Grammar nerds unite!

Here's a blog devoted to mocking the unnecessary and inappropriate use of quotation marks. Here's one devoted to apostrophe abuse. Here's another. And here's a blog that makes fun of people who misuse the word "literally." That particular error literally drive's me up the "wall."

(Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan.)

Comments

[Josh Rubin]

B'r'E'n'D'a'N:

I don't see what the big problem "is."

As a teacher, I'm frequently presented with improper grammar ... apparently, it isn't being taught as strictly as it used to be. I miss my 7th grade English teacher... She teached me my grammar good's.

[Jay Johnson]

Do kids diagram sentences anymore? Whilst I was being taught that in the grammar school days, I thought it was the most useless thing ever.

Now, I see that it's a very important part of being able to understand how to construct a reasonable sentence.

The biggest grammar thing that bugs me isn't really a grammar thing. My toes curl every time I see someone spewing vitriol on a message board while criticizing someone else's poor "grammer."

Ugh. BTW, we should just switch over to teaching l3375p34k.

"IM" IN UR GRAMMER
MISUSIN UR APOSTRFE'S
LITRALY

[dcl]

Dude stop it with the damn scare quotes, you can't literally be driven up the wall and dammit if that's not an incorrect use of an apostrophe!. For my part, excessive exclamation points, people that write the word dude, and use contractions in writing are quite annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) (I also hate emoticons!)

And Jay, that was quite a perspicacious use of the word whilst. (Who says I can not start a paragraph with and?)

[Aaron]

"Unbelievable" is misused all the time, particularly in sports. The word has very nearly gone the way of "incredible" in no longer meaning what the roots of the word suggest.

[Jay Johnson]

Thanks for the kudos on the use of "whilst," but I wasn't sweating while I typed it.

[The Monster]

I'm inspired to pull my copy of Edwin Newman's Strictly Speaking off the shelf and re-read it.

One of my biggest peeves is the over-correction. After being told to say 'he' instead of 'him' hundreds of times, without the context that explains when each is correct, one assumes that 'him' is intrinsically informal and 'he' is the correct form. Thus, this sort of sentence:

The coach refused to discuss details of the suspension, stating that it was between he and the player.

We also see it when, after a lifetime of using "an'" as a contraction for "and" (and perhaps being corrected for it), the two words are conflated:

This is and important event.

My parents expected all of their children to be able to diagram any sentence we uttered. We understood the rules why something was or wasn't correct.

[David K.]

Grammar nazi's literally drive me up the wall

[Brendan Loy]

"Unbelievable" is misused all the time, particularly in sports.

I whole-heartedly agree! I literally want to kiss you for saying this.

Okay, not literally... :)

"Unthinkable" is similarly misused when talking about tragedies like Hurricane Katrina or 9/11, though that's less of a purely linguistic error and more deliberate, agenda-driven linguistic manipulation, I think. (If it was "unthinkable," then it can't be anybody's fault for failing to prepare for it.)

But yeah, "unbelievable" should be limited in sports to truly incredibly plays/games like the trick plays in Boise State/Oklahoma (and the subsequent wedding proposal), the Tony Romo fumble, the Red Sox coming back from 0-3 to beat the Yankees, Appalachian State beating Michigan, etc. They might not be literally "unbelievable," but they're close enough for sports purposes. But calling every awesome touchdown pass or Reggie Bush-esque run "unbelievable" really cheapens the word, and forces us to delve into hyperbole when we want to describe something truly amazing.

[dcl]

perspicacious adjective having a ready insight into and understanding of things : it offers quite a few facts to the perspicacious reporter. See note at keen .

[Vicki from NJ]

Brendan,

Must you throw the Red Sox 0-3 comeback into every conversation!?!

I thought the website about misuse of quotation marks was hilarious. It is now one of my bookmarks. :)