Well, for starters, Winstons taste like shit…
I should of known a thread like this would make me think I don’t know grammar good.
All I ask, all I ever ask in these threads, is that everyone, but most particularly television journalists, politicians, and other public speakers one might reasonably expect to know better, please STOP saying “continue ** ON **”. It is simply “continue”. One either “goes on” or “continues”, one does not “continue on”. It is akin to saying “with au jus”. (which means, for those who don’t know, “with with juice”. Have your roast beef au jus or with juice, please.)
And a gentle reminder for those who require it… “unique” cannot logically be modified. Something is either unique or not unique, it is not “more” unique. Think of unique as “one-of-a-kind”… can something be “very” one-of-a-kind?
My little peeves, thanks for giving me the opportunity to share.
And here’s where I mention that there is no such thing as an “ATM machine.” That would be a machine that dispenses automatic teller machines, and would probably take up too much room at the bank.
Although most people have just given up w.r.t. “PIN number”.
And, for that matter, “the hoi polloi”. (But “kudos” is STILL singular.)
I once saw a menu that said “With au jus sauce.” I should have asked if I could have that on my shrimp scampi.
Ah, yes. I knew I was back in Tennessee when the convenience store near my house had a sign outside proudly proclaiming that there was an “ATM Machine” inside.
I had a fit of giggles, and went to the ATM at the bank.
Hell, Lsura, I have seen “ATM Machine” signs in midtown Manhattan!
The very worst is “aren’t I?”. A close second is “between you and I”.
Typing “and” for “an” is more of an artifact of poor typing skills than intellectual laziness or any of the other smug pedantry the op is attempting to inflict upon us. When your fingers go zipping around the keys to hit A and N, it’s understandable enough to complete the movement with D without realizing it. This kind of error happenes rarely or never when one is writing by hand.
For some reason, I often type “to” when I mean “the.” This isn’t an indication of illiteracy, but of less-than-perfect typing skills.
Get over it, schmuck. Find an original, worthwhile criticism instead of being lazy and picking on the trivial.
Putz.
There’s this new invention. It’s called a Sense of Humor. Would you like me to pick one up for you at the store?
(I expect Mr. Ekers’ response to be “That’s not funny!”)
I believe I speak English well. I’m under the assumption that I type it well, too. But in my 25 years of life, I have never once been taught in the elementary, secondary, or graduate levels of education what the difference is between “that” and “which.”
Would someone please tell me? I get so sick of that green squiggle showing up on all my MS Word documents. Not that I trust grammar check, mind you, I’m just sick of that damn squiggle.
In general, use “that” with restrictive clauses and “which” with nonrestrictive clauses.
Example:
The accent that she uses, which sounds authentic to me, is Cockney.
Thanks Libertarian. In that particular sentence, it would sound a bit odd to transpose the that and which. Still, I have seen other examples on the board (specifically grammar threads like this one) where people will complain about it and then give an example that (or is it which?) seems to flow just as well the incorrect way.
Source: http://emd.athabascau.ca/html/editors_guide_3.htm
The original source, of course, is our wonderful friend The Elements of Style.
Ender, the way to never have the green squiggle show up is to remember that “which” takes a comma, and “that” does not. Libertarian’s answer is the real correct usage - adding or removing the comma is Word’s approximation of the rule.
Enderw24 wrote
It’s “that”. …and then give an example that seems to flow just as well the incorrect way, which is okay by me…
I wouldn’t concern myself with attempting to discern any flow. If your clause is restrictive, use “that”; if it is nonrestrictive, use “which”. You’ll never go wrong using that which is correct. 
You know what is frustrating? I usually use words correctly. I was brought up this way. Improper grammer and/or word usage (usually) stops me in my tracks when reading.
…and yet I probably couldn’t define the usage well enough to say why it is wrong. Much of the time I just know it’s wrong. I don’t know WHY it is wrong, but I can tell you how to fix it.
This really pisses people off when I correct them and can’t explain why it was wrong.
I have a truly godlike (or better yet, Cecil-like) sense of humour, but as rants go, this one is just lame and unoriginal.
And you’re not funny, but at least you seemed to anticipate the fact.
Enderw24, actually, the best way to get rid of that annoying green squiggle is to open Tools menu, select Spelling & Grammar, click on Settings, then uncheck Relative Clauses. It’s a nice, permanent solution.
CJ
“That is something up with which I will not put.” Churchill