Gramer Nazis Unite!
 

What do you all think?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28900351/

If you are putting a finished product out there, like a report or a sign or a menu, it should look professional and you should make the effort to make sure the grammar is correct and so is the spelling.

If you are posting in the Cellar, or shooting an e-mail to a cow orker, it doesn't matter at all.

When I send e-mails to teh entire firm, including all teh senior management, I proof them a few times and make sure there are no mistakes.

When I post to the Cellar, I usually don't. (I'm leaving those "teh"s up there.)

It sounds to hard...:eek:

er...what glatt said.

Me tinks it be phuking stoopid to git awl bent outta shape aboot it.


:-)

My personal feeling is pay more attention to WHAT someone is saying rather than HOW they say it.

Good title.

Even in the Cellar I try to eliminate syntactical, grammatical and morphological errors in my writing, but am not always successful.

I'll admit to being disturbed when I see 'to' when 'too' is intended. And I've lately begun to notice how frequently commas are mis-used.

You try to hard. (You know you do...winky nudgy)

Your ellipsis is used incorrectly there, Shawnee.

And she forgot the period... and left out the work "make."

Are 'winky' and 'nudgy' even words?

The "to" should have been "too." :D

I wish I had that skill. I effectively avoided most of the traditional english classes in HS. I only had it for one semester the first year. After that I took acting, competitive speech, and some other stuff that qualified. I paid for it on a regualar basis when on active duty, but that is what the wife was for, she helped me stay out of most trouble with my major reports and investigations.

If I don't have any cow orkers, then it still does not matter? Or do I have some and didn't read the directions?

It is concerning how little most of us care about our written word, but that should be hardly surprising when we consider how some of us articulate ourselves.

I wouldn't say I'm traditionalist in my views on grammar and the like, but I do think it's important to learn the rules before you start breaking them, hence my attitude towards my kids trying to txt spk 2 me.

Eh. I never thought, nor do I now think, that posting on a website or forum equates with the quality expected and required of an official bit of written work.

I think we'd all be in trouble if that were the case. ;)

It drives me up the wall. I hate it.

But I also feel that there are very few things ruder than calling attention to another person's rudeness. And so with grammar--I'd certainly never go around correcting shop signs or something. I just let it go, as much as it grates sometimes.

Now, I can hear certain of you accusing me of being a "Grammar Nazi." here. I admit, I can't resist if it results in a pun or double entendres.

I could write more on this, but I'm tired. I have another screed coming on that I think may relate this subject to certain TV trends. I'll just finish by saying: the idea that any alleged increase in aggressive pedantry is somehow related to the economy or any other crap that's going on is just silly.

Wot Ali sed. It is concerning. I am not down with those who can't see the importance of good writing.

Commas are among the fuzziest of punctuation to use well. Too many think they're in there to breathe on and that's it.

..."GREENGROCERS' APOSTROPHES -- ASSORTED COLOURS"

I more or less treat it as if it were. It's out of respect for skill with the mother tongue.

Really, if you write the English of an educated man, where's the downside for anyone reading it?

Having worked with people for whom English is a second language, I'd just like to point out that I'm grateful when I can get the gist of what they're saying. That said, I've had to strive to ensure that most formal communications I get are vetted thoroughly to ensure that they really mean what they say if the subject is complicated beyond a brief thought.

Here's one from a former Director I reported to:

"Should be do imp PRD?"

That'was typical.

I find I really don't care about the grammar or spelling as long as the purpose is clear. One of the problems with email is that folks limit their attention to what is written last. It's rare in the corporate world that people quote in the context of the message sent.

One of my pet peeves is typing up a detailed reply *without top posting* and have someone dash off a one sentence reply that indicates they haven't read it.

While we're on the subject, the spelling and grammar checkers are another problem in that people tend to make the assumption that it's gotta be correct if it passed.

I'm off my soapbox, dammit.