tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post5431860043562043005..comments2023-10-31T05:03:38.910-07:00Comments on Letters from a broad...: My favorite grammar rules!!!C. L. Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-33413154455571520092010-11-01T11:35:40.928-07:002010-11-01T11:35:40.928-07:00Hey Aerin and MoHoHawaii!!!
Sounds fascinating --...Hey Aerin and MoHoHawaii!!!<br /><br />Sounds fascinating -- I have to look it up!C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-78245560712382874012010-10-31T10:54:10.304-07:002010-10-31T10:54:10.304-07:00I was thinking about that David Foster Wallace ess...I was thinking about that David Foster Wallace essay, too.MoHoHawaiihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15086670779804942122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-81295126242193671172010-10-31T07:45:39.222-07:002010-10-31T07:45:39.222-07:00I highly recommend reading David Foster Wallace...I highly recommend reading David Foster Wallace's essay about grammar and the dictionary of usage in "Consider the Lobster". <br /><br />Evidently his mom used to hold her breath at the dinner table until her kids' realized the grammar mistake they had made. <br /><br />So yes, language and usage are interesting - but at some point one has to let it go. I think moderation is the key. <br /><br />But I had a much better understanding of common English rules when studying other languages. Studying other languages can help a person's understanding of English.Aerinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11142518259771067132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-91997441540260652452010-10-30T22:44:13.086-07:002010-10-30T22:44:13.086-07:00Joe -- lol, so true!!! :DJoe -- lol, so true!!! :DC. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-69711432173077236692010-10-30T14:35:49.861-07:002010-10-30T14:35:49.861-07:00I literally loathe the abuse of the word literal.
...I literally loathe the abuse of the word literal.<br /><br />I'm also amused at how many so called grammar rules were made up by ignoramuses convinced that English was a Latin language.<br /><br />All languages evolve. The results of this are sometimes annoying (such as misunderstanding the word "perfect", the change of the word "gay" and even the phrase "make love") and sometimes hilarious (such as not realizing just how vulgar Shakespeare really is, which results in things like KBYU showing the Helen Hunt presentation of Twelfth Night, which is a play about sex, cross-dressing, homosexuality, oral sex and more sex.)Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04450897654318345683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-69932516132346838792010-10-28T13:39:16.344-07:002010-10-28T13:39:16.344-07:00Hey Carla!!!
Cool, it's great to be open abou...Hey Carla!!!<br /><br />Cool, it's great to be open about the way you were brought up to talk.<br /><br />This is not exactly the same thing, but I have grammar rules that I break openly on purpose, too. For example, I always say "hurted" instead of "hurt" just because I don't like the ambiguous irregular past tense. "My shoes hurt me." (Did they hurt you one time in the past, or habitually???)<br /><br />Consequently, my kids are probably learning some not-offically-correct English... ;)<br /><br />Hey Louise!!!<br /><br />Verbing is an interesting question. It can lead to unnecessarily long words where a verb gets changed into a noun and then back onto a verb. (eg. why say utilize instead of use?)<br /><br />OTOH, it is extremely useful in many cases! How else can you say that you're going to skype someone???C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-24334893322749338052010-10-28T10:58:27.702-07:002010-10-28T10:58:27.702-07:00I think nouns becoming verbs is very interesting. ...I think nouns becoming verbs is very interesting. My brother gets really frustrated when I say I'll "skype" him. He is far from a grammar expert, but for some reason has a particular issue with this one. So I say it just to annoy him, I think he's being ridiculous! :-DLouisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05786490924378695630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-7975521458942190982010-10-28T10:26:47.318-07:002010-10-28T10:26:47.318-07:00#3 - I have a sibling who tried to force that one ...#3 - I have a sibling who tried to force that one on me, who's known for her superb grammar and etiquette. tee-hee!<br /><br />I love using bad grammar in front of "intellectual" people to highlight the fact that I come from a town of just over 900 people surrounded in every direction by cornfields.<br /><br />The dumbest? "Gay means happy, not homosexual!" I don't know how it's supposed to prove anything, maybe that gay people are language thieves as well as sexual deviants. But of course to a population that doesn't believe in the evolution of the species, how can one explain the evolution of language?Carla Schmidt Hollowayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947846629735463824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-67735422621614763732010-10-28T10:11:16.533-07:002010-10-28T10:11:16.533-07:00Hey Lars!!!
That's a good one! I wouldn'...Hey Lars!!!<br /><br />That's a good one! I wouldn't say it's a grammatical error so much as an annoying stylistic trait. ;^)<br /><br />Re: <i>I think that it is very important to remember to not be a language bigot, as it were, and make judgments about people based on their usage and accent.</i><br /><br />So true. I always pay attention to usage and accents, though, because I'm fascinated by language in action.C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-38879699282518479792010-10-28T10:03:54.108-07:002010-10-28T10:03:54.108-07:00I am somewhat of a grammar Nazi at home, and it ha...I am somewhat of a grammar Nazi at home, and it has proved effective, but I also enforce the rule that neither of my boys EVER correct someone else's grammar. We all make mistakes and the language is a dynamic thing. But I loved the comments made by Stephen Fry, having seen this a couple weeks ago, and didn't find them at all negative, just cautionary. I think that it is very important to remember to not be a language bigot, as it were, and make judgments about people based on their usage and accent. I scold myself at times wondering why all annoying preachers seem to affect a southern accent even when they don't actually have one, for example.<br /> <br />But for my daily peeve, since you ask, I don't point out a common grammar flaw so much as an inflection trend. I posted on Facebook yesterday after a particularly torturous experience in a meeting at work:<br /><br />"Please, don't make everything you say to me a question? It is really hard to to distinguish the real questions? From the statements that aren't questions? If you make every goddamn thing you say sound like a question? Are you continually asking me? For permission to continue? Get it?"Lars Larsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04251861709629640112noreply@blogger.com