grammar rant

[3bm103]

<p>

I hate it when people use an apostrophe to indicate a plural such as “rooster’s” when they mean “roosters”. Another one is the “overuse” of “quotation marks”. Drives me “nut’s”.

That and parenthesis. There are some people who cannot complete a single paragraph without adding a though in parenthesis (if you know what I mean.)</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>

There are some people who cannot complete a single paragraph without adding a though in parenthesis (if you know what I mean.)

</p>

<p>I would say that once in each paragraph is far from excessive: tangential thoughts need to be indicated as such by punctuation.</p>

[3bm103]

<p>I bet some people could write an entire book without using it. Just start a new sentence.</p>

[silverturtle]

<p>I maintain that parentheses are great tools for conveying important ideas that happen not to be central to the flow or focus of the paragraph. They are also grammatically freeing in that any types of phrases and even complete clauses can go within them.</p>

[coureur]

<br>

<blockquote>
<p>tangential thoughts need to be indicated as such by punctuation. <<</p>
</blockquote>

<br>

<p>True, but commas usually work better than parentheses - makes the sentences flow more smoothly. Use of parentheses should be rare.</p>

[heyalb]

<p>Somebody mentioned “irregardless”; I hate that one too.</p>

<p>But the biggest and latest kick-in-the-groin is the result of every weather forecaster announcing on television or radio:</p>

<p>“Today’s weather will be *equally as nice *as yesterday’s.”</p>

<p>Could you kill me a little more, please?</p>

[laffter]

<p>

Somebody mentioned “irregardless”; I hate that one too.

</p>

<p>I agree that that is a true fact and you deserve a free gift for bringing it up!</p>

[dke]

<p>How about “My son graduated college”…drives me nuts.</p>

[sorghum]

<p>So, dmd77:</p>

<p>

(My grading rubrick, which students were given with the assignment, assigned 10% to grammar, spelling, punctuation and correct formatting. The use of such an explicit rubrick was also a surprise to parents, who were used to what I would term “holistic grading”.

</p>

<p>How many bonus points for spelling ‘rubric’?</p>

[DonnaL]

<p>rubrick is probably how Chaucer spelled it.</p>

[dmd77]

<p>Sorghum and DonnaL–I actually spell very well. My notes from my teaching degree, however, all spell “rubric” with the terminal K, which is clearly incorrect. I notice some educational sites do, as well… there must have been one teacher who spelled it wrong and infected a bunch of us… I will note that I didn’t attend a Tier 1 education school ;)</p>

<p>Thank you for the correction. I will make sure I get it correct in the future.</p>

[toblin]

<p>

I will note that I didn’t attend a Tier 1 education school

</p>

<p>No Need! There are plenty of CC posters standing ready to point out the relative short-comings of others for the purpose of highlighting their own self-imagined accomplishments. It’s automatic.</p>

[DonnaL]

<p>tongue firmly in cheek in my case – I’d never point anything like that out in a million years in any thread other than one devoted to grammar and spelling issues!</p>

[dragonmom]

<p>

How about “My son graduated college”…drives me nuts.

</p>

<p>This could be a new thread (or probably is an old one). Drives me crazy. I had graduated beakers in my chem lab. My children graduated <em>from</em> a certain school. Seems like a regional thing - the first time I head it was from a New Jersey friend and it took my Western ears an hour or more to figure out what she meant.</p>

[3bm103]

<p>It’s also a regional thing to say “my son made all a’s” as opposed to “my son received all a’s.” Not necessarily incorrect, I suppose, but it hurts my ears anyway.</p>

[nightchef]

<p>

True, but commas usually work better than parentheses - makes the sentences flow more smoothly. Use of parentheses should be rare.

Commas (or dashes) only make the sentence flow more smoothly if the thought they enclose is really not parenthetical. Parentheses have a specific function; they should be used when that function is called for. Use of parentheses should be rare only to the extent that parenthetical thoughts should be rare–and I agree that as a general rule, writing is stronger when they do not occur in every other sentence.</p>

<p>

My children graduated <em>from</em> a certain school.

Of course pedants will be quick to tell you that this, too, is incorrect–it should be “My children were graduated from a certain school.” In its original meaning “to graduate” is not to earn a diploma but to grant one. The University graduates me, I don’t graduate [from] the University. But virtually nobody talks that way any more, so this usage horse, like so many others, has left the barn.</p>

[leanid]

<p>^^</p>

<p>Is that like saying: “I failed math.”, when actually math failed me?</p>

[MD_Mom_1]

<p>I agree that some things are regional. Here in Maryland, kids say: “I’m done my homework.” They drop the preposition on other things as well. When I met my husband, he corrected my: “My hair needs cut.” Regional. Can’t believe he married me.</p>

[nightchef]

<p>

It’s also a regional thing to say “my son made all a’s” as opposed to “my son received all a’s.” Not necessarily incorrect, I suppose, but it hurts my ears anyway.

In the parts of the Northeast where I’ve lived, people usually use “got” in this context: “My son got all A’s this term.” I like the verb “to get” here because it has both passive and active meanings: “Look what I got for my birthday,” but also, “If you want it, go get it.”</p>

[mafool]

<p>Split infinitives: This rule was derived from Latin grammar. The notion that it should be applied to English is silly.</p>