tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post4202881861664665965..comments2024-03-15T07:23:41.562-04:00Comments on You Don't Say: Here comes the judgeJohn McIntyrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559687583130468871noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-82952074525424732972009-10-06T17:43:10.814-04:002009-10-06T17:43:10.814-04:00Grammar can't "need" anything: need...Grammar can't "need" anything: need has become an irritatingly overused and misused construction. Grammar should, or can or ought or must. And there are rules, for which I am thankful.Patricia the Tersenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-19943493251036983172009-10-03T10:55:38.732-04:002009-10-03T10:55:38.732-04:00The only time grammar needs to be changed is when ...The only time grammar needs to be changed is when it obscures meaning. That is the only rule.James Nichollshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10982562921933457557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-57347490552518862692009-10-02T09:54:41.069-04:002009-10-02T09:54:41.069-04:00I enjoy reading online stories that clearly got a ...I enjoy reading online stories that clearly got a miminal edit, or online story comments, and trying to figure out what they really meant. This week I saw "towing the line" in a newspaper story and a story commenter saying he was 'giving prompts" to someone. Finally figured out he meant "giving props."Jim Sweeneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-90730838605660033702009-10-01T21:51:00.462-04:002009-10-01T21:51:00.462-04:00I don't know...I have to think about Southern ...I don't know...I have to think about Southern Beastro. It may just be a good wild game restaurant.Buckynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-25638594784314297022009-10-01T18:56:32.918-04:002009-10-01T18:56:32.918-04:00My favorites were both in the Sun's (sorry!) s...My favorites were both in the Sun's (sorry!) sports section. One quoted Pat Summit as saying two of her players (Holdsclaw and Catchings) "complimented" each other on the court; the other from the reporter saying that Freddie Lynne played with "wreckless abandon"... alas! If only the latter had been so...The Ridger, FCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01538111197270563075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-23960946609044760832009-10-01T14:37:26.121-04:002009-10-01T14:37:26.121-04:00In my profile of a mean person I wrote that he alw...In my profile of a mean person I wrote that he always went for the juggler. Years later, I still regret that an editor caught and corrected the error. That editor gave me kind of a compliment. She said, "Your errors are hard to catch."<br /><br />To my credit, I learned to spell "ninth," albeit at age 65. Unfortunately, I now pronounce "ninth" as "nenth." "It's the bottom of the nenth." Worse, I can't say "nenth" without thinking of Monty Python. Then I think of a killer rabbit. <br /><br />For spellers like me, the greatest modern invention is the spell check. Google is the next best thing to an error check. What's needed is a spell check for handmade signs. Also, a fact check for Republicans.Patrick K. Lackeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-29370406876958615412009-10-01T13:03:59.941-04:002009-10-01T13:03:59.941-04:00Spelling and punctuation errors in handwritten sig...Spelling and punctuation errors in handwritten signs can be amusing, but judging people by their knowledge of punctuation, formal register English grammar, and the bizarre conventions of English spelling seems arrogant.<br /><br />Nevertheless, there are circumstances where I do think it's fair to allow an orthographic error to serve as a basis for an unflattering judgment of the perpetrator. My favorite spelling mistake appeared in a photo in the New York Times Magazine section a number of years ago--a scrawl that defaced a rock overlooking a pond in a park. It read: "SATIN LIVES."Bill Waldermannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-21194911752181912872009-10-01T11:38:48.057-04:002009-10-01T11:38:48.057-04:00Is it okay to judge a band that can't even spe...Is it okay to judge a band that can't even spell its own name?<br />http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/01/NSDE19R2LP.DTL&type=musicAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-15547234521101400402009-10-01T10:58:44.721-04:002009-10-01T10:58:44.721-04:00I'm not cured of my grammar judgment, but I am...I'm not cured of my grammar judgment, but I am in recovery. After many years of dating eloquent cads who lied, cheated, and treated me badly, I met a wonderful, kind, loving man who writes me notes that say, "Your the most beautiful woman in the world." I hardly miss the apostrophe and the e at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-26178711200939982832009-10-01T10:32:20.909-04:002009-10-01T10:32:20.909-04:00Amen to LastBestAngry Man. I've had people say...Amen to LastBestAngry Man. I've had people say to me, "Oh, you're an editor--I better watch what I say or you'll correct my grammar." I respond, "No, I only correct people's grammar when they pay me to do it." Sound a little cynical? Maybe. But as I've gotten older my concerns in life have gotten much greater than being upset at mistakes in handwritten signs.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09222724277080710042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-10393638622862282382009-09-30T23:30:26.297-04:002009-09-30T23:30:26.297-04:00I wonder how Sharon Eliza Nichols might feel to fi...I wonder how Sharon Eliza Nichols might feel to find herself singled out on an FB group titled I Judge You When You Wear Those Icky Clothes or I Judge You When You Cannot Fix Your Own Plumbing Problems. While I am entirely in favor of using "grammar" correctly (generally meaning punctuation or spelling in such contexts, it seems), I don't see the point of devoting oneself to simply mocking others about something that, let's face it, most people don't really value very highly. <br /><br />The ability to wield an apostrophe correctly is certainly essential in certain circles. But it would be an unusual personals ad, for example, that touted one's ability to do this as a primary attractant (or that garnered favorable responses as a result). Nor, I am guessing, does it probably impress the auto mechanic whom Sharon Eliza Nichols probably pays $83/hour because while she was mastering the arcana of punctuation, someone whose "grammar" she seems compelled to judge was out learning something that can actually make her car run, or replace her burst water heater, or frame the addition to her house.<br /><br />But then, peevology in general makes me cranky. Obviously.WordzGuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04618408509448732889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-91111291758664911792009-09-30T19:06:39.885-04:002009-09-30T19:06:39.885-04:00In my younger days, I often got mad and corrected ...In my younger days, I often got mad and corrected grammar. I railed against a sign at Wal-Mart for "decrative frames," I corrected my friend's mispronunciations, and sadly, I was even an online grammarian. In those days I was in college, or graduate school, and by and large free from real cares. As I must now pay bills using the language...writing it, editing it, and worst of all, teaching it...the need to correct anything I am not being paid to correct has entirely left me.LastBestAngryManhttp://lastbestangryman.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-38275916319635737222009-09-30T18:31:05.948-04:002009-09-30T18:31:05.948-04:00See "Now presenting... Muphry's [sic] Law...See <a href="http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=386" rel="nofollow">"Now presenting... Muphry's [sic] Law"</a> on Language Log.John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.com