"Grammar" and "Punctuation" nit's unite! You're "head" will literally explode! - Page 59 - Other Topics Forum - Discuss Pop Culture, Arts and Entertainment

I need an example of you saying, "Please speak amongst yourselves." where it wasn't appropriate to throw whatever garbage is available in your direction.

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08-19-2010 , 04:53 PM

#1453

baumer

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 4,061

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08-19-2010 , 06:22 PM

#1454

Bostaevski

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 2,130

Ok nits, I'm wondering do you always refer to people who have died in the past tense?

Like
"Bob died last week, he was a banker" -- sounds correct
"Bob died last week, he was six feet tall" -- sounds correct but still is 6 feet tall
"Bob died last week, he is Type "O" negative" -- is or was?
"Bob died last week, he is buried out in that field" -- is or was?

Why does it sound correct sometimes to use present tense? Is it incorrect? In the first one it seems clear, because he's not a banker anymore. But he's still [probably] 6 feet tall, right? Does "He" disappear at the point of death?

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08-19-2010 , 06:38 PM

#1455

Triumph36

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 40,914

i would say he was type o negative, and to me whether you use is or was in 'Bob [is or was] buried in the field' depends a lot on your beliefs about death; personally i have no problem with either usage, though is buried sounds a little morbid.

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08-19-2010 , 07:22 PM

#1456

W0X0F

sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight

Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5,832

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bostaevski

"Bob died last week, he was a banker"
"Bob died last week, he was six feet tall"
"Bob died last week, he was Type "O" negative"

All three of these are correct, because Bob is no more.

"Bob died last week, he is buried out in that field"

This one is correct if you are describing Bob's current location, i.e. "buried out in that field" is a adjective phrase (not sure if that's a legitimate term) describing Bob.

"Bob died last week, he was buried out in that field"

This one is correct if you're describing the act of burying Bob, which took place in the past, i.e. "was buried" is the verb in the sentence.

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08-19-2010 , 10:42 PM

#1457

jamzfive

journeyman

Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 255

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Originally Posted by stinkypete

are trying to speak correctly but failboat miserably.

While not a grammar issue, a peeve of mine is when someone, in specifying what time an event is occurring, includes the timezone, but rather than just writing/saying "Eastern (Time)", they write/say "EST". Always with an S, even if its daylight savings. They overspecify, trying to be all technical, and then do it incorrectly. C'mon... Standard Time only happens ~4 months of the year these days anyway. So go ahead and get used to saying EDT if you're gonna take it to that extent.

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08-19-2010 , 10:46 PM

#1458

private joker

Most Definitely

Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 25,244

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Originally Posted by FlyWf

You just explained why it was wrong! Like you picked an example that directly contradicts yourself, how did you finish typing this post?

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Originally Posted by mikech

facepalm.jpg

i even made sure to clarify that it was NOT spelled "pointcorps" -- wait, is this a level?

You guys are talking to nuisance. The last two posts of his I read were one in the Wheel of Fortune thread where he talked about the "puzzle's" on the show, and one in TV Poker where he said "you don't know what your talking about."

He's not leveling. He actually writes like that.

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08-19-2010 , 10:51 PM

#1459

snowden

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 2,527

to be fair, a corporation's name can be pronounced however the **** they want

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08-19-2010 , 10:59 PM

#1460

snowden

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 2,527

Dear grammar mavens,

what are your thoughts on the following sentences.

"The robber snuck up the man"

"The bee stung me"

"I have wrought at my job for 5 years"

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08-19-2010 , 11:12 PM

#1461

private joker

Most Definitely

Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 25,244

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowden

Dear grammar mavens,

what are your thoughts on the following sentences.

"The robber snuck up the man"

Sounds weird. Should be "snuck up on the man." Sneaked is also fine, but I'm used to snuck. The lack of the 'on' (or another preposition like 'to') has to be 100% wrong, though.

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"The bee stung me"

Looks perfectly fine. Can't imagine what the issue is here; 'stung' is the dictionary past tense of the verb to sting.

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"I have wrought at my job for 5 years"

May technically be correct but sounds archaic. Nobody I know uses wrought and thus there must be a better way to communicate this idea.

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08-19-2010 , 11:20 PM

#1462

snowden

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 2,527

lack of "on" earlier was just a typo. A lot of people don't like the first two and prefer sneaked and stinged. Wrought used to be the past participle of work. Just curious how far back people's grammar nittery goes

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08-19-2010 , 11:46 PM

#1463

nuisance

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 11,643

Quote:

Originally Posted by private joker

Yes I am horrible with grammar and spelling. I don't deny this one bit. Which is actually the only reason I check this thread out to see if anyone is being a nit on my grammar and punctuation.

As for my post before. PJ is absolutely correct I wasn't leveling at all. I was wrong thanks for pointing that out. I didn't put Corp with corporation. I figured they meant Corps.

I will leave now ashamed with my head in the sand.

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08-20-2010 , 12:57 AM

#1464

atakdog

addicted

Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 50,136

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowden

That's a poor question for elucidating people's nittery, because it's accepted that this is changing so it's really a matter of how much people favor traditional forms over newer ones.

The general trend in English is to convert strong verbs (those whose vowels change for past and perfect tenses) to weak ones (those that remain unchanged but for the addition of –ed). But it is proceeding slowly, and for many verbs there really is only one acceptable form, while for a few there are two.

In the cases you cited:

No one, at least no one who cares about being laughed at, says stinged; it's stung;
I would say snuck, but many others would say sneaked — this one genuinely is in flux and either is acceptable;
Wrought, while a lovely word, is now archaic except in a few particular clauses (e.g., what hath god wrought) and as a modifier of, e.g., iron.

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08-20-2010 , 05:33 AM

#1465

lonely_but_rich

ɔarpal \ʇunnel

Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 24,110

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuisance

I will leave now ashamed with my head in the sand.

THAT IS NOT EVEN POSSIBLE!

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08-20-2010 , 09:12 AM

#1466

GMan42

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 5,263

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonely_but_rich

THAT IS NOT EVEN POSSIBLE!

Maybe he's carrying a big bucket of sand around with him to keep his head stuck in as he walks away. Like, literally.

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08-20-2010 , 09:38 AM

#1467

TheNiggler

adept

Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 792

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bostaevski

None of those is correct; each one contains a comma splice.

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08-20-2010 , 10:59 AM

#1468

noidea555

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 4,927

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMan42

From the "it'll never show up in spell check" department: The spelling of lose as loose is really starting to piss me off.

Just Googled the phrase "loosing weight" and got 313,000 hits. Good God.

Reading the "Good God" in the tone that it was meant to be said in made me spit OJ all over my keyboard lol. After I cleaned it off I got interested and googled "loosing weight" myself. 15.500,000 hits. I am not a grammar nit by any stretch of the imagination, but this is getting to me.

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08-20-2010 , 11:29 AM

#1469

private joker

Most Definitely

Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 25,244

Quote:

Originally Posted by noidea555

http://www.loosingweight.org/

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08-20-2010 , 11:48 AM

#1470

Bostaevski

veteran

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 2,130

Quote:

Originally Posted by noidea555

That is because Google is smart and actually searched for "Losing Weight".

At the top of the search results it says

Showing results for losing weight. Search instead for loosing weight

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08-20-2010 , 12:02 PM

#1471

GMan42

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 5,263

Yeah, I had to do the "search instead" when I did mine.

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08-20-2010 , 12:11 PM

#1472

noidea555

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 4,927

Haha, looks like you're right. I got 481,000 hits doing it correctly. Still appalling.

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08-21-2010 , 04:55 PM

#1473

soah

Unexpected

Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 61,667

Recently spotted in the mod forum:

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I'm convos

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08-21-2010 , 10:41 PM

#1474

atakdog

addicted

Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 50,136

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheNiggler

None of those is correct; each one contains a comma splice.

I'd use a colon instead of a semicolon here.

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Originally Posted by soah

Recently spotted in the mod forum:

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I'm convos

I can't even tell what that's an attempt to say.

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08-21-2010 , 10:47 PM

#1475

JaredL

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 22,523

(A)IM conversations?

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