More accurately, the title of this thread should be "Top 10 grammatical errors which make one look stupid"Originally Posted by Fairlie
Forum whore
More accurately, the title of this thread should be "Top 10 grammatical errors which make one look stupid"
Sir Cumference
I vote for "Top 10 grammatical errors to make one look stupid".
For that matter, is it pronounced "styoopid" or "stoopid"?
Can I believe the magic of your size... (The Shirelles)
Forum whore
Woohoo.Pedant war
Where's Mr MikeL when we need him.
Highway Biker
Bet you guys ,have exciting parties.
grounded
Ah, the which/that debate. MS Word always insists on correcting such a sentence with "Top 10 grammatical errors which, make one look stupid" or change the sentence with "Top 10 grammatical errors that make one look stupid" and it drives me nutty! Why, oh why does it want to put a comma in there??? Also are there rules regarding the correct use of which and that?
Please enlighten me dear sirs.
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
- Dr. Suess
Sir Cumference
I used to, but no longer sell Tupperware.....
Can I believe the magic of your size... (The Shirelles)
One hell of a ride.
Don't tell me you went stale on it.
Lumpy
Ixion, I agree entirely with your correction.
I would suggest a further amendment:
The top 10 grammatical errors which make one look stupid.
"No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does."
Forum whore
Possibly. The addition of "The" makes the statement more prescriptive, I think. The original allows for some debate as to which errors fall into the "top 10". Addition of "The" makes the list definative. I would actually prefer "Ten common grammatical errors which make one look stupid".
slightly adventurous
Well I saw him at the pub last night...Woohoo.
Where's Mr MikeL when we need him.
sdkfz
Since people are adding spoken language to this thread:
"The singer preformed her song."
Bah! Everybody on T.V. does that!
Measure once, cut twice. Practice makes perfect.
Lumpy
One one my key pet hates (of which there are many) is the incorrect use of meantime and meanwhile.
Starting a sentence with "Meantime the police are...." or even worse saying "In the meanwhile the police are...". Our American friends are the worst at this.
This annoys me, yes it does.
"No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does."
slightly adventurous
Arrgghh! Don't get me started on MS Word Grammar Checker or even the Spell Checker and the default setting of the "US English" dictionary. Just turn the grammar checker off.
I must admit however that I have never quite understood the appropriate use of "that" and "which" with relative clauses. It seems to be quite open to debate and personal style these days.
One thing that really grates for me is the use of momentarily to mean "shortly", as in "the plane will be landing momentarily", as commonly heard on US airlines. I always want to stand up and yell "but I want to get off"!
Forum whore
Blame Abraham Lincoln for the MS cockups. He decreed that the US would simplify spelling so that a word was spelt (spelled) as it sounded.Ah, the which/that debate. MS Word always insists on correcting such a sentence with "Top 10 grammatical errors which, make one look stupid" or change the sentence with "Top 10 grammatical errors that make one look stupid" and it drives me nutty! Why, oh why does it want to put a comma in there??? Also are there rules regarding the correct use of which and that?
Please enlighten me dear sirs.
The early settlers (particularly in the South) were mainly farmers/ranchers eg., simple folk without a lot of booklearnin'. So old Abe thought he would make it easier for them. (Come to think of it, it sounds a lot like NCEA).
"Statistics are used as a drunk uses lampposts - for support, not illumination."
Little ol'Hornet Rides again!
But it is dear sir! I thoroughly enjoy the groans and arrghs I hear issuing forth from my earstwhile charges when they are about to take their spelling test. I gleefully make a big play of how well people have done ... or not... I castigate them for their simple mistakes, I haul them over the coals for not looking up the definition of said words and write them into their books!
This term is now readily bandied about my class and outside in the school commons. "Hahah! I got more than you on that test!" "Now... you're just schadenfreuding me!"
Other teachers have complained how some of their students are now discombobulating them in their classrooms with advanced use of interminable vocabulary ... "You've been talking with Mr.Joe again haven't you?" "Mr.Joe, could you please refrain from allowing your class to learn words I don't know! I'm only a mathematics teacher!"
(e.g. My earnest canine companion has consumed my post-school endeavours recorded on processed fibrous wood products is a firm favourite of some of my students ... )
The schadenfreude I garner from listening to the pleas of my suffering colleagues is part and parcel of my personal paen to making peoples lives more surrealistic.
"I like to ride anyplace, anywhere, any time, any way!"
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