Words Have Meaning; So Does Grammar

[lvstephanie]

I recently have been hearing this national ad on the radio about addiction treatment that has (to me) a glaring grammatical mistake that completely changes the meaning of the line. The line is from a customer relating her experience with this company's service (for her husband's addiction, I believe) stating that they found a treatment center that accepted his insurance, and they got him in "quick". Although they actually meant "quickly" as an adverb to describe how they got him in, the word "quick" in the actual context would be an adjective with the only noun it could describe being the pronoun "him". In other words, it could have been said that they got her quick husband into the treatment center. When the word "quick" is used as an adjective, it means alive as in the phrase "the quick and the dead". To which I thought sarcastically, "Wonderful! They accepted his insurance, and he didn't even need to die first before being let in!"

[lbeery]

Oh, be still my beating heart....someone else out there is driven crazy by the new English of invented words....like simpler.  Even though, yes, it is in the new dictionaries, my English teach said this was more simple or less simple.  Others that drive me nuts are...I got to, where you at and other lazy phrases.  Yes, words have meanings and grammar makes all the difference.  Danger, Men cooking.  Danger Men, Cooking.

[lvstephanie]

Ah yes, the glorious evolution of our language from people that don't understand it.... With our technology and gadgets, people understand the term "mute" since they may use the mute button on their remote. As such, it is now considered ok to use the phrase "a mute point" instead of the actual "a moot point" since a point / argument is worthless if it is silent or mute.

"It's time to eat Grandma!" err "It's time to eat, Grandma!"

[JediJohnnie]

I'm not overly picky on grammar, but something that tends to bug me is when people add an "S" to someone's name that already ends in "S". You hear it all the time on TV these days. For example, on the Flash they'll say "Dr Wells's time machine". There's no need for the extra "S", since his name ends in "S". It should be "Dr Wells' time machine".

[kjstrukel]

One (of my many) grammar pet peeves is the misuse of your/you're and there/their/they're.  I cringe every time I see the wrong word used.

[pstovall]

Oh, be still my heart!  I thought I was the only person in the world who noticed grammatical errors.  I am continually screaming at the TV screen, "It's "ME," not "I."  I guess people didn't pay attention in English class because so many folks use "I" and "ME" incorrectly. This thread has made my day!

[hitch0403]

I get frustrated if i am trying to follow someone from something they have written and it might be MUMBO JUMBO and i am having a hard time with it.

But i also remember everyone doesnt have a beautiful voice either and try to see the inner side more of the person!

Of course there is no excuse for laziness either.

But if some here feel the same towards those that stutter it might be time to examine who you are!!

[bigedshult]

that is very good to know

[lvstephanie]

Of course now that I've pointed it out (not only here but to other of my friends), I'm falling prey to the exact same grammatical mistake... Yesterday my GF had set up camp at a state park nearby. I had planned to meet her there after work, but as that time approached, I realized that I still had to feed my cat Ratters. So my txt messages went like:

"Just finished work, but I have to run home and feed Ratters quick"

"-ly "

[haimsterette]

Ah yes, the glorious evolution of our language from people that don't understand it.... With our technology and gadgets, people understand the term "mute" since they may use the mute button on their remote. As such, it is now considered ok to use the phrase "a mute point" instead of the actual "a moot point" since a point / argument is worthless if it is silent or mute.

"It's time to eat Grandma!" err "It's time to eat, Grandma!"

Haha!

I try not to be too much of a grammar snob, but I will notice things that take away from whatever I'm reading. My partner constantly shows me memes on Facebook and normally my only response will be to point out words used incorrectly, or misspellings.

[Tresbn00]

Totally funny! I read a memorandum from an attorney in our group and he used "for all intensive purposes". I asked him if he was joking and he had no idea what I was talking about-and I would not tell him. His assistant told him, later in the day, that the term he may have been trying to use would have been "for all intents and purposes".  He sent an e-mail stating that he was joking (hahaha). I crack up every time people use the word "irregardless". I cannot help but think less of them. Other people like to add the letter "R". George "Warshington". I am going to "warsh" the car. One Vice President likes to add an "H" to every "s" word. "Shtructure" and extra "shpace". I make it a point not to be around her. I will take out a red pen on Birthday cards and circle errors!

[kjstrukel]

Grammar and punctuation is SO important.  It is the difference between "I once helped my uncle, Jack, off a horse." and "I once helped my uncle Jack off a horse" (Just sayin'!)

[lvstephanie]

I get frustrated if i am trying to follow someone from something they have written and it might be MUMBO JUMBO and i am having a hard time with it.

But i also remember everyone doesnt have a beautiful voice either and try to see the inner side more of the person!

Of course there is no excuse for laziness either.

But if some here feel the same towards those that stutter it might be time to examine who you are!!

Oh, I do agree that written language may not be a person's strong suit, so casually (eg Facebook posts, text messages, e-mails, even here in the forum) I try not to be a grammar snob. I've noticed a few times when someone for which English is not their primary language will make a grammatical error, and I'll either let it go, or try to educate in a kind manner. But what caused me to write this thread was that I had heard the error on a national radio ad. When it comes to writing professionally, I have less patients for grammatical errors since then it is less about a person's style of speech and more about the work put in to ensure that it is correct. There have been a few book series that I have stopped in the middle because the poor grammar gets too distracting (and I don't want to reward shoddy work).

[hitch0403]

How ironic you say that Ivs....you meant to say patience instead of patients!!

Naughty you!!

Tee hee!

[hitch0403]

I try to be a decent speller and convey a simple chat.

I will admit i am lazy RE punctuating,so if anybody wants to throw me under the bus please make sure i have clean underwear on!!