Grammar Discussions

[JessicaTam]

Just seen this:

But there was an organisational fail of Olympic proportions in the baggage claim area.While it's nice to have a team uniform, we're not sure that giving everyone the same bag is practical.
Luckily, Team GB were on a high from their 67-medal win and seen the funny side of it.

'Mine's the red one': Team Great Britain's baggage collection fail

They must have seen your post. It has now been fixed:

Luckily, Team GB were on a high from their 67-medal win and have seen the funny side of it.

 

[Deleted member]

some would say that people who look to correct poor grammar and spelling need to get over it. (contributors to this thread excluded)
I have been reading and posting on line less and less, because the inability (of some) to spell the most basic of words is doing my head in. the problem is sometimes it may just be a "typo".
Saying anything often gets a backlash. the latest example is a post in the "introductions" thread where the title appears to have been misspelled by running two words together. is this a typo or like the ever increasing use of that new word "aswell" the OP doesn't know the difference?
i need a Bex and a lie down. :-(

 

[anat0l]

some would say that people who look to correct poor grammar and spelling need to get over it. (contributors to this thread excluded)
I have been reading and posting on line less and less, because the inability (of some) to spell the most basic of words is doing my head in. the problem is sometimes it may just be a "typo".
Saying anything often gets a backlash. the latest example is a post in the "introductions" thread where the title appears to have been misspelled by running two words together. is this a typo or like the ever increasing use of that new word "aswell" the OP doesn't know the difference?
i need a Bex and a lie down. :-(

At an adult level, people are getting lazy.

In spoken communication, it cuts in too much of the time to correct each error (destroys continuity). There's a better case for it in written text, but since people often don't like being told they are wrong and/or they think it's "petty" in light of the greater topic, you end up with the "attack" (which ironically requires more effort than just copping the correction, i.e. who really started the fire?)

If "aswell" becomes a new word, I might just eat a hat. I have to admit, I don't come across that often as much as it may just be a general forgetting to add a space (or when tapping it out on a mobile screen, it can happen when the spacebar is missed or when inserting autocorrected words).


I'm currently teaching at a high school. The spelling, grammar and punctuation of some of my students (who should know better, not that they are EAL/D students) is pretty shocking. This extends to when they have to write code as well, since some of them said that their code which they copied from my example didn't work, and then I realise it may be because they spelt "height" incorrectly...

 

[JessicaTam]

some would say that people who look to correct poor grammar and spelling need to get over it. (contributors to this thread excluded)
I have been reading and posting on line less and less, because the inability (of some) to spell the most basic of words is doing my head in. the problem is sometimes it may just be a "typo".
Saying anything often gets a backlash. the latest example is a post in the "introductions" thread where the title appears to have been misspelled by running two words together. is this a typo or like the ever increasing use of that new word "aswell" the OP doesn't know the difference?
i need a Bex and a lie down. :-(

If there are spelling errors in titles, please feel free to report a post in the thread and let us know.

If there are spelling errors in individual posts, please don't report them as there are not enough hours in the day - and it would do my head in.

 

[Deleted member]

At an adult level, people are getting lazy.

In spoken communication, it cuts in too much of the time to correct each error (destroys continuity). There's a better case for it in written text, but since people often don't like being told they are wrong and/or they think it's "petty" in light of the greater topic, you end up with the "attack" (which ironically requires more effort than just copping the correction, i.e. who really started the fire?)

If "aswell" becomes a new word, I might just eat a hat. I have to admit, I don't come across that often as much as it may just be a general forgetting to add a space (or when tapping it out on a mobile screen, it can happen when the spacebar is missed or when inserting autocorrected words).


I'm currently teaching at a high school. The spelling, grammar and punctuation of some of my students (who should know better, not that they are EAL/D students) is pretty shocking. This extends to when they have to write code as well, since some of them said that their code which they copied from my example didn't work, and then I realise it may be because they spelt "height" incorrectly...

Ironically, the first time I came across "Aswell" was my daughters school teacher.
We were having a meeting in the class room to discuss aspects of her education , I noticed she had written Aswell on the blackboard. I said to her "I think you should fix that, there's no such word as Aswell". She replied "I think there is".
I said again , more forcefully, no it isn't.
In any event she didn't change it. A few months later we had another meeting, and as luck would have it, she was still writing Aswell on the blackboard.
I was really getting annoyed now. How dare this so called educator continue to teach my child the wrong way to spell.
Naturally I had to resort to speaking to the headmaster. Who in turn was not a lot more helpful.
I had to make him get a dictionary and show her how to spell. ...sheesh. What next ?

 

[anat0l]

Ironically, the first time I came across "Aswell" was my daughters school teacher.
We were having a meeting in the class room to discuss aspects of her education , I noticed she had written Aswell on the blackboard. I said to her "I think you should fix that, there's no such word as Aswell". She replied "I think there is".
I said again , more forcefully, no it isn't.
In any event she didn't change it. A few months later we had another meeting, and as luck would have it, she was still writing Aswell on the blackboard.
I was really getting annoyed now. How dare this so called educator continue to teach my child the wrong way to spell.
Naturally I had to resort to speaking to the headmaster. Who in turn was not a lot more helpful.
I had to make him get a dictionary and show her how to spell. ...sheesh. What next ?

I have to pass some sort of literacy and numeracy test before I graduate this year. I'm not sure that will work as well (see what I did there?) as the regulator and public would hope, though I must say the upcoming teaching cohort I associate with at uni would seem to have more sense of understanding and humility than that teacher and principal put together.

If we can't teach ourselves to diagnose our own mistakes, what hope do we have to teach our students such a skill?

 

[coco50]

Did they have a range of burger's?

Jessica - did you really want to put that apostrophe before the "s" in "burgers"?

 

[JessicaTam]

Jessica - did you really want to put that apostrophe before the "s" in "burgers"?

Absolutely. Look at the post I was replying to.

Edit: Captain Halliday's post that is.

 

[coco50]

Absolutely. Look at the post I was replying to.

Edit: Captain Halliday's post that is.

Just wanted it in black and white

 

[Foreigner]

Interesting website on English language. I signed up for weekly newsletter...

English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

 

[Foreigner]

Princeton in the US makes public policy on gender - neutral vocabulary:

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/re...r/news-story/4adf097b68d492f76b5328cc64ea2653

 

[Deleted member]

Princeton in the US makes public policy on gender - neutral vocabulary:

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/re...r/news-story/4adf097b68d492f76b5328cc64ea2653

What a load of rubbish. Just when you think the yanks are getting over themselves........

 

[MEL_Traveller]

What a load of rubbish. Just when you think the yanks are getting over themselves........

I think it's absolutely fair!

I have been doing it for years - once it is habit it becomes somewhat jarring to use gender specific pronouns.

But it’s not just the staff walking on politically correct eggshells. Students can no longer refer to fellow students as he, she, her, or him.
“Replace gendered pronouns, e.g., he, him, his, and she, her, hers, by rewriting the text in the plural,” the guidelines read.

There is no reason to assume the Chair of a board must be male (chairman). That's outdated. Why do we need to refer to a 'cleaning lady'?

 

[RooFlyer]

"Are you smarter than a Globe and Mail editor?" the paper asks. Take the Globe and Mail quiz: OK, it is US-biased grammar, but is fun to do)

 

[anat0l]

What a load of rubbish. Just when you think the yanks are getting over themselves........

I think it's absolutely fair!

I have been doing it for years - once it is habit it becomes somewhat jarring to use gender specific pronouns.


There is no reason to assume the Chair of a board must be male (chairman). That's outdated. Why do we need to refer to a 'cleaning lady'?

Agreed. It is "worse" than that in some other arenas, but the sample list they've supplied in the article is hardly unreasonable nor ridiculous; at the very least, on the whole.

Some I didn't know, actually. For example, alumnus. Some are slang in a way, like freshman, which shouldn't really be used in a formal context.

It's been a while since saying, in a formal context, something like, "Mankind has come a long way in the field of telecommunications." And something like "managers and their wives" is getting silly:

• In a more traditional sense, predating the wider acceptance of homosexual partnerships, this excludes the idea that females can be managers
• In a more modern sense, this might imply that homosexual couples may be excluded (though not explicit)
• In another sense, this might prejudice against managers who choose not to be married

"PC gone mad" goes way further than some of the above; this is tame and, in many cases, not unreasonable expectations.

 

[froggerADL]

Just in. This wonderful piece of journalism from the NT News. I know, I know.

Ms Purick said issues of renumeration would also play a huge part in any discussions that would need to occur.

And this:

CLP defect Robyn Lambley — who left the party amid its turmoil in 2015 — gained a 28 per cent swing with 74 per cent of the electorate counted.

That's a bit rude .


No Cookies | NT News

 

[juddles]

What are the expert opinions on this:

"Negotiations devolved into a violent standoff."

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/26/491462439/in-bolivia-striking-miners-kidnap-and-kill-high-level-minister

 

[TheRealTMA]

Just in. This wonderful piece of journalism from the NT News. I know, I know.

Ms Purick said issues of renumeration would also play a huge part in any discussions that would need to occur.

And this:

CLP defect Robyn Lambley — who left the party amid its turmoil in 2015 — gained a 28 per cent swing with 74 per cent of the electorate counted.

That's a bit rude .


No Cookies | NT News

may well be true if referring to a politician. I can think of several current ones, federally, who would qualify!

 

[tuapekastar]

What are the expert opinions on this:

"Negotiations devolved into a violent standoff."

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/26/491462439/in-bolivia-striking-miners-kidnap-and-kill-high-level-minister

It does not make much sense to me (oh, and my opinion is far from 'expert').

 

[tuapekastar]

What a load of rubbish. Just when you think the yanks are getting over themselves........

I think it's absolutely fair!

I have been doing it for years - once it is habit it becomes somewhat jarring to use gender specific pronouns.



There is no reason to assume the Chair of a board must be male (chairman). That's outdated. Why do we need to refer to a 'cleaning lady'?

For mine (and as posted above, I'm no 'expert', just a man - sorry - person, with an opinion), some of the listed examples are reasonable, many are over the top. It's almost at the 'open a document in edit mode, enter a command to change all occurrences of the string 'man' to 'person' and all is well with the world'. Not necessary.

The term Madam Chairman has been around for many moons. Dr Margaret Jackson in recent years referred to herself as the Chairman of Qantas. If it's OK for her, it's OK for me.