English Grammar

[MsDazzler]

When you see people posting erronenous grammar or just plain bad English here, what do you think? Does it decrease the validity or credibilty of what they are saying? Or just make them look simply moronic? The same goes for people who type in capitals..

[Hugh Jarrod]

No. I don'y mean this in a bad way but because someone is a terrible speller or talker we shouldn't assume their point is invalid. However the posts you speak of would be worthless with or without good spelling.

[Ecstatic]

Back in college I had a linguistic anthropology prof who made a really good point about their being two different groups relative to speaking and writing proper English: the cult of correctness (his term) and the be understood group (I don't recall his term for this group). While in certain formal situations only proper English applies (e.g., write a resume in slang and you'll get very few job offers in most businesses or industries), the more important point is to be understood. If your use of poor grammar or slang prevents your meaning from being clear to your intended audience,there's a problem. On a forum like this, where so many come from so many different backgrounds, I personally think some effort to write clearly and use standard English grammar is quite helpful. But I also think it's totally cool to mix it up with some slang and shall we say creative grammar to make it interesting.

[DessiLu]

I'm whoreiable at grammer. Please don't make fun of me. :oops:

When you see people posting erronenous grammar or just plain bad English here, what do you think? Does it decrease the validity or credibilty of what they are saying? Or just make them look simply moronic? The same goes for people who type in capitals..

Forget the english bullshit.... We want to talk about azz and why you wont let a man go deep in dat?

[MsDazzler]

When you see people posting erronenous grammar or just plain bad English here, what do you think? Does it decrease the validity or credibilty of what they are saying? Or just make them look simply moronic? The same goes for people who type in capitals..

Forget the english bullshit.... We want to talk about azz and why you wont let a man go deep in dat?

LOL ... forget the guest bullshit.... reveal your real identity instead of posing behind a guest identity

[Gia Darling]

I'm the worst speller in the world
but i think that spelling does not equal someone being intelligent or dumb
its just that some are better than others
in a way i wonder what makes someone ask this???
but any whooooo
spelling has never kept me back from doing anything

and it should not keep anyone else aether

I'm the worst speller in the world
but i think that spelling does not equal someone being intelligent or dumb
its just that some are better than others
in a way i wonder what makes someone ask this???
but any whooooo
spelling has never kept me back from doing anything

and it should not keep anyone else aether

I love watching your movies and seeing that nice cock you have Gia.

[Hugh Jarrod]

Back in college I had a linguistic anthropology prof who made a really good point about their being two different groups relative to speaking and writing proper English: the cult of correctness (his term) and the be understood group (I don't recall his term for this group). While in certain formal situations only proper English applies (e.g., write a resume in slang and you'll get very few job offers in most businesses or industries), the more important point is to be understood. If your use of poor grammar or slang prevents your meaning from being clear to your intended audience,there's a problem. On a forum like this, where so many come from so many different backgrounds, I personally think some effort to write clearly and use standard English grammar is quite helpful. But I also think it's totally cool to mix it up with some slang and shall we say creative grammar to make it interesting.

Amen

[Hugh Jarrod]

I'm whoreiable at grammer. Please don't make fun of me. :oops:

Wouldn't dream of it sweetie.

[Hugh Jarrod]

When you see people posting erronenous grammar or just plain bad English here, what do you think? Does it decrease the validity or credibilty of what they are saying? Or just make them look simply moronic? The same goes for people who type in capitals..

Forget the english bullshit.... We want to talk about azz and why you wont let a man go deep in dat?

Which azz the kind we like, or the one you are?

[MsDazzler]

Why is it that when people make inflammatory posts in forums, they usually have bad English?

[robin]

*BUMP.
Was just reading this thread (for some reason I find the old threads very interesting) and noticed nobody responded to Dazzler's last query.

Firstly, I find it very annoying when people cannot write/type using correct grammar (except for those whom English is a second language). Equally annoying is people who type in full caps (capital letters) or use different colors (like that one dude here whose posts looked like they belonged to a PRIDE forum).

I think how you write/type should reflect your personality. How you use words (they don't have to be big words) mixed with a certain sense of humor can reveal more than just blatantly stating "I'm intelligent and sucessful and you only have to ask my friends and they will tell you I'm a great person". If you ever have to use such a statement you are seriously in a lot of trouble. In the world today, people will rarely give you second chances to prove something. I forget which film it was that Nick Cage said "It's a shame people don't speak that way anymore"- after he read a quote from George Washington. In this forum, you can practically distinguish people that went to school and people that somehow managed to surivive thru that institutation where you read books n' stuff.

Why do people that flame posts use bad english? I think its either one of two reasons: either they care so little that they hurridly type their rant and submit or they just can't write using proper grammar. :eek:

[BeardedOne]

I forget which film it was that Nick Cage said "It's a shame people don't speak that way anymore"- after he read a quote from George Washington.

Sounds like American Treasure (I think that was the title).

Sadly, most Americans don't speak that way anymore. :-(

[robin]

Thanks BeardedOne. I was completely clueless as to the title of that film. I think it's such a shame what some people have done with the inheritance of freedom, instead they meander through life like plankton with an excuse for every mistake they label. :oops:

[Ecstatic]

Having a Master's degree in English and having taught college English for nearly a decade, I certainly favor writing that's not only grammatically correct but also rich in texture and substance. I lament the fact that, today, most people groan at seeing a paragraph more than three or four sentences in length, and simple sentences at that. What has become of nuance? (Ah, that's right, Kerry lost the election because he was too "nuanced" whilst Bush shot from the hip...and see where that got us.)

That said (or merely hinted at: I could go on for hours), I also enjoy messin' about with the Queen's language. Thar's a helluva lotta pleasure can be had by phrasing things just so: so long as your meaning is clearly conveyed, that is (unless, of course, your purpose is satiric, metaphorical, symbollic, surreal, multivalent, or otherwise literary, but that brings us roung to fiction and poetry, not discourse).

It reminds me of what my linquistic anthropology professor taught me: there's two schools, the "cult of correctness" which holds the dictionary sacrosanct and trembles at every split infinitive, and the "cult of communication" which holds that form really doesn't matter so long as meaning is clear. Being a Buddhist, of course, I tend to the Middle Path.

[maggiegee]

As Ecstatic has stated there are many different styles of writing.

There is the style that you would use for professional purposes, posting to a scientific, or legal journal, or other professional correspondence.

Then there is the style you would use if you wanted to tell your utility, cable company etc, that you were having a problem.

Then there is the style that you woul use to speak to a general audience. I call that 'newspeak'. Think of a news reporter, he or she must be able to be understood by a wide audience.

Now obviously the New York times is very different from the New York Daily News, and the folks on PBS and NPR will present the news differently than the local 'talking heads' on your local news station.

But in posting to forums, one should try to be understood by as many people as possible.

Incorrect spelling and grammar doesn't always take away from the persons message, or neccessarily make them a less intelligent person. Nor will the use of $50 words make people think you are the 'shiznit'. :o

Also some forums have a spell check feature, and people may want to run their posts through there or www.webster.com before hitting that submit button.

Finally try to make your point clearly and quickly (don't be long winded like me), and if appropriate by all means throw some humor in there. 8)

[Ecstatic]

maggiegee, you remind me of a classic (and by all accounts true) tale regarding the appropriate use of relevant nomenclature and the avoidance of unnecessary sesquipedalian verbiage, to wit:

A plumber, it is said, wrote to the Bureau of Standards that he had found hydrochloric acid excellent for cleaning drains. He inquired whether the Bureau thought it was OK. Their answer: “The efficiency of hydrochloric acid is indisputable but the chlorine residue is incompatible with metallic permanence.”

The plumber wrote back thanking the Bureau and expressing his pleasure that they agreed with him.

The people at the Bureau were alarmed that they had been misunderstood and wrote back: “We cannot assume responsibility for the production of toxic and noxious residue with hydrochloric acid; we suggest you use an alternative procedure.”

The plumber wrote again to say he was glad to know their interest in his work and that he was continuing with the acid. The Bureau sent a telegram: “Don’t use hydrochloric acid. It eats hell out of the pipes.”

:)

[BeardedOne]

The Bureau simply needs to eschew obfuscation. 8)

[Ecstatic]

So long as they don't use hydrochloric acid to do so, B1!

[MsDazzler]

yeah... inflammatory posts just look more idiotic if that person can't write or spell well. lol