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Regarding spelling, punctuation, and grammar
- Thread starter FilterFunk
- Start date
I should've quoted my source here. I got the definition from my Oxford dictionary. I double checked in my Websters (NY) and it makes no distinction between the 2.
I'm 16 now, as of yesterday, but as an AP English student I absolutely abhor improper grammar. As a teenager, all I'm surrounded by are other teenagers that couldn't give a rat's behind about spelling or grammar, and are willing to tease the life out of anyone who does. If I correct people I'm told to "chill".
This is why I've stopped associating with dumb people. If someone, in conversation with me, consistently uses improper grammar, I can't do it. I can't talk to them; it's just not okay. I'm uptight, and rightly made fun of, but it's my biggest pet peeve. I can't stand it. There's absolutely something wrong with a society that refuses to put effort into education. On Twitter, all I see are people berating the school system and talking about the stupidity of standardized testing. Everyone has an excuse for why they're not doing well in school, but none seem to be able to grasp the simple concept of "maybe I'm the problem". It's really quite frustrating. You have the Internet, and can look up anything in the world, but instead you use it to talk about how your teachers hate you for giving you a project to do on your own time. This is why I spend my time on TB and Wikipedia instead, learning about bass playing and string theory. I just can't wait to watch those people fail miserably in university. I'm a terrible person, but I totally get where you're coming from.
This is why I've stopped associating with dumb people. If someone, in conversation with me, consistently uses improper grammar, I can't do it. I can't talk to them; it's just not okay. I'm uptight, and rightly made fun of, but it's my biggest pet peeve. I can't stand it. There's absolutely something wrong with a society that refuses to put effort into education. On Twitter, all I see are people berating the school system and talking about the stupidity of standardized testing. Everyone has an excuse for why they're not doing well in school, but none seem to be able to grasp the simple concept of "maybe I'm the problem". It's really quite frustrating. You have the Internet, and can look up anything in the world, but instead you use it to talk about how your teachers hate you for giving you a project to do on your own time. This is why I spend my time on TB and Wikipedia instead, learning about bass playing and string theory. I just can't wait to watch those people fail miserably in university. I'm a terrible person, but I totally get where you're coming from.
Chuck in a few doubletaps to the return key and move closer to nirvana.
AP English, you say? Ready for exams? I'm in AP Calculus, AP Physics, and AP Music Theory. It's nice to know there' at least one person on TB who can relate.
Side note: I feel like I have a stick up my butt every time I go to post in this thread. Any one mistake, and I am dead meat. My worst offense is generally forgetting to capitalize my "I"s because i have so little respect for myself that I feel I do not deserve the capitalization in reference to my meager self.
I don't know what you mean by this statement. Are you insinuating that if one types "practise vs practice" (no quotes) into a Google search, the website I pointed to does not show up (if not first, at least on the first page)?
If so, did you try it yourself? I just tried it again, and sure enough, that site comes up first on the list.
If not, I am confused as I made no other statement than to point out that your statement ("...and did a quick search on Bing and Google. I cannot find a single source to bolster your assertion.") was easily tested (which I did) and I wanted to point you to at least one source that held a different view. Not to point out error, but more because of all of the misspelled/misused words listed in this thread so far, this was one with which I had no experience and so was curious.
I don't think anybody was referring to cultural differences in language. It's pretty easy to tell when English isn't the primary language or if a nearly unreadable post is due to laziness. I'll even let stupidity slide, because I'm not one to judge intelligence. When a post is hard to read because it was lazily composed, it shows a lack of respect by the poster for the rest of us (me).
AP English, you say? Ready for exams? I'm in AP Calculus, AP Physics, and AP Music Theory. It's nice to know there' at least one person on TB who can relate.
Side note: I feel like I have a stick up my butt every time I go to post in this thread. Any one mistake, and I am dead meat. My worst offense is generally forgetting to capitalize my "I"s because i have so little respect for myself that I feel I do not deserve the capitalization in reference to my meager self.
Well, I'm only in grade 11, and a year advanced at that; I just turned 16. I'm in the AP precursor, in our school called Program for Gifted Learners, but it's not recognized outside of our school so I just said AP. It's an advanced placement to get you ready for Advanced Placement, if that makes sense. I'll be taking AP Lit, Calculus, and Physics next year, unfortunately the only three AP programs my subpar school offers.
I, too, revise my posts in this thread before hitting the post button. By the way, the thread title has not an error per se, but as of a couple years ago it's no longer deemed necessary to add a comma before "and" preceding the last item in a list. Technically the proper form would have been "Regarding spelling, punctuation and grammar", although it's very minor, and under any other circumstances I never would've pointed it out.
My other pet peeve is simply American spelling, but that has nothing to do with errors, because to you guys "color" is correct.
Actually, I appreciate you pointing it out. The funny thing is that I used to not add the last comma. I've been around a little longer than you (I'm 51), and I only started adding the last comma a few years ago because I saw it used that way so often. Now I'll go back to omitting it. Thanks!
It's what I was taught at school around a million years ago.
However, despite the fact that in the UK the correct word for the verb is practise it now seems to be moderately acceptable to use practice. The same rules apply to licence (verb is license, noun is licence), but in this case the US version is license for all senses, but I get the feeling in UK the US version (license for the verb) is falling out of common usage, matching the new way practice is being used.
I don't know, if I were interested in language discussions I'm sure there are sites dedicated to that. Getting annoyed by minor spelling or grammar errors on an international bass talking site gets in the way of the content I'm here for. With a minimum of imagination and from the context of the discussion you can understand the most mangled message - or you can ask for a clarification instead of just nit-picking grammar.
I do think people should pay more attention to how they write though. Whether you like it or not the impression of a person will be affected by how they talk and write, and it will have an effect on the credibility of what they say. If you want your questions or opinions on things to be noted and respected it is simply smart to present them well.
Anyway, I'm not bothered much by language errors on sites like TB. I do get quite annoyed by incorrect language in newspapers and TV news though, as well as incorrect translation and other errors in movie subtitles. People in those professions should have a better grasp of spelling and grammar.
As already said, as a lot of us don't have English as our first language I'd hope you'll allow for some mistakes. Many, or even most, posters' English is probably better than your <insert other language of choice here> anyway.
I do think people should pay more attention to how they write though. Whether you like it or not the impression of a person will be affected by how they talk and write, and it will have an effect on the credibility of what they say. If you want your questions or opinions on things to be noted and respected it is simply smart to present them well.
Anyway, I'm not bothered much by language errors on sites like TB. I do get quite annoyed by incorrect language in newspapers and TV news though, as well as incorrect translation and other errors in movie subtitles. People in those professions should have a better grasp of spelling and grammar.
As already said, as a lot of us don't have English as our first language I'd hope you'll allow for some mistakes. Many, or even most, posters' English is probably better than your <insert other language of choice here> anyway.
"Color" IS correct.
And there were Yanks on the Mayflower?? How does that work??
And there were Yanks on the Mayflower?? How does that work??
Something that really bugs me is when someone responds to a correction by saying, "I'm just not a good speller," as if that were some kind of explanation. It isn't that difficult to become a better speller in a world where you can get answers instantly using Google or online dictionaries.
My CFO (who makes a quarter million dollars a year) sent out an email the other day with the word "irregardless". It made me cringe.
