Free grammar lessons!

[Squeek]

RE: Re: RE: Free grammar lessons!

I'm always here for you pander.

'Cept when I'm at school, playing games, watching anime, or at work. Which is always.

~Squeek

[Yanah_God]

RE: Re: RE: Free grammar lessons!

To sum up my feeling for this topic:

I love you. I'd like to physically love you.

You got that out of ME.

[User6773]

RE: Re: RE: Free grammar lessons!

I'd like to recommend a section on commonly misused phrases. I can think of a few.

"For all intensive purposes." This phrase does not exist. The correct spelling is "for all intents and purposes."

E.G. vs. I.E. vs. A.K.A.
Global rule: All of these acronyms always have a period after each letter. At the beginning of a sentence, all letters are capitalized. Anywhere else in a sentence, all letters are lower case.

E.G. is short for the Latin exempli gratis (a free example). It means "for example" and can be used anywhere that you could use the words "for example." It is a dependent clause, which means it should be separated by a comma from the main clause of a sentence.
Example: "I need you to write a paper on a natural science of your choosing; e.g., biology or physics."

I.E. is short for the Latin id est (it is). It means "that is" and can be used anywhere that you could use those words. It is typically used to give futher explanation to something. It is a dependent clause, which means it should be separated by a comma from the main clause of a sentence.
Example: "We didn't think he was doing a good job, i.e., we hated his guts and wanted him fired."
Example: "She was a lady of the night, i.e., a prostitute."

A.K.A. is short for "also known as" and should only be used literally, in that sense. Do not put a comma after it anywhere.
Example: "The place was known as Red Herring's Bar and Tavern, a.k.a Big Red's."
Example: "She was a lady of the night, a.k.a. a prostitute."

You'll notice that "a.k.a." and "i.e." can be used interchangably sometimes, but not all the time. The first examples for each of those cannot be interchanged. Take care to pay attention to what the acronyms stand for to differentiate the meanings.

[Squeek]

Re: RE: Re: RE: Free grammar lessons!

I'll add it in, but don't expect me to update past that >_>

I've run out of COMMON errors that I can think of. Notice how I haven't updated the thread in a month.

~Squeek

[DDR_9-footer]

-removed-

[tnyhwk900]

*This is my kind of thread.

That isn't even proper grammar, either.

By the way, the last post in this thread was over a month ago.

[pntballa18]

You can't bump a sticky

[tnyhwk900]

Actually, you can bump it to the top of the sticky section of the board. If there are a million stickies on a particular board (a0.com's "Holy shit! I'm using the INTERNET!" board), then you most certainly can.

[justaguy]

i'm sorry to say but this is possibly the most idiotic thread ever. not to be a troll, but you guys are really lame if you think huge amounts of grammar matter on the internet. by using correct grammar in every possible case on the internet you're just leaving yourself wide open for a punch in the face when you mess up. usually using correct grammar on the internet is for people that like to give the impression they are intelligent (ie guido and squeek). next step is they flaunt their IQ in the same post with correct grammar. all of you need to loosen up.

Serious business here, watch out. I'm using correct grammar, and my point is making it's way to you in a more profound way than without using grammar.

using grammar just leaves you wide open for someone to quote you and point out all the mistakes you made.

@squeek: you say you're absolutely perfect with your grammar? get a grip man, everyone makes mistakes, no one's perfect. i'm sure there are plenty of times where you've fucked up, and you did people probably made it a point to point it out.

making this post on a board ESPECIALLY like ffr isn't going to do anything. you're just going to have a truck load of pseudo-smart people making "Posts like this" in every topic. you're actually asking for formality on a board full of 12 year olds.

save the grammar for school kids.

ps: it's really easy to tell who is all caught up in the internet is serious business stuff XD

[GuidoHunter]

i'm sorry to say but this is possibly the most idiotic thread ever. not to be a troll, but you guys are really lame if you think huge amounts of grammar matter on the internet. by using correct grammar in every possible case on the internet you're just leaving yourself wide open for a punch in the face when you mess up. usually using correct grammar on the internet is for people that like to give the impression they are intelligent (ie guido and squeek). next step is they flaunt their IQ in the same post with correct grammar. all of you need to loosen up.

You caught me, Hayden. All I want to do is flaunt my IQ.

I actually don't know how "not to be a troll, but you guys are really lame if you think huge amounts of grammar matter on the internet" is supposed to end. Dependent clauses go by that name for a reason. A minimum amount of good grammar is actually necessary for comprehension of sentences. You lack even that in the above quoted sentence and later with "i'm sure there are plenty of times where you've fucked up, and you did people probably made it a point to point it out." I'm not here to correct your grammar, but if people pay more attention to it, mistakes like this are less likely to happen. This thread exists to encourage such attention.

I contributed to this thread because I want people who care to be better informed. Y'know who else does stuff like that? Teachers. You gonna knock teachers' jobs? Perhaps you don't think grammar is important because this is the internet and not "real life". You don't see football players skipping out on spring training just because it's not game day, though.

The fact of the matter is that we made this thread for people who want to get better at using good grammar. It's concise, available, and focuses on common mistakes. How that is idiotic is beyond me.

We use good grammar because (like in the previous analogies) it's always good to practice and there's no reason not to do so.

You can't deny that proper use of one's own language sets people apart. Whom would you respect more? The man who "ain't got no reason to talk good" or the Harvard law grad with impeccable verbal skills? Actually, I don't even care what your answer is. What really matters is what the real world has to say.

Am I fishing for respect here on the internet? A little, yeah, but I am moreso in the real world because you can't go very far without it. And there are many ways to distinguish one's self in the real world with one's self on the internet. But dumbing down my grammar for no good reason is not something I will do simply for distinction. Of course, then again, there's no reason to act differently on the internet and in the real world.

And yeah, I like to give the impression I'm intelligent. Why, in God's name, would I want to make someone think I'm stupid?

Using correct grammar on the internet is for people who don't want to rebuke their educators and throw away knowledge for absolutely no reason.

If you don't think anyone cares on the internet, I suggest you check out a tough question and a tough question, revisited. I wondered the same thing, so I conducted this little experiment.

One more thing. You say this is a board filled with twelve year olds. In fact, the average age is around fourteen or fifteen (of the forums, at least, and I think even that is a low estimate). Sixteen is a good age for getting out into the world. As can be seen, the average user is quite close to that age. Without rudimentary grammar skills, these kids will come to find that the world won't like them as much as they might want.

"Save the grammar for school"? Yeah, everyone, take Hayden's advice and dumb yourselves down. Great idea.

EDIT: Question mark.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com

[Squeek]

@squeek: you say you're absolutely perfect with your grammar? get a grip man, everyone makes mistakes, no one's perfect. i'm sure there are plenty of times where you've fucked up, and you did people probably made it a point to point it out.

First of all, let me note that when I say I type with perfect grammar, I realize the multitudes of sentence structure errors and agreement issues I create. However, hardly anybody here can point them out without first consulting Google, so let's just leave those alone, OK?

And yes, I do acknowledge the fact that I am not infallible. About once every 6 months or so, I'll have someone mention the fact that I've made a mistake in one of my posts. Then I fix it. That's just about how far it goes.

The reason I made this post was to make our forumgoers care more about the way they and other users type. As a result, our forum is now easily one of the most intellectual forums with a large population of teenagers in the world. Instead of scrolling through pages of "omg wat r u tlakin abot??/", you will find "What is it that you are trying to say here?"

That makes me feel good inside. If you'd rather see users typing like the first example, by all means, make YOUR effort to degenerate MY efforts.

~Squeek

[tnyhwk900]

Have you noticed the couple of threads that appear every once in a while, stating "HEY DOSE NE1 PLYA RUNESCPAPE??????????????" It's because they come from other forums where that is acceptable grammar. That is why this topic exists: not just as a reference or a guide, but as a sign to newcomers that illegible grammar will not be handled politely.

I'm sure the point has been made many times before in this topic, but no one demands you to capitalize every proper noun and every sentence. Like you, 99% of this site doesn't really care that much. All I want is a post that I don't have to read word for word to understand what they're saying.

[Squeek]

Re: Free grammar lessons!

Bump for importance.

~Squeek

[Grandiagod]

Re: Free grammar lessons!

Now I know why squeek is a crazy grammar Nazi.

[dAnceguy117]

Re: Free grammar lessons!

Could someone be so polite as to tell me why this thread was unstickied to begin with?