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Yes, yes, and yes!!! I am in completely agreement with everything stated in this topic. I actually just write a rant about this in my roleplaying rant topic... what a coincidence!

I never had the opportunity to be a person with bad grammar skills - the curse of having an english teacher as a mother - so I always thought I was just being too picky about bad grammar. I guess not, if others have the same opinoin. Although I don't get annoyed with it as easily as others, it still gets under my skin when someone is writing a post for any topic on the forums (the one exception, sometimes, is the off-topic topic) and uses "text type." As stated earlier, you have a keyboard in front of you. How hard is it to write correctly? Even when I am writing a text message, I use correct grammar and pucnuation. And I only have a phone keyboard that is an eighth of the size of a computer keyboard!

Anyways, I am trying not to repeat any of the points previously made, but there really is nothing else to say. When it comes done to it, people are just so lazy nowadays and practically trained to not only type with major grammar errors, but also talk that way. Believe me, my biggest pet peeve is people are try to sound cool and use grammar mistakes on purpose. They only manage to sound very unintelligent. I try not to correct people, though, because I perosnally hate the term "grammar nazi" as well, JC. It is really offensive and rude, but I like your come-back!

By the way, thank you so much for mentioning myself and the others in you first post, AFD! I really felt flattered when I read that, so thank you for noticing!

I'm often called a 'Grammar Nazi', I find it very humorous... Especially when it comes from my English teachers. But I suppose that's just the immaturity from my age

I think most of the 'Grammar Nazi' name-calling stuff came from CollegeHumour's Inglourious Basterds sketch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4vf8N6GpdM

First off, thanks so much for mentioning me. Especially considering what a "grammar neanderthal" I was a while back...ugh. I tend to bang my head against a wall whenever I think about it.

Anyways, I agree with practically everything said so far on this topic. Grammar went out the window...so true, on so many levels. Like Black Rose, I also use proper grammar and punctuation while texting. Unless I'm in a big rush and have to put my phone up in the next three seconds. Even then, though, I don't use horrible grammar. Just...mildly bad.

The biggest reason this is happening though, is either laziness, or they think its acceptable. Or both. Either way, same result. A bunch of annoying posts that people could really do without, for the most part. Its hard to read. Its annoying. It is NOT acceptable. Why don't people understand those three simple things? ...Don't answer that.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Hey, everyone with poor grammar and/or who uses chatspeak--come read this topic. Yes, as a matter of fact, some people DO care, despite it being "just the internet", no, it is NOT that hard, and no, bad grammar is NOT the "cool" thing to do!

As Ancient Fairy Dragon mentioned in the first post, it doesn't matter how old or how smart you are--crappy grammar is going to make you look/sound like an obnoxious 8-year-old.



Concerning the "Grammar Nazi" title, I've been called that before and I'm totally cool with it. I remember one time last year when my friends and I found the wrong form of "your/you're" on a flyer in the cafeteria...we took a red pen and fixed it. XD Buuuuuut that's a little beside the point.

This is just my thought, but I also blame the schools (I'm mainly talking about middle and high school) for this. From my experience, where I went to school, they were always in a big hurry to get things done. They spend about one week or less on one thing, and then they test you on it. I realize you can't spend forever on one thing, but a week seems a bit short (the reason being is they need to fit everything in before the end of the year). And it didn't have to be grammar either, even history and science class worked that way. Another thing, the teacher was hardly ever in the room. They would give out instructions and stuff like that, but after that they were off to socialize with the other teachers (I once quoted one saying "We're not here to baby sit"). Sooooo? There's the biggest fail right there. Some of the smart kids may have been doing their work, but if no one is watching them, it's party time. They will either be chatting with friends, passing notes, running around the room, etc.

I don't know about schools in other places, but that's way it worked where I was. And if schools are working that way in other places, then there ya go, there's one big fact to as of why no one can spell.


Of coarse I don't blame it all on schooling, there are those who are just lazy and stupid. Like the time when I was in high school and we were suppose to be typing a 5 paragraph report on something, and one boy wrote one sentence and said he was done. He then went to listen to music and play online games. In which neither were allowed, but they got away with it.

In regard to the "grammar nazi" bit. I'm not that extreme, but I call myself a grammar freak sometimes, just because I dislike the other term. Usually, I tend to point on grammar mistakes in reviews on fanfiction or something, but I'm not entirely nitpicky either. I mean, I could be, but I know it's annoying sometimes (when there's very very few mistakes) so I try not to point out every detail like a snob.


Another thing I'd like to add. Should any smart alec decide to take me the wrong way. When I say text speak is bad, I'm not referring to things like "lol" or "brb" or the other various (forgot the word I'm looking for XD) things we use. Those are fairly common so people know them and you don't have to spell those out. I'm not condemning you for using those, I myself use them, especially in place of the somewhat frustrating "lol" smiley.

Also, punctuation is important. You're your, their they're theirs, those are confusing sometimes so I know people make mistakes with them. I do too, but you change the meaning of things very easily with that little apostrophe or comma. Take this for example: "Hey, let's eat, Grandma!" versus "Hey lets eat grandma!" <---Punctuation could save a life :p



Almost all of us were at one point XD, no problem.



You're very welcome. If you make the effort, people will notice Hopefully others see the examples I used (and I could have used many more people in other areas of the site, Jersey for one with his well written articles, and several fanfiction writers, but I don't have the time to name them all) and maybe realize that grammar is not as unimportant as people think.

@Conay: I cracked up when I saw that picture. Win

Of course we're all not going to have a problem with things like "lol", "brb", "rofl" or "XD" or things of that nature. Those definitely are established as internet slang (and I believe the word you may be looking for is "acronym"). Those don't bother anyone, because they were established in the earliest days of the internet. Acronyms are not the same as bad grammar and spelling, as we all know. And we all know what sorts of things DO upset us:

• Bad or no punctuation (whether in sentences, in possessive nouns or pronouns, or in contractions)
  
  
• Poor spelling
  
  
• Internet shorthand for words such as "you" ("u"), "are" ("r"), "be" ("b"), "know" ("no"), "whatever" ("w/e"), "okay" ("k") etc.
  
  
• Lack of capitalization of the first-person, singular pronoun "I" (the use of "i") or proper names
  
  
• "Cool" misspellings such as "teh" (for "the"), "nu" (for "no"), etc.
  
  
• Questionable slang and dialect (such as "ghetto" talk, Snoop Dog -isms such as "shiz" and so on), etc.

I don't really care if people think doing this is "cool" or "hip", or they just happen to be really lazy and lousy at spelling and basic grammar. If they're not under the age of 12, there simply is no excuse. Especially not for high school and college students, and young adults who have moved beyond those stages (and certainly not for full adults). Random and occasional keystroke errors aside (from rushing or momentary distraction) of course.

But if one person can speak and type in proper English (as a native speaker that is), and several can, then EVERYONE can. Unless they are young preteens or children, or are utterly dyslexic or have some other sort of learning disorder (in which case I submit that they probably shouldn't be engaging in social networking and online chatting anyway), they have a responsibility to get it RIGHT. All the time.

This argument is so valid that I feel like falling on my knees and praising you for pointing it out once and for all. (Thanks for mentioning me by the way, heh. :3) I agree with every single point you've made so far! As far as I remember, even the first post I made here on AS was grammatically correct (however naive and embarrassing it may have been despite that xD). Although I have never been one to use text talk (even if it is on the phone), I disagree with those who are so lazy that they feel they have to use text talk everywhere, even while writing.

There's not much to add to this since you've written your points so well, but the whole 21st century thing is beginning to unnerve me as to people's laziness. With technology comes a lot of laziness, and I find it extremely saddening that people are so lazy nowadays that they cannot get Firefox (as I have on my PC just in case), Google Chrome, Safari, or any of the other spell check internet programs. If they are so lazy that they cannot spell check, then there has to be something wrong. Because as Mighty said, it's a simple right click.

Capitalization is a big issue as well, as well as the obvious text talk/SMS. As for what Jersey Captain said though about 'slang terms', there is a difference between 'slang' and trying to be cool and replacement words... for example, saying shiz could be a replacement for another word, if you catch my drift, considering this is a kid site. At least, that's how I've seen people use it before on various other websites. I can understand your logic about slang words to a certain extent, but there are a few exceptions to the rule.

I tend to use the "cool" spellings occasionally as I see nothing extremely wrong with it when used from time to time. Usually I only do it for randomness. As for slang terms well, *shrug* I grew up with that, so I'm not perfect. It's personal, but I won't go any farther than that unless prodded.



Thanks and no problem. I agree with you here though, the only thing that annoys me more than people using text talk in chatboxes and such, is when they do it almost everywhere else >.< I know it's already been said that there's hardly any excuse on the shoutboxes. But there's nothing more painful to see than a fanfiction, article, review, description etc. has something like "u" or "r" in replace of "you or "are" in it. Ugh, in fact, I may just give an example of a story like such (no names mentioned and not on here) as well as my review to it when I can find it again.

I realize that there is a difference. That is why I put them into two separate categories in that list. And I am aware of what the Snoopisms mean...

Holy yes. -_- I've seen many people just leave out all punctuation (I myself was guilty of that as a newbie) or just use it incorrectly...using either too many or not enough commas, or putting them in the wrong places, using EXCESSIVE exclamation points and/or question marks, general misplacement...or perhaps a personal pet peeve of mine, using apostrophes in plurals. I once saw someone type something along the lines of "I saw a lot of wolf's the other day" and I was just like...seriously? Just...no! :P Apostrophes are only for contractions and possessives (with the exception of "its/it's", in which case it's ONLY the contraction "it is", but that's another story).

You're/your and there/their/they're. Oh goodness. Yes, they might be confusing...for a 5th grader. It's really not that hard if you just remember that the "-re" is short for "are"--after all, these people were saying that everyone shortens things. That's what contractions are--grammatically correct shortenings.

So if you're unsure, you can just separate the words: if it makes sense to add the "are", then you've got the right form. Example, "you're funny" would be correct because it also makes sense as "you are funny", but "it's you're paper" wouldn't because "it's you are paper" sounds just...stupid. You'd need to say, "it's your paper".

Same with there/their/they're, though we add one. You can always remember that "there" refers to a place because it has the word "here" in it, "they're" is the contraction "they are", and "their" is just...the possessive.

So using the same method: "The phone is over they're" would say "the phone is over they are", which makes no sense. It's referring to a place, so you should say "the phone is over there". Etc.

...That wound up rather long, BUT it's actually quite simple. That's how I learned it, anyway.


OH! And than/then. "Than" is a comparison word, "then" is a...oh, what's it called? Well, it's used in order of events. "It's better than that." "I ate a cookie, then drank some milk." And yes, that one little letter DOSE make a difference! I once read a fanfiction online in which there was a sentence that read something along the lines of: "She cried a while than went to sleep". I spent forever trying to figure out what that meant and how it would even make sense before I realized that it was supposed to be "then".


Anyhow. I hope I haven't strayed too far off topic, but those are some mistakes that I see a lot which are...well, annoying.


(Is it odd that I had trouble trying to type the incorrect examples? My fingers kept trying to keep it correct. XD)

I agree, though I don't really mind a few spelling mistakes here and there. People type fast, they don't always realize when they've made a mistake.
Me, personally? Not only do I not have AutoCorrect on my browser, but I have OCD. So when I make a spelling mistake, it NAGS at my mind until I correct it.

Not one bit (about the off topic part Lol, though I have to force myself to type bad too )

Natti, you are (XD) simply a boss. I think this post would help people a lot in that area, I even learned a few techniques I could use from it.

Now, I'm going to post an example of a not-so-great story and my review. I don't believe the person is on here, if I'm not allowed to do this I will take it down, but I won't mention the parties name either.

Hidden text : click to show


My review was as follows:

^^I feel like I sugar coated it a little bit- okay a lot XD. But for the amount of errors I believe I got my point across well enough. Fair enough? I don't get blunt to the extreme, but I think the review is encouraging at least. Ironically though, I think I forgot to point out punctuation.

Unfortunately, I am compelled by the expectations of this forum to delete the name of the person who typed this into the BS shoutbox just a few minutes ago (most regrettable that I must), but it is someone whom we've been talking about in this topic, and who consistently refuses to back off of his lazy, lousy spelling and grammar...even when confronted by MODERATORS, for crying out loud! The aforementioned college grad who thinks this place "isn't a courtroom or an English class..." (his words).


*member name deleted* (1 min) : neoplition is Stawberry, vanalaia and chococlate


He went on to misspell "Neopolitan" no less than THREE times. Differently. Each. TIME.


I'm thinking shock therapy is in order. Really. The joke is that I'm not joking.

Sadly, I've seen many people use that sort of logic thinking it excuses them from having to even attempt using proper spelling and grammar.

I will now quote a picture I think of when confronted with that excuse:
"English class is supposed to teach you that outside of English class the rules still apply. Just because you leave science class doesn't mean gravity stops working."

I'm not even confident that having a college degree means anything anymore. I may be just a college freshman, but I was editing someone's essay in class the other day and there were so many errors (to/too, then/than, misspelling of easy words, nonsensical sentences, and more) I began to wonder how the guy even passed high school, much less got accepted into college.