MamaSqu wrote:

We've all heard of a blacksmith, the person who bends and fires irons into tools and such. We've all heard of cobblers, the guys that make shoes. The hatter is a guy that make hats and bonnets. I'm wondering how many people have ever noticed the people in their lives that are wordsmiths. This isn't generally a profession so much as an obsession really, but think about it, we've all met one or two in our life time that is greatly obsessed with people using words correctly. Sure, you could site your school teachers, mostly the English teachers in middle school and high school or your elementary teachers that constantly corrected children for using the wrong word in a sentence, but I'm asking each of you, how many people do you know right now that completely bug out if you use a word or phrase incorrectly and have no problem whatsoever correcting you in public? Now-a-days they call these people Grammar Nazis, but in reality they are more likely to be wordsmiths that just happen to have a touch of OCD in their personality. Can you name any of them? When they tell you one or two of their pet peeves about grammar, do you roll your eyes or do you relate to their pains?

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ITA with Dori
 

I am not particularly good with puncuation and I know I do mispell words sometimes or use the wrong words when I post.  I honestly think it is because typing is so fast past that you fingers do tend to get ahead of your mind.  I approach discussions on discussion boards like I do when having a discussion in person.  When I am talking to someone face to face I don't correct their grammar.  If I don't understand what they are saying I will say as much and ask for clarification.  I find people who make a point of correcting grammar while you are having a discussion quite annoying. I would rather they focus on the content of the discussion than my spelling, puncuation, and grammar.     

Last edited by needtosay (10/25/2015 12:38 pm)

needtosay wrote:

I am not particularly good with puncuation and I know I do mispell words sometimes or use the wrong words when I post.  I honestly think it is because typing is so fast past that you fingers do tend to get ahead of your mind.  I approach discussions on discussion boards like I do when having a discussion in person.  When I am talking to someone face to face I don't correct their grammar.  If I don't understand what they are saying I will say as much and ask for clarification.  I find people who make a point of correcting grammar while you are having a discussion quite annoying. I would rather they focus on the content of the discussion than my spelling, puncuation, and grammar.     

I agree, need. I have a degree in English and will be going back to teaching in January. Having said that, I make so many mistakes online. I feel more free on these types of sites to just speak my mind and not have to worry about my grammar and spelling, for once.

I will say that people who continue to make the same grammatical errors over and over just bug the hell out of me. That was one thing that used to drive me nuts about people like Julie, Michelley and Nip on the other board. I don't think some of them ever learned the correct spelling/usage of "your and you're" and "there, their, and they're". You just can't use it incorrectly every single day unless you just don't understand how to use the words. /end rant

Other than that I think we're all here to vent and chat, and it's nice not to have to proofread every single thing.

Dori wrote:

needtosay wrote:

I am not particularly good with puncuation and I know I do mispell words sometimes or use the wrong words when I post.  I honestly think it is because typing is so fast past that you fingers do tend to get ahead of your mind.  I approach discussions on discussion boards like I do when having a discussion in person.  When I am talking to someone face to face I don't correct their grammar.  If I don't understand what they are saying I will say as much and ask for clarification.  I find people who make a point of correcting grammar while you are having a discussion quite annoying. I would rather they focus on the content of the discussion than my spelling, puncuation, and grammar.     

  Great post Nts ! whoops! had to erase a couple exclamation points!
 

LOL Dori!

I do enjoy reading all of your comments on this subject, so pardon me if I don't quote each one of you individually.
That being said, here is what lead me to ask the question in the first place. I live with my son, who rents a two bedroom house in Southwest Louisiana. The landlady forbids us to smoke in the house and we aren't allowed to have any pets here. So, while sitting outside on the porch yesterday, I was watching the neighbors with all of their lovely pets and I was thinking, "Our landlady is a Nazi wannabe."  To which I stopped myself and instantly changed directions and thought, "What am I adamit about controlling?"  I started thinking about words. Big words, little words, all sorts of words used correctly and incorrectly by most of the people I know. And that is what I realized about myself, I am a Grammar Cop (less than a Nazi but more than a monitor). I am frequently looking for just the right word to express precisely what I'm feeling, thinking or doing. In as much as I can appreciate not correcting someone online or in person, I often tend to offer words up to friends in conversations when they seem to hesitate and hang on a word during a conversation. (Dori can attest to that one). You  know what I mean, when the word is just right there on the tip of your tongue but it just won't quite.....I step in and serve up a word on a silver platter. I'm not trying to be mean, or rude or even a know it all, frankly it's the entire opposite. If a conversation has 'flow' I will guard that train of thought and try to help stop any derailments from occurring. It has become rather a fun little game to me while I'm sitting here alone most of the time. The conversations in my head and the correct use of words. 

Yes, indeed, I am a sick little puppy, but I know the difference in "Know God or No God", Been there, their food is good, they're opening a new store soon. I've gone to many haunted houses but few on Halloween. ('gone' being used instead of my peeve "I've went" holy crap) I could continue but some flunky name Strunk thinks I should keep it short. I don't suppose any of you noticed that I am fairly constant with the Oxford commas too, right?