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Rikkitic
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  #1408136 17-Oct-2015 09:43
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Lots of complaints here about Newspeak and illiterate hipster text talk and I am in full agreement with all of that. Yes, language evolves and today's rap may be tomorrow's academic research paper but the most excruciating crimes against grammar come from those too stupid, too ignorant, and too lazy to use it correctly. All of this offends me but what I encounter the most, here on Geekzone, in newspapers that should know better, and everywhere else, are the spelling and homonym hurdles that even the intelligent and educated keep crashing over. There is not the same as their. It is not the same as they're. And there is a big difference between now and know. These and the many others like them are what really drive me crazy. The brainless catch phrases cited here are certainly irritating, but the endless stream of proofreading errors from people who can't be bothered to go back and check what they have just written, or even use a spelling checker to at least weed out the worst transgressions (though even this is no help for the homonym-challenged), are like Chinese water torture, an endless accumulation of small insults that combine to overwhelm the sensibilities of all six of us left in the world who actually notice this kind of thing and care about it. I make all of these mistakes and more, but at least I check my pearls before casting them to the swine. Sloppy writing comes from sloppy thinking and that is the real crime.

 




Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 




tdgeek
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  #1408137 17-Oct-2015 09:53
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Anyways.

Anyway as a plural, weird.  Yes, this one is intentional, its a current flavour of the month catchphrase for the cool to say. Maybe say it with rap moves to make it cooler?

The three R's take a back seat these days

When I read there and their being mis used, it's like a mental jab to my brain. 

That's my opinion, anyways

lNomNoml
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  #1408326 17-Oct-2015 18:21
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An easy way to tell if someone is South African (Afrikaans) is they will use the "there" instead of the "their"



oxnsox
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  #1408374 17-Oct-2015 20:30
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Rikkitic: Lots of complaints here about Newspeak and illiterate hipster text talk and I am in full agreement with all of that. Yes, language evolves and today's rap may be tomorrow's academic research paper but the most excruciating crimes against grammar come from those too stupid, too ignorant, and too lazy to use it correctly. All of this offends me but what I encounter the most, here on Geekzone, in newspapers that should know better, and everywhere else, are the spelling and homonym hurdles that even the intelligent and educated keep crashing over. There is not the same as their. It is not the same as they're. And there is a big difference between now and know. These and the many others like them are what really drive me crazy. The brainless catch phrases cited here are certainly irritating, but the endless stream of proofreading errors from people who can't be bothered to go back and check what they have just written, or even use a spelling checker to at least weed out the worst transgressions (though even this is no help for the homonym-challenged), are like Chinese water torture, an endless accumulation of small insults that combine to overwhelm the sensibilities of all six of us left in the world who actually notice this kind of thing and care about it. I make all of these mistakes and more, but at least I check my pearls before casting them to the swine. Sloppy writing comes from sloppy thinking and that is the real crime.

 


Yeah nah

The suggestion that anyone who can't meet your literacy standards is a sloppy thinker is rather condescending.

Whilst I may agree with the general tone of your comments, I'm more inclined to summarise it thus:
Nothink to see here!

Rikkitic
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  #1408411 17-Oct-2015 21:49
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I'm not trying to be condescending. I just happen to believe that words are the tools of thought, and grammatical precision matters.





Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 


oxnsox
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  #1408444 17-Oct-2015 23:01
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I agree that being able to communicate ones thoughts is how we share and grow knowledge. But grammatical correctness doesn't add to that. The pedantry of grammatic precision serves egos and oinion polishers.

Language, and grammer, has evolved thru error and expressionism. ....and there are many languages most of which none of us understand.

Because we don't teach and learn the way we used to, does that make either solution more ideal?

I suggest that ultimately the outcome is more important than the precision of the method.

 
 
 
 

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Batman
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  #1408447 17-Oct-2015 23:08
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Unless you're British, of course.

Geektastic

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  #1408448 17-Oct-2015 23:10
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Rikkitic: Lots of complaints here about Newspeak and illiterate hipster text talk and I am in full agreement with all of that. Yes, language evolves and today's rap may be tomorrow's academic research paper but the most excruciating crimes against grammar come from those too stupid, too ignorant, and too lazy to use it correctly. All of this offends me but what I encounter the most, here on Geekzone, in newspapers that should know better, and everywhere else, are the spelling and homonym hurdles that even the intelligent and educated keep crashing over. There is not the same as their. It is not the same as they're. And there is a big difference between now and know. These and the many others like them are what really drive me crazy. The brainless catch phrases cited here are certainly irritating, but the endless stream of proofreading errors from people who can't be bothered to go back and check what they have just written, or even use a spelling checker to at least weed out the worst transgressions (though even this is no help for the homonym-challenged), are like Chinese water torture, an endless accumulation of small insults that combine to overwhelm the sensibilities of all six of us left in the world who actually notice this kind of thing and care about it. I make all of these mistakes and more, but at least I check my pearls before casting them to the swine. Sloppy writing comes from sloppy thinking and that is the real crime.

 


I recently had an appointment with a specialist surgeon who is also a Professor.

He was having a minor rant about some forms, one of which said at the bottom "Doctor Signature": as he said, I have never met this Doctor Signature, where does he practice? The other said "Specialist Signature" - as he said, he has only one signature...!





wsnz
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  #1408523 18-Oct-2015 10:32
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A lot of people seem to prefix statements with the word basically which seems entirely superfluous.

Batman
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  #1408567 18-Oct-2015 13:24
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For sure.

Jaxson
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  #1408576 18-Oct-2015 14:01
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Like totally.

There allowed to though, as long as your ok with it and everythink.

 
 
 

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eracode
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  #1408577 18-Oct-2015 14:03
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lNomNoml: An easy way to tell if someone is South African (Afrikaans) is they will use the "there" instead of the "their"


When talking or writing?




Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.


linw
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  #1408662 18-Oct-2015 16:30
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eracode: There are a lot of language usages that irritate me.

snip

Grating use of the word 'amount' as in "A large amount of people ...". Surely it should be "number of people". Amount just sounds wrong in the context of people. Amount is for things or money. Maybe I'm wrong on this one but it irks me nonetheless.

I'm getting too old and grumpy, eh bro?


The use of amount for number is indeed wrong. Number is for discreet objects and amount is for continuous objects. Amount of money but number of dollars. There are other incorrect versions of this as well. 

Lately I have also seen the word loose used instead of lose. I have seen it on both NZ (Geekzone!) and US forums (or fora?). This is especially weird. 

Then there are a couple of people here using defiantly instead of definitely. This is definitely irksome!

We may be called pedants by some, but I prefer to see us as holders of the faith!

We may be loosing the battle but we must defiantly keep trying.

lNomNoml
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  #1408664 18-Oct-2015 16:35
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eracode:
lNomNoml: An easy way to tell if someone is South African (Afrikaans) is they will use the "there" instead of the "their"


When talking or writing?

Writing

Batman
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  #1408670 18-Oct-2015 16:45
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linw:
eracode: There are a lot of language usages that irritate me.

snip

Grating use of the word 'amount' as in "A large amount of people ...". Surely it should be "number of people". Amount just sounds wrong in the context of people. Amount is for things or money. Maybe I'm wrong on this one but it irks me nonetheless.

I'm getting too old and grumpy, eh bro?


The use of amount for number is indeed wrong. Number is for discreet objects and amount is for continuous objects. Amount of money but number of dollars. There are other incorrect versions of this as well. 

Lately I have also seen the word loose used instead of lose. I have seen it on both NZ (Geekzone!) and US forums (or fora?). This is especially weird. 

Then there are a couple of people here using defiantly instead of definitely. This is definitely irksome!

We may be called pedants by some, but I prefer to see us as holders of the faith!

We may be loosing the battle but we must defiantly keep trying.


Fewer seats, not less seats.

One Maori, two Maori, twenty Maori.

Test two cars and see which is better, not best.
Test three cars to see which is best.

And don't get me started on apostrophes. I've gotten into trouble here before.

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