Show of Hands

Mainly just the many made by my iPhone's "automistake" as they are the most incongruous. Just the other day a friend (with an iPhone) texted me to ask where my where my wife gets the water she uses when she makes jewelry. I'm like, huh??? ..She meant, "wire."

Ha! I never realized that and I'm very grammar/spelling OCD!

Susanr - I assumed you didn't see it. I'm lucky I can read any of this stuff on my iPod with my one good eye that can only focus at 3" away with a 14x reading lens. I'm 20-200 these days! :)

Bad English and text short cuts drive me crazy. I use voice recognition most of the time, and it's pretty accurate so there aren't many typos to fix.

The days of "lol k omw brt" are long over.

Can grammar be immature?

Holy - I've got a dollar that says you are behind the Mississippi state prank being pulled on us.

Jack - thanks for making me giggle!

tlaney - You're correct, of course, about the semicolon. I hadn't noticed it was a comma, but there it is.

Well that was a fail. I meant to type two.

Don't you need a comma and then a conjunction for your sentence, Nick? My English teacher told me that to stick to fragments together you can use super glue (a ;), or you can use Elmer's glue and some tape (a , conjunction). So that's how I remember it. Happy grammar, Satricalnick!

I usually don't like name-calling, but an insult coming from an eleven-teen year old who can't comprise a cogent, coherent sentence possessing a wealth of ignorance of his own doesn't really bother me too much.

Yall buncha igborant blugarts.

That was a joke.

Wow, Jack, deja vu! No, when I say no offense meant, I mean it (the statement, not the offense!). :)

I'm not sure, but did you just insult SatiricalNick?

Nick's version is technically incorrect. We English teachers call it a comma splice. A semicolon can join two complete sentences, but a comma without a conjunction cannot. (Sorry, Nick; nothing personal.)

Poor grammar may result from a number of things, but I don't think immaturity is a direct cause. And I'd rather read something interesting from a person with poor grammar than a perfectly constructed sentence that doesn't have much meaningful content.

Thanks, tlaney! That's really very kind of you. I appreciate it a lot.

Nick, those really were two complete sentences. They each had a subject and a verb. They could stand separately, or be combined as you did. I like your way a little better, as it shows the relationship between the two better, but it wasn't incorrect the other way.

I have good English skills, am a fast typist on a regular keyboard, & try hard to correct my errors. I still make many, & some get through. I don't know if it's fat fingers, fuzzy brain, or both, but I am not lazy & don't like being called that. And autocorrect gets things wrong as often as right.

Keep relying on your little program, ignorance is bliss.

Weel na allweys, butt sometingez

Sorry Nick, but jiffy had two complete correct sentences there. I see nothing wrong with them.

Also, let me correct your grammar.


"I disagree, poor grammar is immature!"

There see? You had two fragments there.

Why is it that you "grammar nazis" see fit to only correct spelling? I sometimes wonder if you mongoloids actually know what grammar is.

I disagree! Poor grammar is immature!

"Try"? No, I just DO it. It's easy. If you have an iPhone, autocorrect even does it for you. How lazy are you if you can't even bother to check your texts?

A text message is a text message, not a term paper. Stop being grammar nazis, its stupid and immature.

Just a non paragraph response passing through.

Whi has time 4 dat,

...and I meant no offense to you in my reply to supereliguy. I was musing on the phrase's devolution, certainly not on your obvious intellect. It's so hard to type something with a smile (as opposed to, say, Skype).

susan, in reply to your first post, don't be so hard on yourself. I find your writing delightful and your thoughts sharp as a tack! Keep up the great posts! :)

RJ - you've got me curious now. Are you a doctor or a philosopher? Most folks would have used "etymology," but your choice is equally precise yet more elegant. Keep up the interesting posts, my friend. :)

Heck no, Jack. I certainly didn't mean to.

What RJ is getting at is if you're going to criticize people for their grammar, you should not make grammatical errors in doing so. :-)

Yes, but I don't get upset if others do not. I do, however, get upset when it's done on Twitter or Facebook. Weird. Maybe because it's more public/permanent?

no i doe noot

I'm not sure, but did you just insult me?

what's up with Mississippi...? These past few questions...

I agree entirely. Texting is such an arduous task that I wouldn't want to type much more than "OK." Calling is so much easier.

Ahhh, Ms. @susanr, you delineate my sentiments nicely. The one exception for me is I won't "point out" anyone's "silliness", primarily 'cuz I've made some silly mistakes myself! And when I do, I won't mind your critique!

More like careless.

Or was that a comment about OCD itself, RJ? My sarcasm filter is broken.

Abbreviations without a period after each letter are pretty standard now. They're used extensively in scientific manuscripts and I'm almost positive in standard writing as well. I like it better; think it looks more pleasing & saves a smidge of space too (which is even more important here).

Also I have to have my nose about 3 inches away from the page when I read. So to use us ShowOfHands and a dictionary the same time would call a lot of work this is not a term paper it's an opinion poll.

Or lack of time. I do the best I can and I think others do also. Did suggest to an author that would be an awfully funny twist for a FBI mystery as someone has a head cold uses Siri and the totally wrong message gets sent and let the consequences fall where they may.

Maybe that is why you're not tolerant.

On the third hand, if someone makes a *rude* comment about someone else's English AND uses incorrect English in doing it, I'll often point out the silliness. My favorite is when someone complains about someone else's "grammer." Otherwise, I don't mind the errors. Even though I do love good writing.

On the other hand, other people's typos (& misspellings & less than perfect grammar) don't really bother me. I learned long ago that an almost illiterate person can have something profound to say, & sometimes the nastiest or less useful thoughts can be couched in perfect English.