." Here's what I found:

* period and comma within quotes except when followed by parenthetical reference
* colon and semicolon outside quotes
* dash, exclamation mark, and question mark inside quotes if it applies to the quote itself, but outside quotes if it applies to the whole sentence

And people wonder why grammar is so tricky.... I still hates it.

无党派人士

Please forgive my question, but being a german who is interested in the english language and tries to learn about it as much as possible I have to ask it.

Wouldn't the correct use of the period/full stop in "I had to look this up because of your use of the word 'always.'" put the period behind the quotation marks?
Wouldn't you put the period inside the quotation marks only if you quoted a whole sentence? The period you used ends your sentence or so I would understand it.
So it should read: I had to look this up because of your use of the word "always".

If you quoted a sentence you would put it at inside the marks, right?
Example:
I had to look this up because of you saying "Always put the punctuation inside the quotation marks."

Now I am wondering if you would put a period after the quotation mark as well to indicate that your sentence has ended, or if the period indicates ending both sentences. Could anyone shed some light on this?

The more I think about, the more I get the feeling that I am mixing german and english grammar rules here.

I really have to work on my rethorical skills to bring my point across with fewer words, I guess

.

See ya,
Gavida

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