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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think it is bloody nasty and childish to pull someone up on grammer

268 replies

2shoes · 23/07/2010 22:47

on here(mn) I mean ffs
can I just say arse holes to anyone who does that?

OP posts:
scottishmummy · 25/07/2010 22:33

imo,y'all overthinking this.mn is recreational blah blah not an academic essay or parade your syntax and linguistic prowess

tokyonambu · 25/07/2010 22:35

"Grammar, spelling, punctuation need to be standardized with recognized bench marks. Otherwise if we all just decide to spell/punctuate how we damned well feel like, within a few generations it will be virtually impossible to decipher what someone else has written."

Those are probably benchmarks, but perhaps you've just been out tagging park furniture.

I also am dubious about your claim that language will decay to incomprehensibility within a few generations. English has changed pretty radically over the past six hundred years, but Chaucer (1343-1400) is just about readable in the original without a gloss to hand and Mallory (1405-1471) is straightforward in the original. Both of them were writing before English had much of an orthography, and their phonetic spellings are complicated for those reading today because of the Great Vowel Shift. So there has been immense change to the language since then (for example, Mallory was still using es rather than 's to mark possession, a vestige of Old English).

Nonetheless, I wouldn't say this was "virtually impossible to decipher":

And whan Syr Ector herde suche noyse and lyghte in the quyre of Joyous Garde, he alyght and put his hors from hym and came into the quyre; and there he saw men synge and wepe - and al they knewe Syr Ector, but he knewe not them. Than wente Syr Bors unto Syr Ector and told hym how there laye his brother Syr Launcelot, dede; and than Syr Ector threwe hys shelde, swerde, and helme from hym, and whan he behelde Syr Launcelottes vysage, he fyl down in a swoun.

"God knows English is hard enough to learn as it is because so much of it's grammatical structure/spelling isn't logical."

Indeed. For example, spelling the possessive form of pronouns presents particular difficulties.

crisproll2 · 25/07/2010 22:41

Surely MN should be whatever anyone wants it to be? We all enjoy ourselves in different ways. I dont think it is anyones role to tell people what they should and shouldnt think or feel. If someone hates having grammar/spelling corrected, so be it. Just as, if some others dont like seeing bad spelling they have a right to express that. I think anything else is overthinking and controlling. IMO

NorwegianBlue · 25/07/2010 23:04

"their posts are so badly and punctuated" (LeQueen)
Not to mention words omitted.

scottishmummy · 25/07/2010 23:15

has it all descended into cut& paste she said territory

seenyertoeslately · 26/07/2010 01:16

And all because somebody accidentally said 'brought' instead of 'bought' - and we all knew what she meant.

Would like to preempt anyone telling me that you can't start a sentence with 'and'. I know, but I've done it anyway.

LeQueen · 26/07/2010 09:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

2shoes · 26/07/2010 09:57

and seenyertoeslately I think you are right

OP posts:
tokyonambu · 26/07/2010 10:51

Hell, I typed the Mallory myself. Triggered the spell-check left right and centre, let me tell you.

Flattered that you confuse my leaden prose with Crystal's, though.

LeQueen · 26/07/2010 11:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tokyonambu · 26/07/2010 11:48

For an essay on Mallory. I didn't type it up for the purpose...

TheFallenMadonna · 26/07/2010 11:51

On MN it's bloody rude, as it would be in conversation in RL.

Doesn't reflect well on the person correcting.

And bleating about needing to do it.

usualsuspect · 26/07/2010 12:03

I quite like the quirky posters .gives the poster a bit of personality..and isn't posting on MN more like having a conversation, rather then writing an essay ..

mayorquimby · 26/07/2010 12:06

depends. Speling I wouldn't mind too much because firstly some people will not type as often as others so it can lead to mistakes or if your trying to type fast sometimes your brain seems to type phoenetically for some reason.
However some types of poor grammar or sentence construction can render posts virtually unreadable or can make the poster look unintelligent.

LeQueen · 26/07/2010 12:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LeQueen · 26/07/2010 12:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lostrequiem · 26/07/2010 12:56

I'm not sure if someone else has mentioned it already (started skimming when I kept seeing the same thing posted over and over by different people ...) but as weird as it may seem to those of you who don't care about spelling/grammar, seeing someone spell a word wrong or use the wrong form of their/they're/there just makes me angry. As in genuinely wanting to throttle people angry, and a little bit uncomfortable as well! I have no idea why, though I suspect it may be genetic somehow as all the female members of my family are the same

It's hard to explain, but I take pride in how I write, and it is incomprehensible to me that other people don't care and can throw all the rules out of the window. I think it may be a case of two groups who will never see the other's point of view!

BarmyArmy · 26/07/2010 13:05

I think it's fair enough to correct people and am happy for people to do so to me.

I see my efforts as a sort of attempt to make up for ignorance or poor education.

In the world or work, you are judged harshly if your brief/presentation/report is littered with spelling mistakes or grammatical errors because it belies sloppy thinking - i.e. if the person hasn't bothered to make this piece of work look professional, how likely is it that the content is going to meet the required standard.

When I worked in the City, I routinely chucked out CVs that had been submitted with mistakes on them.

I think one can rarely be too harsh on such mistakes.

usualsuspect · 26/07/2010 13:07

This is not the world of work though ...

BarmyArmy · 26/07/2010 13:52

Usualsuspect - no, I know that.

I was simply letting the many non-workers on MN know what life is like for the rest of us and, by so doing, explain such pettiness etc!

scottishmummy · 26/07/2010 14:01

at work i write precise and exacting professional reports.i dont need to adhere to professional standards/protocols on mn .mn isnt work.and it isnt on to expect such a baseline for posts

mn is recreational blah blah.typed any ole way precisely because i can,and im not at work.is quite liberating to bash out a response and not be specific,or exacting.a genuine as it comes spontaneous typed answer

BarmyArmy · 26/07/2010 14:04

Would you say you are more 'yourself' on here?

PosieParker · 26/07/2010 14:09

Poor grammar can get in the way of a good point. There's no excuse for poor spelling, google chrome highlights any errors....

On here, I write as I speak.

scottishmummy · 26/07/2010 14:09

same person just not encumbered by demand for written prose to be a specific way.largely why i just type fast on mn and dont spellcheck or owt.nah still same lassie though

but work does demand certain attitudinal and behavioural modes. so at work i adhere to the assigned role too

omnishambles · 26/07/2010 14:13

agree SM - I take much less time online than I have to do at work, one of my very dear mates just corrected my spelling on FB and I was a bit ...

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