Desperate grammaticians

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#1479636 27-Jan-2016 09:23

The one that I see most often that is almost predictable (and is probably a result of AutoCorrect) is Defiantly in the place of Definitely. It is everywhere, gah!

Edit - ooh and another one - one of my Facebook friends - all of her posts Have Every Word Capitalised Which Is Really Annoying.

Behodar

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#1479642 27-Jan-2016 09:32

trig42: Edit - ooh and another one - one of my Facebook friends - all of her posts Have Every Word Capitalised Which Is Really Annoying.

I remember doing that in jest once. It was difficult to type, and I can't comprehend why people would willingly subject themselves to typing like that!

Mark

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#1479644 27-Jan-2016 09:34

Dosnt take much to wind you people up does it ?

;-)

jmh

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#1479645 27-Jan-2016 09:34

I don't have a problem with people making grammar and spelling errors in casual communication, spoken or written. I do get annoyed when I see these errors in professional writing such as on news reports and in media, where I expect the writing to be to a high standard. If your profession is writing, then get it right.

I'm quite surprised at how many NZ news presenters fumble over the English language too. Shouldn't they have training?

A contributor to the demise of standards in grammar and spelling is the loss of the professional secretary. In the old days secretaries would correct documents that went out to ensure that they met the correct standard. Even in those days managers did not necessarily have the skills and knowledge to do themselves. Now that managers have to cope without a fully trained secretary the quality of work has dropped.

Behodar

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#1479647 27-Jan-2016 09:37

Mark: Dosnt take much to wind you people up does it ?

"Doesn't" misspelled
"Doesn't" missing its apostrophe
Missing comma after "up"
Space between "it" and question mark.

2/10. See me after class.

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#1479649 27-Jan-2016 09:37

Mark:

Dosnt take much to wind you people up does it ?

;-)

I'll say! People really need to get out into the Sunshine, and off their computers if a discussion like this leads to aneurysm.

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jmh

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#1479651 27-Jan-2016 09:41

dclegg:

littleheaven:

My bug-bear is people who say 'asterix' instead of 'asterisk'. Asterix is a cartoon character.

During Auckland Universities Open Day last year, my daughter and I sat in on a Linguistics talk. It made me look at this mispronunciation in a completely different new light. At it's core, it discussed language as being a living, evolving creature.

One of the examples used was very similar to this (ask/aks). The lecturer explained how it is easier for us to make the 'ks' sound than the 'sk' one, which is why some segments of our population are starting to favour that usage. She posited that over time, it could evolve to be the commonly accepted way to pronounce it, and those saying 'ask' would be considered old fashioned.

I don't think we'll be hearing 'aks' any time soon in schools in Remuera.

I was in a South Auckland school recently where the Principal was telling me that they teach the children that there is different pronunciation for home and outside of home. A kind of formal, informal distinction.

Kiwifruta

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#1479671 27-Jan-2016 10:08

Geektastic:
Don't get me started.

One of the worst has to be (and I am not even sure quite how it should be spelt) "yous" and "you". Just hideous.

Criminal misuse of apostrophes to denote plurals is very common. For example "Our chef's have worked hard to bring you this great food".

I do sometimes wonder what they do actually teach children in schools these days.

It seem's that apostrophe's are used in all the wrong place's these day's, except of course, at the Jones' house where it's used in its proper places.

Kiwifruta

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#1479672 27-Jan-2016 10:09

Behodar:
Mark: Dosnt take much to wind you people up does it ?

"Doesn't" misspelled

"Doesn't" missing its apostrophe

Missing comma after "up"

Space between "it" and question mark.

2/10. See me after class.

That should be you peoples, or just peeps for short or even yous. :-)

Geektastic

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#1479673 27-Jan-2016 10:09

jmh:

I don't have a problem with people making grammar and spelling errors in casual communication, spoken or written. I do get annoyed when I see these errors in professional writing such as on news reports and in media, where I expect the writing to be to a high standard. If your profession is writing, then get it right.

I'm quite surprised at how many NZ news presenters fumble over the English language too. Shouldn't they have training?

A contributor to the demise of standards in grammar and spelling is the loss of the professional secretary. In the old days secretaries would correct documents that went out to ensure that they met the correct standard. Even in those days managers did not necessarily have the skills and knowledge to do themselves. Now that managers have to cope without a fully trained secretary the quality of work has dropped.

I fully agree with this.

The illogical thing is, let us say you are a firm of engineers and you employ a senior engineer on $200,000 a year. His engineering skills and experience are why you hired him, so that he could use them to earn money for your firm. So why in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (MYBTBHNA) would you waste his expensive time making him type, almost certainly badly, his own work?

It's an enormous inefficiency. A good secretary is worth their weight in gold in my experience - my working life never ran better than when I had a good one.

Kiwifruta

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#1479676 27-Jan-2016 10:14

Rikkitic:
Bad grammar (and spelling, of course) is now endemic throughout the world, at least the English-speaking part of it. I chose an arbitrary cut-off of 60 because I think a lot of it has to do with the rise of the Internet and texting, hence, the 'younger' generation. Of course, a lot of it also has to do with the collapse of education, which brings me to New Zealand.

I don't like pedantry and I don't insist on perfect English usage. I make plenty of mistakes myself, some of which I am aware (of). But there has to be a line somewhere. The constant confusion of words like 'there' and 'their' drives me slightly crazy, as do the apostrophe errors (that really is a hopeless cause). Most of this is just laziness, can't be bothered even to use the spell checker or read over what you just wrote. I just wish people would care a little more before they start randomly bashing the keyboard.

I think many people simply do not know when to use an apostrophe. Let alone its purpose.

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Kiwifruta

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#1479680 27-Jan-2016 10:18

In a church talk, I once used the word "fishes" in relation to the various species of fishes in the seas, and immediately afterwards, heard snickering from the some of congregation members.

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#1479683 27-Jan-2016 10:22

My favourite at the moment is my teenage son's use of the word "guttering" for something that has caused disappointment. So much so, that I placed a small offcut of some plastic guttering on his desk to remind him of what guttering actually is.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#1479712 27-Jan-2016 10:55

Could of, should of, would of.....

I hate it! Clearly when spoken it sounds like it's supposed to, but I cringe when I see it in writing.

That brings me to another one - "I was sposed to be at work by 9am" or "It's suppose to rain later today"

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

littleheaven

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#1479723 27-Jan-2016 11:12

dclegg:

littleheaven:

My bug-bear is people who say 'asterix' instead of 'asterisk'. Asterix is a cartoon character.

During Auckland Universities Open Day last year, my daughter and I sat in on a Linguistics talk. It made me look at this mispronunciation in a completely different new light. At it's core, it discussed language as being a living, evolving creature.

One of the examples used was very similar to this (ask/aks). The lecturer explained how it is easier for us to make the 'ks' sound than the 'sk' one, which is why some segments of our population are starting to favour that usage. She posited that over time, it could evolve to be the commonly accepted way to pronounce it, and those saying 'ask' would be considered old fashioned.

I wonder what Goscinny & Uderzo would think of that? :o)

Oh, I just thought of another. As a weather geek, it drives me nuts whenever we have a storm and Twitter is full of people commenting on the 'lightening'.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

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