I can see people linking back to this thread whenever these errors appear in future threads 🤣

I suggest many of these mistakes come from the writing process. When I type in a hurry I often find my words are written phonetically, not as they should be written. This suggests that for me, language is an aural thing and transcribing into the written words is secondary. So going back over what you have written is essential before pushing send or whatever.

The reason bad grammar grates like nails on a blackboard when listening is because I have a built in syntax for the English language that I use subconsciously while processing the sentences. The correct grammar helps with predicting the following phrases, if the wrong thing follows it breaks the train of thought. Germans must have a very different process because often the active verb is at the end, so they have to accumulate a series of nouns and adjectives before they know what actually happened. I suspect that is why the cases are so important because it helps sorting out the subject, object and indirect nouns before you hear the verb.

Bad grammar on the written page is not so disruptive because I can see the whole sentence and understand what you meant rather than what you wrote.

roobarb:

 

The reason bad grammar grates like nails on a blackboard when listening is because I have a built in syntax for the English language that I use subconsciously while processing the sentences. The correct grammar helps with predicting the following phrases, if the wrong thing follows it breaks the train of thought. Germans must have a very different process because often the active verb is at the end, so they have to accumulate a series of nouns and adjectives before they know what actually happened. I suspect that is why the cases are so important because it helps sorting out the subject, object and indirect nouns before you hear the verb.

 

Meanwhile in Japanese you explicitly tag the parts of the sentence and can, within reason, put things in any order. In English "the cat sat on the mat" and "the mat sat on the cat" mean completely different things, but in Japanese both "catはmatにsat" and "matにcatはsat" mean the same thing.

johno1234: Do spoonerisms, malapropisms, eggcorns, mondegteend and the like occur in other languages or are they unique to English?

I can't think of any specific examples, but I think I've seen malapropisms in manga.

networkn:

 

A topic specifically to discuss the various topics related to language.

 

I think you mean "pacifically" 😂

Wheelbarrow01:

 

networkn:

 

A topic specifically to discuss the various topics related to language.

 

 

I think you mean "pacifically" 😂

 

Good of you to aks the question.

Then, of course, there's the ever increasing use of te reo Māori in both formal and informal written communications.  I fully appreciate it's part of New Zealand culture (albeit with a hint of tokenism every now and then) and absolutely has its place but, not being an expert, I do find it can disrupt my reading flow.

floydbloke:

 

Then, of course, there's the ever increasing use of te reo Māori in both formal and informal written communications.  I fully appreciate it's part of New Zealand culture (albeit with a hint of tokenism every now and then) and absolutely has its place but, not being an expert, I do find it can disrupt my reading flow.

 

I'm no expert either, but that's more of a reason to learn than it is to demand others stop using it. :-)

It's pronounced nukular.

Personally I think this thread comes off as rather elitist and "look how much more intelligent I am then someone else".

Remember that there are many reasons for people to not have perfect grammar - less then ideal upbringing, dyslexia, English as a second language are just a few.

Maybe have think about how a thread like this excludes people who aren't as perfect as you and how that might make them feel.

DMWellington:

 

Personally I think this thread comes off as rather elitist and "look how much more intelligent I am then someone else".

 

Remember that there are many reasons for people to not have perfect grammar - less then ideal upbringing, dyslexia, English as a second language are just a few.

 

Maybe have think about how a thread like this excludes people who aren't as perfect as you and how that might make them feel.

 

No!

It's about maintaining and preserving something that has value. The English language is a glorious thing, full of richness and nuance. If people let it degrade and lose its character that would be a tragedy.

I admire the way France preserves and protects the French language. It is a true treasure (or taonga if you prefer).

Behodar: I mentioned a "new series" of something the other day and was looked at like I was mad. "Do you mean a new season?" No, I don't, it's a TV programme, not weather! 

IMDB begs to differ:

😂

Well, it's American, so it can beg as much as it wants to.

jonathan18: Here’s one I see a decent amount on GZ that demonstrates the power of the humble hyphen: ‘resign’ when they mean ’re-sign’. Kinda opposite meanings.

And, moving onto the role of the apostrophe, I thought I’d post this (I’m no big meme fan, but this one [and its numerous variations] is one I do like):

That's right and of course , commas too. ,,,,

We have the well known examples, and book, eats roots and leaves / eats, roots and leaves I think it was called.

As well as the more fruity 'I helped my uncle Jack / jack off a horse'.