Confessions Of A Grammar Nazi
“English doesn’t borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them over, and goes through their pockets for loose grammar.” — James Nichol
I am a grammar nazi. There. It’s out. Whew!
Of course I do take liberties here on my blog and when communicating verbally. I do use slang. Especially when writing, the reader cannot see facial expressions, cannot hear voice inflections or tones and sometimes taking liberties is helpful in cluing the reader into the author’s personality, mood or intention. But those liberties and uses of slang are intentional.
One of my biggest pet peeves is the unintentional improper use of words. I proofread and edit my blog posts multiple times before hitting that publish button. I still sometimes worry about phrasing and have to come back here to read it again. A published typo is one of my worst nightmares. Seriously.
The other day hubby pointed out a fairly obvious typo on a post that had been up for several days! That had to be corrected immediately. I wasn’t going to be able to sleep with that “out there”. I was horrified that others may have read it, noticed it, and decided against pointing it out to me figuring that I was just an ignorant and uneducated moron.
I was horrified again yesterday when I followed a link posted on twitter by @RoseZag explaining the proper use of the word, “comprised”. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been using this word incorrectly my entire life! After further research, it turns out I’m not the only one. It’s been misused in the same way I’ve misused it for so long that is has now become an acceptable usage.
This actually bothers me too. Our language and proper usage of words depends on how many people find it acceptable? That means the rules are always changing! How can this be?! I don’t know why this bothers me. This actually goes along with my general free-thinking attitude and dislike of “shoulds”. Maybe it’s the one thing I always thought was constant in life and am just shaken to find that it changes, just like everything else. Proper grammar isn’t constant. Nothing ever is. I’m going to leave that last sentence alone. I can be a grammar rebel too! 
I vividly remember my parents explaining that I was not to use the word, “ain’t” and one of the reasons they gave for not using it was that it wasn’t in the dictionary. Guess what? It’s in the dictionary today. Thankfully, it is still not truly acceptable but it’s in there.
A few of my personal nails-on-a-chalkboard-grammar-misdeeds that seem to be used quite frequently are, in order of annoyance…
irregardless- It’s just, “regardless”. Adding the “ir” preface only serves to turn it into a double negative.
valentime – Yes, even intelligent and educated people use this word improperly. I have no idea why this occurs but it makes them sound stupid and frankly…ghetto. It’s valentine, with an “n”!
could care less – It’s, “couldn’t care less”! I never noticed that many people used this phrase until someone pointed it out to me. Ever since then I notice it all the time and it bugs the crap out of me. If your intention is to indicate a complete lack of caring, then saying that you could care less indicates that you actually do care. It makes no sense.
I’m sure there are many more that aren’t immediately coming to mind. Am I the only one who feels this strongly about improper use of grammar? What are some of your grammar pet peeves?
Thanks for stopping by!
despite my lack of capitalization on my blog — a stylistic thing — i too am nuts about the poor use of language, and especially spelling. i see no reason for it when spell check and grammar check are available!
so a couple of my pet peeves are:
“should of” instead of “should have”
“same difference” — what does that MEAN?
the use of a plural verb when a singular conjugation applies — such as “the group are” instead of “the group is”
oh, if i think about this, i could become really riled! maybe i shouldn’t of said nothing
LOL – I hope you ain’t too riled!
I learnt alot already today!
Nice!
Oh, I’m right in the same boat with you!!!!
I strongly dislike people (especially grown adults) using the improper form of a word. (ie: your, you’re, there, their, etc.) It’s just ignorant and NOT that hard to figure out. You’re = YOU ARE, if you’ve typed it out and that doesn’t make sense, then change it. This is simple stuff we learned in 2nd grade, why did it not stick in so many brains???
I also hate “irregardless” and “should of” – ones already mentioned. When somebody says “should of” I physically cannot stop myself from blurting “have” to correct them. Sometimes they look at me crazy and I have to explain, “sorry, it’s should have, you said should of.” Bitchy? Maybe, but I don’t care.
Another one I’ve noticed recently in blogland is people starting EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. of their sentences with the same word. (ie: So, we ….. So, then …. / Yet, they …. Yet, then ….) Reading their posts makes me want to claw my eyes out. I can literally feel my blood pressure rise with each new sentence start.
Do they not proofread? I proofread every post of mine numerous times before I post it, and again after it’s posted just to make sure I like the way the words are wrapping or how they’ve fit in with the pictures. I agree – it’s the stuff of nightmares to be caught with a spelling error/grammar error.
Oh, I forgot about the misuse of you’re, your, etc. I HATE that too! I can’t read blogs with frequent grammar issues, even if the content is great.
my pet peeves are:
1. your you’re (of course)
2. when people say “I didn’t do nothing” instead of using “anything”
3. definatly (or any hybrid) instead of definitely
4. seperate, alot
5. Using “us” and “we” incorrectly, such as “Us men like baseball” you know what i mean
gah. i could go on and on and on and on and . . .
Reading these comments is giving me a complex. I bet I drive a lot of people crazy with my writing.
I proof read my post several times, however I often write with a lot of emotion. I can read a post 20 times before publishing and not catch a simple typo. My eyes skip over words because I already know what I am trying to say. I see an area of growth! HA!
My biggest pet peeve is the use of “Anyways” – “Anyways” is not a word. It is “Anyway”.
This mistake seem to occur more in verbal conversations rather than written, but it still happens and it is still annoying.
No, your blog doesn’t drive me crazy and, clearly, I’m very picky about these things. You always use proper grammar. You may make a typo or miss a word every once in a while but your posts are intelligently written and the typos are few and far between. I love your blog!
Thanks for the HT! I may be famous, LOL!
There is an awful lot of pressure writing a blog about grammar! I surely did not know what I was thinking! The good news is we’ll never run out of issues to write about! (or is that BAD news?).
One of my pet peeves:
“Both of my mother-in-laws are going to the christening.”
Huh?
“Both of my mothers-in-law are going to the christening,” is the correct phraseology. Is that so difficult to understand?
RoseZ
LOL! Although I do always feel a little silly when I write about writing, it is definitely good news that we’ll never run out of issues to write about.
Omigoodness! I mean sisters-in-law! Although, I do know one who had two mothers-in-law (first wife died, and he remarried). That is not usually the case!
LMAO!
What about………..(talking about south side Chicago)………wait for it………”suposubly”?!
They all say it like that and I just want to shake them!
(Although, I think I might be guilty of “should of”, not sure?)
Suposubly…..that one is so annoying!
Now that you “Ax” this question — I thought it was pretty bad when the frikkin’ prez of the USA couldn’t pronounce nuclear. It’s not spelled anything like nu-kya-ler. Grrr.
Cyndi, I completely agree. My blogs are far from grammatically perfect; but, I do try my best. I find it annoying and even confusing when I read blogs that are clearly not proofread. Punctuation was created for a reason, people!
I thought that I was a bit strange that I do not want to read a blog that continuously has grammar and punctuation issues. How can their followers stand reading their posts? Maybe the few of us are just (dare I say it…) anal?
Hehe, I am going to try really hard not to mipsell (intentional!) anything in this comment
Studying English at A level, this was always my favourite topic for debate. I understand the rules and regulations argument – after all, I find myself correcting people’s verbal errors, and when in the past few week my automatic typing of there has accidentally turned into their, I have cringed with moronic embarrassment.
Beyond that, however, I tend to favour change. I feel that not only does change mean evolution towards a simpler and more functional language, but it keeps linguists employed for years to come! As long as poetry and eloquence exist alongside, perhaps in langue for the enjoyment of language, then change and new means is inevitable and whilst people get annoyed and fed up and try to turn the clocks back, I tend to think that nature will have it’s way – after all, we aren’t speaking Shakespearian now, are we? Case in point!
Great article! Innit!
Great point, and I do agree that change is good! I was mostly just appalled at my lifetime misuse of the word “comprised”.
Although I am a closet grammer nazi (closeted so that others won’t ridicule me when I make mistakes… hey, I never said I was perfect!!), I am without a doubt a spelling nazi. It absolutely astounds me that people have such difficulty with spelling!!
Especially when we all have spell check!