Irregardless, Grammar is our Friend

[Smilla]

"She had a very negatory attitude."

Truly, PinkDog? Dear God.

[Deleted]

I can't stand the obsessive use of "which" (rather than "that"). There is a time and a place for both!

I think the whole "hanging preposition" rule should be abolished, because observing the rule can make sentences sound stilted and, in my opinion, pretentious.

And, I'm sorry, but when people write "I could of done this" instead of "I could have done this" it drives me crazy. It just sounds stupid.

In general though, I'm not a grammar nazi. I just have my little pet peeves. In fact, I think it's excruciatingly boring to get into an intensive grammar argument with someone. (I've got someone in my office who, when a grammar question comes up, will actually start pulling out books and explaining why this is this and that is that and everyone stands there, glassy-eyed, wishing they'd never asked the question...)

[gauss]

I had to register just to say how it much it warms my (albeit little, cold, and black) heart to read this grammar thread. My current pet peeve is reading "discrete" when it really should be "discreet." Whenever someone says a person is acting or moving “discretely,” I picture them moving around in short, jerky movements, doing the robot dance.

I would write more, but I’m terrified of making a grammar mistake, thus opening myself up for severe mocking.

[cyclonevkc]

I tried to convince my otherwise intelligent friend this weekend that "extrenuating circumstances" do not exist. *Sigh* Sometimes I wish that kind of thing didn't bother me so much!

[pepper67]

My current pet peeve is reading "discrete" when it really should be "discreet."

Along the same lines as that was when I read of a bad guy being 'viscous' instead of 'vicious'.

[Deleted]

One time in a grocery store I saw that someone had put a hand-written sign up in one of the lines that said, "This line, its for 10 items or less."

Three things wrong in one little sentence!

(But I have to remind myself that whenever I have to decide between "effect" and "affect" I have to think hard. This problem of mine, it's like a mental block.)

[indygirl]

This reminds me of the wonderful Fed Ex commercial currently airing. A fed-up office worker finally informs his colleague of all of his misunderstandings and misused words. My favorite part occurs when Fed Up Guy tells Mr. Malapropism that employees in that office don't, in fact, receive "French benefits." Hee!

[Shanmac]

Pepper67 said:

And isn't Chicago pronounced "Chi-cargo"? That's how I've always heard it.

Eek! No! Sorry, but it hurt my heart to see that. I'm from just outside Chicago, and I saw it "Chi-caw-go," although there are some who say "Chi-cah-go" (personally, I think that sounds affected, like they're trying to sound tough). But no "r"! Never an "r" in there! Whew. I feel better now.

I had a boss who, when I wanted to discuss something that bothered me, would say, "We'll conversate about that later." Sigh.

A very, very smart friend of mine always does the "I" for "me" thing, i.e., discribing a photo of "Shanmac and I." I tried to explain it to her by saying, "Well, you wouldn't say it's a photo of "we" but a photo of "us," so you'd use "me," but ... well, it didn't work.

[Deleted]

I would write more, but I’m terrified of making a grammar mistake, thus opening myself up for severe mocking.

So true, guass! I'm extremely anal about proofreading my posts in this thread. It's exhausting.

I have to admit, I am confused about the "effect" vs. "affect" thing. Whenever it actually matters (at work, etc.), I generally avoid using either word - just in case!

[Deleted]

Yes to the its/it's, their/there, your/you're annoyances and especially yes to " " around anything that isn't a direct quote or meant ironically.

Another misuse that always makes me raise an eyebrow is the word orientate. It sounds so wrong, and most people would agree that it IS wrong — but dictionary.com has it listed. Naturally, it means "to orient."

(I looked up discrete while I was there, too. I learn a lot from this thread.)