# Walloon, you pompous-assed prescriptivist grammar Nazi **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135 "2003-04-25T15:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/41 "2003-04-26T05:09:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Green Bean \* > \*\*I still can’t believe that you don’t think it’s rude to jump into a thread just to correct someone’s grammar! > > Do you correct people in everyday conversations? > > Do you send people their letters and emails back with corrections? > > Do you complain to the manager in the grocery store when the sign says “potatos?” > > Geesh. \*\* I didn’t say that I don’t think it’s rude; I said I don’t automatically think it’s rude in all cases, especially in the cites given in this thread for **Walloon** ’s corrections. It seems like he was attempting to be helpful, so if the same happened to me, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t take offense. > [@](#): > > Do you correct people in everyday conversations? Only when they say something like, “Hey, Ma’am!” > [@](#): > > Do you complain to the manager in the grocery store when the sign says “potatos?” Only if they look like pumpkins, smell like bananas and taste like Treet. > [@](#): > > Do you send people their letters and emails back with corrections? Just the ones with a return address of “T. Kaczynski”. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/42 "2003-04-26T05:13:57Z")
What the heck is Treet? ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/43 "2003-04-26T05:16:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Green Bean \* > \*\*What the heck is Treet? \*\* From the makers of Spam: [Treet](http://www.treet.com/index.cfm?page_id=124) > [@](#): > > Luncheon Loaf with chicken and pork. Fully cooked and ready to eat. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/44 "2003-04-26T05:18:03Z")
Er… wait. I’m wrong about that; Armour makes Treet and Hormel makes Spam. They just _sound_ like they’re siblings. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/45 "2003-04-26T05:44:56Z")
Wow. Where’s that barfing smiley they keep promising us? ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/46 "2003-04-26T06:28:14Z")
How bad is _imitation_ SPAM? Good lord, it’s not even good enough to be SPAM! I hope they don’t market it as _food_. ---
**Author:** ![birdgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/51bf81/32.png) [@birdgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/birdgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/47 "2003-04-26T07:11:27Z")
HEY WALLOON look at your posts… YOU CAN"T SPELL WORTH SHIT ASS HOLE! YOU WANNA GO HEAD TO HEAD WITH A REAL LIVE COPY EDITOR??? BRING IT ON!!! YOU SUCK DICK SINCERELY your momma ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/48 "2003-04-26T07:24:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by birdgirl \* > \*\*HEY WALLOON look at your posts… > > YOU CAN"T SPELL WORTH SHIT ASS HOLE! > > YOU WANNA GO HEAD TO HEAD WITH A REAL LIVE COPY EDITOR??? > > BRING IT ON!!! > YOU SUCK DICK > > SINCERELY > your momma \*\* That was _so_ hot. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/49 "2003-04-26T09:31:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mhendo \* > \*\*I like Bryan Garner’s entry on _media_: > > > [@](#): > > > > But it’s still possible to draw the line at medias, which has recently raised its ugly head… > > \*\* Actually, “medias” as the plural of singular “media” has been around just as long as singular “media” itself. The Oxford English Dictionary has citations of both terms from 1927: [quote] [ul][li]1927 Amer. Speech III. 26 It was finally decided to allot a definite media to each member.1927 Amer. Speech, III. 26 One of the best advertising medias in the middle west.[/ul][/li][/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/50 "2003-04-26T09:41:48Z")
IMHO the trouble with apostrophising plurals is that it makes the language less clear. It’s like choosing to spell every word ‘red.’ Of course, some people choose to do it, and there are some reasons why it might be better (eg. distinguishing it from a singular) but when your usage is making english less clear, in some sense, that is worse, not just in my red. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/51 "2003-04-26T10:44:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shade \* > **IMHO the trouble with apostrophising plurals is that it makes the language less clear. It’s like choosing to spell every word 'red.'** No it isn’t. When you listen to someone speaking in English, do you stop them every time they say a word ending in S and ask them if the word was supposed to be a plural, a possessive, both, or neither? Didn’t think so. Context is more than sufficient to distinguish plurals from possessives in the vast majority of cases, be they in speech or in writing. Don’t get me wrong – the apostrophe is a convenient marker when used consistently, and can serve to clear up some ambiguous constructions in highly technical writing. But unless I’ve been explicitly asked to employ my copy-editing skills on a piece of text, I’m not going to pull a Walloon and [get floral on your asses](http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif) every time I see you write “potato’s” to refer to more than one tuber, or “its” as the contraction for “it is”. Unlike some people, I don’t have some compelling need to demonstrate my imagined intellectual superiority over others by picking nits over obscure linguistic minutiae. ---
**Author:** ![Hairy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@Hairy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hairy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/52 "2003-04-26T10:58:36Z")
But by christ you’re good at it if you put your mind to it. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/53 "2003-04-26T13:14:07Z")
In summary, media can be singular or plural. The more scholarly usage is plural, and the more popular usage is plural. Such differences in usage are common in English. Walloon has attempted to impose his or her usage preference on others, has done so by asserting an assumed and unproven authority that usages other than his or her preference are incorrect rather than different, and has done so by interrupting an an unrelated discussion. The phrase “pedantic ass” comes to mind. (And yes, in my past life I was an English professor and senior technical writer.) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/54 "2003-04-26T13:16:28Z")
Correction: The more scholarly usage is plural, and the more popular usage is _singlar_. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/55 "2003-04-26T13:23:44Z")
Singlar? Hee hee. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/56 "2003-04-26T13:25:30Z")
I learned a new word: prescriptive. Cool. I like “octopodes,” too. Would it be zucchinus or zucchinum? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/57 "2003-04-26T13:48:01Z")
LMAO Let’s see if third time is lucky: _singular_. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/58 "2003-04-26T13:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rysdad \* > \*\*Would it be zucchinus or zucchinum? \*\* _Zucchino_, actually. It’s from Italian, not Latin. Well, most recently, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/59 "2003-04-26T14:16:03Z")
A concept that Walloon fails to grasp: _[University College of London](http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/function/notion.htm):_ > [@](#): > > \*\*The concept of NOTIONAL AGREEMENT sometimes comes into play: > > The government is considering the proposal > The government are considering the proposal > > Here, the form of the verb is not determined by the form of the Subject. Instead, it is determined by how we interpret the Subject. In the government is…, the Subject is interpreted as a unit, requiring a singular form of the verb. In the government are…, the Subject is interpreted as having a plural meaning, since it relates to a collection of individual people. Accordingly, the verb has the plural form are. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135/60 "2003-04-26T14:44:29Z")
Just found a thread on [a hunt for a hit-and-run spelling corrector](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143384). Makes you wonder what motivated our good friend **Walloon** to join in. Returning to the scene of the crime, perhaps? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/walloon-you-pompous-assed-prescriptivist-grammar-nazi/171135.md?page=4)