Grammar matters!

[AdmiralAK]

mmm hacker talk
I had a program a while back that allowed me to just give it a simple text file of text and it would convert the text to hacker-talk tecxt

[nkuvu]

Valrus seems to be overly concerned with your/you're. Not that I am criticizing -- I jump all over its/it's and their/there/they're. Or other trivial things.

Like 'plex saying "Its a casual error" -- should be "It's a casual error" since it's is a contraction of it is, and its is possessive it.

And grammer isn't a word, but grammar is.

Oh, wait, we're supposed to be more tolerant of grammar? Sorry, went the wrong way.

Seriously, I agree with Valrus -- the important thing is understanding. This is not a technical forum, nor even professional. I do actually proofread my posts, sometimes more than once. I'm not about to ask everyone else to do the same, though.

I'm not a big fan of pointing out grammatical usage no matter how poorly a poster slaughters it. I will do so in everyday life, but only if I know the person speaking. For instance, I have a friend who constantly mixes up words. She uses words that may sound similar to what she wants, but the meaning is completely different. I sometimes correct her -- not to be nitpicky, but because she gets upset when people think her stupid for her speech patterns. If I notice her use a specific word over and over, and it is the wrong word, I'll tell her, so in the future she might use the correct one. I don't do this frequently, and it has never become a sore point.

If I am proofreading a paper, no matter how technical or professional, I will jump on every single grammatical error -- I think it's only fair if I have been asked to do exactly that. I have not been asked to proof anyone's posts, so I don't. I once pointed out an 'excessive pronoun use'. But that was because the post was something like "He has a good point. Ignore his post." Who had a good point? Ignore which post? But ifn i's post a lin like dis, u all kin understood me, tho it might be mo harder.

I find Neyo's posts to be difficult to understand, but I don't think his credibility is diminished because of it (IMO). Besides, most people are lazy typers, and ur is shorter that you're.

I don't see what all the fuss is about...

Post 2 of my posting fast (See the B&G thread for details)

[Valrus]

Yeah, I'm definitely more anal about grammar than most people.

Actually all the things that nkuvu was talking about really bother me. I don't know why, but suffice to say that if I corrected someone every time I saw some grammatical thing that bothered me here, I'd have well over a thousand posts by now... but I don't think I'd get a congratulations thread.

But most of the people here are pretty good about it, so I don't feel like I have to bug everyone. I get the impression that people could write with perfect grammar if they wanted to.

But I don't tend to make those kinds of mistakes (your/you're, its/it's, they're/there/their) even when I'm just typing casually. And I don't proofread anything I write other than what I notice while I'm writing (I'll correct typos, obviously, or if I spot a missing apostrpohe I'll fix that) - I just finished an eight-page paper for my math class and didn't proofread it once before I turned it in.

I dunno. I guess I just don't understand how the mistakes made here wouldn't carry over into more official documents, and indeed if they don't, why they're made here and not there. Those aren't the kinds of things you'd catch with a spell checker, so it seems like it would be best to get into the habit of just being a little more aware of what you're typing.

Don't mean to sound like an ass, if indeed I do. I think I got the grammar-stickler thing from my mother.

-the valrus

[RacerX]

There are people who have some very real problems with language. If it is getting totally out of hand, yes, it should be brought to their attention. Otherwise, pointing out mistakes is just being a grammar troll. There really is no nice way for someone to point that type of stuff out, and I feel that the etiquette problem of the grammar troll is far more egregious than the poster with poor grammar.

[chemistry_geek]

I think that as long as you're able to effectively communicate, everything should be all right. I think one's grammar is a reflection of education and personality. You're either detail-oriented and want to strive for self-improvement or you're not. Some people are more detail-oriented than others. So what if they're not? It's the way they are and they're happy with themselves, there's no need to criticize if the general idea is clearly expressed with some grammatical errors. I see many mistakes in other people's posts, and I have never commented about grammar, though I do remember mocking ~~NeYo~~'s writing style (...--==[kN0w wH@t ! mEeN?]==--...). We should be nice to each other, there's enough voilence and bad attitude in the world. Why propagate more? Is it really worth the emotional upset?

I don't got no learnins'

[symphonix]

I spent about a year working as a proof-reader when I finished high-school, and ever since then I've been unable to pick up a newspaper without immediately noticing each and every typo on the page.

As a writer, I tend to be a bit fussy about my use of grammar. As a human being, I know that we not only make mistakes, but mistakes are inevitable. And I'm sure there are a few people on our boards who speak english as a second language, or use a translator.

I think it comes down to showing people that you've put in some thought and effort. You wouldn't trust an accountant who met you for a consultation wearing a Motley Crue T-shirt and torn jeans. You would infer that the accountant simply didn't take you seriously.

Likewise, when somebody offers you a reply that is not only helpful but also neatly stated and easy to understand, then you can see that they respect you and take you seriously. Obviously, there is a limit to how fussy you should be, but I do quickly read over my posts every time, out of respect for the other members.

[googolplex]

I can understand that, but pointing out that someone used 'your' instead of 'you're' or 'its' instead of 'it's' is a little much don't you think. I mean, we're posting on a message board we're not writing a formal document. I usually try and write properlly, however, I slip sometimes and its not because I dont know I'm just writing a response quickly or something and I don't really feel that it is neccisary to go over it a lot to look for things like that.

[xoot]

Heh. If anyone has read the Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit, do not even dare to post Gollum-style.

Example:

Yesssss, my precious, grammar mattersss very much...

Just trying to spread in a bit of xoot humor here and there.