Uncategorized Experience, Internet, Random stuff, Rant 10:17 pm
There is a very real difference between “your” and “you’re”, or “affect” and “effect”. If you point this out people whine that ‘language evolves’, ignoring the fact they are making no sense.
If someone says 2+2=5, correcting them isn’t being a maths nazi.
 | IT Support Dunstable on Quarrendon School Festival and… |
 | Kevin on How to solve “Missing Fl… |
 | Proteek Basu on How to solve “Missing Fl… |
 | ocx files on How to solve “Missing Fl… |
 | Tricia Kaiser on How to solve “Missing Fl… |
 | Gary Barr on I Ain’t Been Shot Mum… |
 | Last Hussar on I Ain’t Been Shot Mum… |
 | Sheriff Lee on I Ain’t Been Shot Mum… |
 | gavandjosh02 on I Ain’t Been Shot Mum… |
 | Kent on I Ain’t Been Shot Mum… |
You’re not a Nazi if you think things are wrong and should be right. The Nazis thought that wrong things shold be right (so to speak).
Precision in language is important and the “language evolves” tribe are just too lazy or too stupid to understand how to use language properly.
It makes me cross as well.
I agree entirely. And you wrote ‘grammer’ just for effect… didn’t you?
Dammit Jim, I’m a grammAr Nazi, not a typing Nazi.
I make far less spelling mistakes writing, but fair point.
The difference between math and grammar is that math is a science while grammar is a social convention.
I’ve found an excellent article about this difference.
I had expected someone to point this out before you did!
Yes of course language is very much an arbitrary set of rules, but then so is most of human interaction. By arbitrarily changing these you at best change the way you interact, and at worst exclude segments of society. By breaking those rules (as opposed to group change) you alter the way you interact with society.
I work with a woman who ALWAYS uses the word ‘brought’ for ‘bought’. It can change the meaning of what she says completely.
Many people who think that grammar can be ignored seem to be to be lazy and/or arrogant, and they deploy “language evolves” to excuse their lack of correctness. However, we appear to be approaching a point where we will have no word for ‘literally’ because of all those people who say they ‘literally died’.
One way gay people have fought homophobia is by taking control of homophobic terms. I think it was President Johnson who first used the word ‘escalate’ to mean ‘intensify’.
The rules of most sports have evolved over the last hundred years, but “Rules evolve, get over the fact I can’t be bothered to stick to them” isn’t an excuse.
This post isn’t about trying to reject change – I happily Google stuff without ever meaning 10^100 – but about those who try to excuse laxness and laziness.