# Your grammer is a mess **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486 "2008-04-08T17:29:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/1 "2008-04-08T17:29:24Z")
Am I the only one that when someone uses atrocious grammar likes to chastise them on their grammer? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/2 "2008-04-08T17:32:16Z")
I have to try not to chastise them for their spelling. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/3 "2008-04-08T17:32:35Z")
I don’t. That’s pretty impolite. The exception is on a message board where the offender is being a jackass as well. Then I can feel free to pull out all the stops. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/4 "2008-04-08T17:34:23Z")
Well it depends on the tone of it to be sure. Sometimes it’s fun to use against a grammar nazi as well. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/5 "2008-04-08T17:38:24Z")
The ironing is delicious ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/6 "2008-04-08T17:40:05Z")
I correct people on grammer because that’s what smart people do, and I like to appear intelligent. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/7 "2008-04-08T17:41:32Z")
I don’t _like_ to chastise them. When I’m with my friends from school we’ll poke fun at each other for making mistakes, but that’s just for laughs. In class I’ll correct my students because that’s my job. Sometimes I correct my brother out of habit. I’d never do it when my Korean friends speak English, though. It’s tempting to do it with strangers only if they make a big deal out of my occupation. “Ah, you’re an English teacher. Guess I’d better watch my grammar around you then!” It’s tempting to whip out a red pen and scrawl a big fat F on their foreheads, but I usually manage to restrain myself. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/8 "2008-04-08T17:46:31Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Well it depends on the tone of it to be sure. Sometimes it’s fun to use against a grammar nazi as well. [/QUOTE] True, that’s about the most fun you can have with your pants on. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/9 "2008-04-08T18:06:01Z")
Are we being deliberately ironic in this thread by using “grammer” and “grammar” interchangeably? I can’t tell. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/10 "2008-04-08T18:13:39Z")
Kelsey Grammer is a mess. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/11 "2008-04-08T18:15:22Z")
[QUOTE=Sailboat] Are we being deliberately ironic in this thread by using “grammer” and “grammar” interchangeably? I can’t tell. Sailboat [/QUOTE] Hah! I thought it was the irony of using “mess” for “mass” or “miss.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/12 "2008-04-08T18:15:47Z")
Chastising people on their grammar is a dicey proposition. Judging by this board, most people who correct “grammar” mistakes are correcting style preferences or usage errors, which are different things. Actual grammar errors are rare; all native English speakers have so internalized the rules of grammar that they rarely make mistakes. But, ultimately, nitpicking someone’s grammar in a spoken conversation (where people can’t edit their words to correct things) makes you look like an asshole. No one ever sincerely thought, “Oh, thanks for that. I’m so glad you brought up my trivial mistake to show your superiority.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/13 "2008-04-08T18:18:39Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] But, ultimately, nitpicking someone’s grammar in a spoken conversation (where people can’t edit their words to correct things) makes you look like an asshole. No one ever sincerely thought, “Oh, thanks for that. I’m so glad you brought up my trivial mistake to show your superiority.” [/QUOTE] I thanked my dad for it, but it was many years later. At the time it was :rolleyes:. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/14 "2008-04-08T18:26:15Z")
My grammer ain’t no mess! She done led a hard life plowin’ the fields, an’ if grammer wants to sit on the front porch wif some corn squeezin’s, that’s grammer’s bidness an’ none a’ yourn! ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/15 "2008-04-08T18:58:55Z")
[QUOTE=Algorithm] The ironing is delicious [/QUOTE] winner ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/16 "2008-04-08T19:04:29Z")
When my son was a toddler, at the stage where he tended to echo back a lot of what was said to him, he would unconsciously correct his uncle’s grammar. The uncle would say something like: “That don’t look right.” My son would repeat it as: “That doesn’t look right?” It used to make me cringe, but I don’t think the uncle ever noticed it. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/17 "2008-04-08T19:04:46Z")
I find the pretentiousness in correcting grammar sends me straight up. However, as I grow age, I find the shocking abuse in language amongst youths most painfull. They then have leave me no option but to chastize… “Get Off My Lawn!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/18 "2008-04-08T19:33:22Z")
I leave almost everybody alone. _Almost_. The rare exception is like the Harvard thread the other day. I couldn’t help myself. In context, I felt it had to be done. But, you know, when you get shouted down by folks who genuinely believe that anything goes as long as you get the gist of what’s written, it loses its flavor. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/19 "2008-04-08T19:40:36Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] > [@mswas](#): > > Well it depends on the tone of it to be sure. Sometimes it’s fun to use against a grammar nazi as well. True, that’s about the most fun you can have with your pants on. [/QUOTE] You’re supposed to leave your pants _on_? Guess that explains why no one at work likes having me “correct” them. ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486/20 "2008-04-09T00:44:11Z")
I feel that unless you are in a learning setting where you are being graded, spelling and grammar are not all that crucial. I see language as a means of communicating a thought. If that thought is conveyed, I don’t think the exact spelling or usage is that important. I know of people that consistently use the wrong word for something, but since they both think it means the same (wrong) thing, they can use it and get their point across fine. If you are using a word that is an antonym of what you are trying to convey, they yes, I think asking someone to clarify their meaning is ok…but I would try to be nice about it. And as I am a horrible speller and after this: \*Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe. \* whole thing, spelling is not such a big deal to me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grammer-is-a-mess/444486.md?page=2)