Grammarants

[Willie Oleson]

Blame it on the grammarama
and the way we spell
Blame it on the grammarama
better do it well

sorry I had an artistic revelation

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Blame it on the grammarama
and the way we spell
Blame it on the grammarama
better do it well

Brilliant. Pure genius.


But does it need a semi-colon?

 

[Jason73]

"Excited for" is widely used, but I suppose I've only really noticed it in the last couple of years, so I'm a bit behind the times (again, perhaps due to my lack of social media) and felt as though I missed the memo.

It doesn't feel as though it's something that I adopted or something that was influenced by social media or a recent development in my speech patterns. It feels like the way I've always said it. But then I guess if it were something I added to the way I speak, it fits with what I was saying about people just sort of taking in all these different influences and it affecting the way they speak without really noticing it. Maybe some of us are just more easily influenced by other people's incorrect grammar usage.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Wow! I’m scared to post on this thread now. I’m so paranoid about my grammar that I’m scared to hit send. I’m so nervous that I’m going over every word I type with a fine tooth comb

 

[Mel O'Drama]

t doesn't feel as though it's something that I adopted or something that was influenced by social media or a recent development in my speech patterns. It feels like the way I've always said it. But then I guess if it were something I added to the way I speak, it fits with what I was saying about people just sort of taking in all these different influences and it affecting the way they speak without really noticing it. Maybe some of us are just more easily influenced by other people's incorrect grammar usage.

Interesting. It's quite possible that it has always been used this way and I simply haven't noticed. Just as you said about people's personal circumstances influencing how they speak, similar factors may also influence the expressions that people notice.

The blog I linked to in the first post had someone with a similar experience to mine, who was noticing it as a recent change. They felt it was due to "entertainment writers", but who's to say they're right? Perhaps they just hadn't noticed it before and were also trying to understand how it fitted into their world. I suppose I have that similar mindset where I find it easier to accept something if I can begin to understand its usage history.

I'm always interested to know what people's language bugbears are. It's telling that of the half a dozen or so members who've discussed theirs so far in this thread we all have different ones. There are some language "rules" that I follow and notice. There are many I've discarded. And no doubt there are more still that haven't even registered with me. Again, there will be all kinds of factors behind it, some of which I'll never know and understand. Which is part of the reason why I find the topic so fascinating.

Wow! I’m scared to post on this thread now. I’m so paranoid about my grammar that I’m scared to hit send. I’m so nervous that I’m going over every word I type with a fine tooth comb

Well I'm glad you did hit send. Everyone's free to express opinions in a way that is right for them, and nobody's in a position to criticise the way another member writes something. It's the participation that's important.

 

[Angela Channing]

Wow! I’m scared to post on this thread now. I’m so paranoid about my grammar that I’m scared to hit send. I’m so nervous that I’m going over every word I type with a fine tooth comb

It's funny you say that because when I added my first comment to this thread I double checked it before hitting send because I was didn't want my grammar or use of language to be attacked when I was attacking that of other people's, even though my point would still be valid.

Language does develop and conventions that were accepted in the past are no longer valid today but it doesn't mean that you can't be annoyed by it. A friend of mine told me I'm one of the few people he knows that uses full punctuation in text/WhatsApp messages (I always use comma, colons and semi-colons in them) and because it's a relatively new medium for communication, I'm the one using it incorrectly and everyone else is correct by not bothering to do so.

I'm officially a dinosaur!

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Language does develop and conventions that were accepted in the past are no longer valid today but it doesn't mean that you can't be annoyed by it. A friend of mine told me I'm one of the few people he knows that uses full punctuation in text/WhatsApp messages (I always use comma, colons and semi-colons in them) and because it's a relatively new medium for communication, I'm the one using it incorrectly and everyone else is correct by not bothering to do so.

I'm officially a dinosaur!

From one dinosaur to another, I can relate.

 

[Sarah]

I’ve probably raised this before but I also can’t stand how some of my country folk use the word ‘sorry’ in place of ‘excuse me’. On occasion I have asked ‘Why are you apologising?’

 

[Daniel Avery]

I'm one of the few people he knows that uses full punctuation in text/WhatsApp messages

I think the "text-speak" we see creeping into everyday writing will drive me over the edge some day. But then, I've never written a text message in my life, so I'm not sure if I'd end up doing all those abbreviations and acronyms if/when I start. I wonder what these people do with all that free time they've built up by not typing words out and using punctuation at the end.

So for the time being I feel like Donald Sutherland in that Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake from the 1970s.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

People use "decimated" as a synonym for "totally destroyed" when it actually refers to being reduced by 10%. I've given up trying to fight for that one, though.

I thought of you when I just read this headline. It's used correctly-ish here as he's talking about a drop in sales rather than shops being razed to the ground, but since sales have fallen enough for them to be in such dire straits I suspect he intended "decimated" as a synonym for their sales being almost totally destroyed.

 

[Seaviewer]

A few years ago, people would probably have led with "Well..."*

That's the point I was going to make. I hate the "so" thing", too, but I do use "well" and that doesn't mean anything either. I guess it comes down to what you're used to.

There doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule with commas anymore.

I don't think there ever was. The basic rule is to use the least punctuation necessary to make the meaning clear.

It's taken me years, but think I've finally figured semi-colons out.

Don't ask me why but I like semi-colons; possibly I overuse them.

When did a "troop" (group of soldiers, think F Troop) become a single person?

That one annoys me, too. The news report will speak of 100 troops. What happened to the word "trooper"?

 

[James from London]

I really like it when sayings become mangled. I remember Katie Price being impressed with someone on I'm a Celebrity and saying, "I give you my hat", which is really sweet. I can imagine that phrase catching on and then in years to come people saying, "Why do we say 'I give you my hat'? Which hat?" It's like "to curry favour", which apparently stems from some scary King off of the olden days. To get on his good side, people would brush his favourite horse with a curry comb. Or was the horse called Curry? It's one of the two anyway.

 

[Willie Oleson]

It's like "to curry favour"

I misread that as "to curry flavour" and now I can't decide if that's possible or not (I mean the "curry flavour" part, not the misreading part).

 

[James from London]

I misread that as "to curry flavour" and now I can't decide if that's possible or not (I mean the "curry flavour" part, not the misreading part).

Mmm, curry flavour ...

 

[Willie Oleson]

Ah...(so) it's the super noodles that curry the flavour! Thanks!

 

[Seaviewer]

Superfluous prepositions such as:
Where are you going to?
How long are you staying for?
Where we're at (instead of Where we are)

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Superfluous prepositions such as:
Where are you going to?

Even Tim Rice is guilty of this:

As is Diana Ross:

 

[Seaviewer]

Saying, for example, "ten times more" when they mean "ten times as many." One time more than one is already two so ten times more would be eleven times the original amount.
Even worse is saying "ten times less' when they mean "one tenth." One time less than one is zero so ten times less would be minus nine.

 

[Seaviewer]

When did a "troop" (group of soldiers, think F Troop) become a single person?

In similar vein to this, when did every individual parking space become a car park?

 

[Angela Channing]

Even worse is saying "ten times less' when they mean "one tenth." One time less than one is zero so ten times less would be minus nine.

Angela tiptoes into the room and whispers "Shouldn't that be ten times fewer?" Angela tiptoes out of the room to avoid being shouted at.