Rant English Grammar Basics: Why 2nd Grade Skills Matter

[mountainmama74]

Re: Grammar.....

You don't have to worry about me Laurie!!! I like lots of exclamation points and extras too!

I'm not a fan of Ebonics, but it really gets under my skin to hear a white person speak Ebonics and/or seeing them using it on their FB wall. I've actually considered hiding my cousin on FB so I don't have to see her posts because she does it 99% of the time.

I have a cousin that does this too! I have a hard time even understanding what he's talking about half the time. And, doesn't it take longer to remember to type "dat" instead of "that"? I don't get it!

 

[esavvymom]

Re: Grammar.....

When it comes to an FB status, I believe you're just going to have to deal with it. Writing to over two or too is shorter. Although not by much, the word is just shorter. People are just going to take the shortcuts, especially when they are typing the status from their phone. Other words will be typed in whichever way is quickest. There is easier and faster to type over "their" or "they're", especially on a phone. It's just a few letters, characters, and punctuation marks, but people don't like to take up time. Does 30 minutes or less cooking ring a bell? Say hello to the modern world where chillaxin is a word.

It absolutely kills me to shorten words when I'm sending a text message. I try to write things in "text-speak"....UR, b4, etc....then I always go back and correct it. The only exception is if I don't have enough characters to get my full message- then I shorten where I can, but I hate it!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Re: Grammar.....

When it comes to an FB status, I believe you're just going to have to deal with it. Writing to over two or too is shorter. Although not by much, the word is just shorter. People are just going to take the shortcuts, especially when they are typing the status from their phone. Other words will be typed in whichever way is quickest. There is easier and faster to type over "their" or "they're", especially on a phone. It's just a few letters, characters, and punctuation marks, but people don't like to take up time. Does 30 minutes or less cooking ring a bell? Say hello to the modern world where chillaxin is a word.

Sad, though...and it all contributes to the "dumbing down" of America. It takes away so much from what could be the beauty of our language, both written and spoken.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Re: Grammar.....Another pet peeve - I just heard it on CSI, although it might just have been a setup for an awful joke.Canada geese, not Canadian geese. The birds are not citizens of our neighbor to the north, nor do they have to show a passport when they cross the border.

 

[lockhartkitchen]

Re: Grammar.....dog's cat's toy's As a teacher I'm working hard to address the "no need to use ' to show a plural". That drives me nuts.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Re: Grammar.....I'm with you on that topic, Julie. 1960s, for example. The only time I use an apostrophe in a plural is when I talk about Fords from the early years. Model Ts vs. Model T's, Model As and Model A's, V8s vs. V8's - those three have always been a problem for me to show the plural clearly.Its and it's are also a big problem for people who forget that "it's" is a contraction for "it is" and "its" is possessive.

 

[wadesgirl]

Re: Grammar.....

Sad, though...and it all contributes to the "dumbing down" of America. It takes away so much from what could be the beauty of our language, both written and spoken.

Totally agree!!!!!

 

[LarissaRed123]

Re: Grammar.....Coming back to this to say that some of this thread just sounds so elitist to me. Maybe I just don't have a good sense of humor. I know that it was originally intended to be lighthearted, but some of the comments aren't.I was tested in school as having a gifted IQ. While I certainly don't consider myself brilliant by any means, I'm not a dummy.I have misspelled words. I've also accidentally used there for they're, not because I'm an idiot, but because I'm in a hurry and it was an accident. I also wrote "stalk" instead of "stock" once. I know the difference, but sometimes I have a typo.While there are certainly things that irritate me, such as getting a text message from someone that says "dat" instead of "that", or my dh's completely error-filled FB status, I try to remember that it's not my job to teach someone English, and more importantly, it's not always a reflection of their intelligence.

 

[Dotty]

Re: Grammar.....The misuse of them instead of those is a true pain in my ear.

As in, "Who left them socks on the table?"

Or "Give me one of them blue ones."

 

[magentablue]

Re: Grammar.....But "ones" doesn't bother you?

 

[raebates]

Re: Grammar.....Okay, I'm usually pretty good with grammar. Magentablue, what's wrong with "ones"?

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Re: Grammar.....Ones and losses?Or maybe the start of a fairy tale? Ones upon a time in a land far away…

 

[magentablue]

Re: Grammar.....These ones? Or those ones?One is singular. This one. These two. These objects. Not these ones. Of course, I actually say "ones" all the time. And sometimes I tell people I am "good" instead of "well." I honestly don't care when someone says/types the wrong thing and it doesn't make me think any less of the person, which is why I first stuck my nose into this thread. Say ones at your own will!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Re: Grammar.....I went to the bakery and bought a couple of donuts this morning. I gave the guy a sawbuck, and in return, he gave me some small change, a five and three ones.

 

[raebates]

Re: Grammar.....Using KG's bakery example, I was thinking, "I'll take three of the ones with sprinkles and one with cream filling." Since one can be a pronoun, I figure it works in a lot of situations like that. Though, that may be more of a regional idiosyncrasy.

 

[magentablue]

Re: Grammar.....It is regional, some people cringe when they hear us say it. Here's the first thing that popped up when I googled "these ones"Ask the English Teacher: These ones? Those ones?Again, not trying to be the grammar police. Not the grammer police either. If anyone is going to police your grammer, it's gonna be your granper! (Sorry, cracking myself up)

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Re: Grammar.....

Using KG's bakery example, I was thinking, "I'll take three of the ones with sprinkles and one with cream filling." Since one can be a pronoun, I figure it works in a lot of situations like that. Though, that may be more of a regional idiosyncrasy.

You leave my idiosyncracies out of it.

After all, we've proven we're a couple of dough nuts.

 

[raebates]

Re: Grammar.....Thanks for the link. I would never, ever say "these ones" or "those ones." However, "the ones" sounds okay to me--essentially as used in the expert's example.And, yes, KG, we have.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Re: Grammar.....Those ones with Washington's portrait on them are the best, especially if you happen to have a large quantity of them.