Community Chat

[ECBG]

As a teacher, I began to notice a pattern that the dialect was so engrained in student's language that we couldn't often totally retrain them.  I know English teachers found it extremely difficult to educate students not only in the area of speech, but also in writting.

[Pook]

I say who cares as long as you know what someone meant??  I know in my mind I still cling to the old grammar ways at times but I know times have changed and things like grammar rules, etc were stricter because life was simpler.  Things are constantly changing and there are more important things to be concerned about.  Why make things more complicated when I should of, would of suffices?   I won't cling to the past and criticize anything that isn't how I was taught.  I go with the flow and would rather enjoy life than obsess about wanting things to stay the same.  I do think things like your and you're, to, two, too and chose, choose, ors they're and their, etc are important to the meaning of things though.  Heck, grammar rules were different for our parents and grandparents also.

[barb40]

Maybe people are doing the best they can with what they've got...everybody makes mistakes...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dialects_of_English

[nomless]

Pook wrote: "Grammar rules were stricter ...because life was simpler." Um, no. Grammar rules have not changed. The rules aren't simpler now.  What perhaps has changed is that fewer people know them. Grammar also has nothing to do with "wanting things to stay the same."

Pook also wrote:  "should of, would of."  What you meant is: "should HAVE, would HAVE." You were writing a verb; the word "of" is not a verb.

Grammar matters because it reflects a lot about the person. If a person lacks basic grammar knowledge, well, that says somethinfg about that person.  JMO, of course.

Perhaps I'm an employer with two final candidates with equal skill sets except for grammar. One candidate speaks and writes with correct grammar. The other does not.  This person will present an image of my department, my company. Guess which candidte I will hire. Yes, gramnar matters.

[proudlyfromNJ]

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@september wrote:

I’m remembering the posters who have been critical of others, and betting that at some point in the future, I see some of them make grammar errors on this site.  

None of of us are perfect.  I know I’m not.  I’ve been corrected at times, right here, on this site.  

It’s a chat board.  Some of us post quickly and don’t proof read everything before we post. 

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@september  I agree with everything you said. It’s a chat board not college boards. Quick typing and answering. 

And I see quite often the ‘teachers’ making mistakes! Using I instead of me in the appropriate sentence is a big mistakes for some of the so called teachers on these forums.
Posters should worry about themselves not other posters.

[Johnnyeager]

Many of you would have been horrified and mortified to hear a QVC host say recently "Call in to talk to Mally and  I."

The nerve of her.

[jubilant]

@CalminHeart 

I like your post.  I was brought up by a mother who believed in correct English. I am grateful for that. It isn't, however, the end all be all.

There are a multitude of reasons people may not write or talk as well as we think they should.  Some may have disabilities.  Some may not have heard it spoken in their homes.  Some are getting older and have memory loss or  are on medications. We can't think things through like we used to. These things all need to be taken into consideration, imo.       

[proudlyfromNJ]

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@Johnnyeager wrote:

Many of you would have been horrified and mortified to hear a QVC host say recently "Call in to talk to Mally and  I."

The nerve of her.

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@Johnnyeager No they wouldn’t as this is how some of the retired teachers post. Maybe they were Math teachers!

[Vivian]

Words matter. Precision in language matters. Without naming names, I can say that some of our most well-known leaders speak as if English were a foreign language. My hobby is studying French. It is practically impossible to learn the structure of a second language if you don’t understand the structure of your native language. One of my French professors retired because she could no longer teach French to people who had no idea that syntax and spelling matter. They’re, their, and there...then and than...its and it’s, possessive vs plural. There are many more examples but I think I’ve made my point.

[kaydee50]

The phrase that bothers me is "one of the only (whatever)"  If it's "only" how can it be one of the only???  Shouldn't it be "one of the few"????