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Several days until I attend my next meeting of Pedants Anonymous

Lily White said:
Same with there, their and they're. Also are and our.
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there is kind of an excuse for the their/they're/there situation as the word is pronounced the same, are and our is unforgivable though as the pronunciation should not be the same, are rhymes with car, our does not
 
clownfoot said:
I'm with you on all the above points, but beware Skitt's Law

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/skitts-law
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Aye, true enough although I actually like people pointing out grammar mistakes I make so I can be even more of a pedant in the future!

It was actually a German colleague of mine with English as a second language that pointed out my mistake with due / owing to in the first instance, though I've read up on it I'm not entirely sure when to use which.

Interesting point that Roland made about words changing their meaning over time. I guess the judgement has to be when has a word's meaning genuinely evolved and when are people just getting it plain wrong?
 
should have - should have

****in despise.

The usuals are also poor - they're/their/there and your/you're
 
Roland Beurre said:
It annoys me when I see it written, but when The Cardigans' Nina Persson sings "I'm loosing my favourite game" I find it enchanting. I wonder why?
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How do you know she's not singing "losing"?

I do like your obsession though and you are a humorous writer to boot. I'm a bit of a stickler myself when it comes to grammar mistakes, but I mainly operate the Norwegian branch of Pedants Anonymous, or Silent Pedants, if you will. I rarely point out mistakes, in fear of getting caught out, but I do mutter a lot.

Being a foreigner on this board, my biggest grammar fears are have/has and is/are, and this annoys me because it's supposed to be pretty basic. Or should that have read "my biggest grammar fear is have/has and is/are"? It sounded better with "are".

biggest-looser-1278f1.jpg
 
galeforce said:
there is kind of an excuse for the their/they're/there situation as the word is pronounced the same, are and our is unforgivable though as the pronunciation should not be the same, are rhymes with car, our does not
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Actually, they're is pronounced slightly different to their/there.
 
Hotshot-Tottenham said:
Interesting point that Roland made about words changing their meaning over time. I guess the judgement has to be when has a word's meaning genuinely evolved and when are people just getting it plain wrong?
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I did English at university (I know, a pointless degree) and in one lecture we learnt about a theory for language but I forget the name of the person who wrote it. Basically it stated that words hold no meaning. No matter what is said, context and tone give the meaning, and the words are constantly in flux for definition. Constant evolution within different cultures can create new boundaries of definition. A good example of late would be the Y-word debate going on in football.

Or another example would be Spain. Hispania was the title given by the Romans to the Iberians, which translates to Isle of Rabbits. But the derivative word Hispanic now holds no relevance to the origin of rabbits, and is used as a way to describe people from different countries that speak Spanish, and even as far as **** websites having Hispanic categories.

It was with a similar argument that the Sex Pistols were able to defend the title of their first album when it came out in 77. The word 'B*llocks' derived from Old English and meant 'nonsense'
 
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'Lose' and 'loose' I often see mixed up on here. Most annoying.

I also don't like 'this' as a reply. Is 'this' good, bad, or average, as it is never really specified? I understand what people mean but why 'this' and not 'I agree whole-heartedly' or 'I concur', it makes it sound like someone is a bit 'special' and just pointing and shouting at a billboard...
 
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'should have' absolutely kills me. Just seeing it gives me genuine physical symptoms of rage.

I also hate 'literally', though in a different way.

Great thread Roland - it annoys me that us grammar nazis are looked down upon by some, and it feels refreshing to air these views.
 
Consisting of = OK
Comprising = OK

Comprising of = very much not OK

Estate Agents take note.
 
What is the correct punctuation to use for the following paragraph?

Re: Kit Thread
Only £12m?! That's kinda pathetic isn't it, compared to the amount some other teams receive.

I would use a question mark, after 'isn't it', but then how does the rest of the paragraph link?

My grammar is usually fantastic, but I do get stumped on the phrasing of words, or punctuation, from time to time.
 
richie_spur said:
I also don't like 'this' as a reply. Is 'this' good, bad, or average, as it is never really specified? I understand what people mean but why 'this' and not 'I agree whole-heartedly' or 'I concur', it makes it sound like someone is a bit 'special' and just pointing and shouting at a billboard...
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Ditto.
 
El Guepardo said:
What is the correct punctuation to use for the following paragraph?

Re: Kit Thread
Only £12m?! That's kinda pathetic isn't it, compared to the amount some other teams receive.

I would use a question mark, after 'isn't it', but then how does the rest of the paragraph link?

My grammar is usually fantastic, but I do get stumped on the phrasing of words, or punctuation, from time to time.
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If you really want to use a question mark then I think it should go at the end of the sentence, though as it is rhetorical I am not sure it is necessary.

If you put it at the end of the sentence then it looks a bit odd, because the question is in the first clause, not the second, so it would look better recast as: Compared to the amount some other teams receive, that's kinda pathetic isn't it?

Punctuation is very personal. I tend to over punctuate but I am coming round to the view that removing commas is OK so long as the meaning remains clear.
 
Roland Beurre said:
If you really want to use a question mark then I think it should go at the end of the sentence, though as it is rhetorical I am not sure it is necessary.

If you put it at the end of the sentence then it looks a bit odd, because the question is in the first clause, not the second, so it would look better recast as: Compared to the amount some other teams receive, that's kinda pathetic isn't it?

Punctuation is very personal. I tend to over punctuate but I am coming round to the view that removing commas is OK so long as the meaning remains clear.
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It's not so much a question, as it is a statement, so I would leave the question mark out. I would, however, slip a comma before "isn't it" as well as the one behind. Then again, I'm a bit of a commaphile.
 
People using the phrase "kind of like" all the time i.e I kind of like kicked the ball in the bush So you kicked the ball in the bush, you did not kind of kick it and why add the work like?
 
well it's more " i kind of...like, kicked the ball in the bush" tbf

only ones which bother me are the misspelling of Colombia - note there is no U in Colombia

and there's one poster on here who constantly mixes up either with neither - :twisted:
 
Roland Beurre said:
Compared to the amount some other teams receive, that's kinda pathetic isn't it?
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There would definitely be a comma before "isn't it" as it's a question tag, which is used to keep a conversation flowing by inviting an answer.

I think the comma between "receive" and "that's" is optional though.
 
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