Bad images we create

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I'm probably the only one enjoying the irony of nearly everyone putting an apostrophe in the word "antis" -- on a thread complaining about grammar.

I would cheerfully ignore all the poor grammar and silly spelling in the universe -- I could even forgive the folks who can't be bothered to push the "shift" key at the beginning of a sentence -- if only we would all turn the clock back a few years to when humankind seemed to have a solid grasp of the apostrophe. Just because it ends with an "s" does not mean it gets an apostrophe.

Thank you for letting me share. :p
 
I find it hard to criticize people in a negative way about things that. I am not a English major. I am a mechanic.

Lets not be to critical of the grammar but the content.

Looks I made the same mistake as everyone else. Aren't we supposed to indent a paragraph?
 
first of all, i know that i am a culprit when it comes to misspelling words. and i hate to say this, but spell check is not always helpful. i realize that it may be difficult for other posters, but i like to think that my mistakes are close enough to readable that ya'll are smart enough to figure it out. secondly, some things are for benifit of relating emotion or character to my posts. for example, i have gotten insulted for the lack of capitialization in my posts many times. i do it because thats what i do. its intentional. my internet voice, if you will. one must remember that these post are not only a means to share words, but also meaning, and words are not the only human expression.
to limit this group to those who can pass a grammer test is not only unfair, but is also very closeminded. the world is full of intresting people. just because some are limited in their ability to spell, doesn't mean you should ignore them.
internet forems are a place of casual conversation, not a doctoral thesis.
 
bluestarlizzard:
Yes!

boredelmo:
Thank you.

OP:
I want say something and hope that you believe me when I say that I'm trying to do so delicately, ok? Anyway, "anti's" is possessive, as in "the anti's canasta deck." Apostrophes aren't used when pluralizing.

3 minutes later
.38 Special:
I just saw your apostrophe comment. Now, do I delete my redundant post and look like I can't make up my mind or do I leave it here? Hmmm....

I guess I'll leave it; just color me "inattentive."
 
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Lately I've been seeing a lot of threads that contain no punctuation, have every other word misspelled, and are generally written very poorly. I recently asked one poster if he was even old enough to own a pistol. My kids wrote better than him when they were in grade school.

While this may not bother some folks, I can't help but think this goes a long way to convince the antis that we're all a bunch of gun-toting-functional-illiterates. Lord knows my command of the English language is far from perfect. However, I think it's very important that we display ourselves as literate, intelligent, and responsible firearms owners.

At any given time there are probably a goodly number of antis cruising this and other forums looking for ammo to use against us and I'd prefer we not give them any...Run on sentence, consider revising
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The quality of language is subjective. What degree of proper English are you asking for? This is a forum. An internet forum is more like a conversation than anything else.

It mirrors vernacular.

I get your point, but this subject is way too subjective to vocalize.

P.S. - I'm 19 years old and English isn't my first language. Shouldn't you be ashamed of yourself? I don't think so. But according to your own posts, you should be!
 
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Doesn't really bother me to be honest, I guess I'm just used to it by now.

It's a simple fact that electronic communication is destroying the fundamentals of proper English. With cell phone texting, instant messaging and internet sites like urbandictionary.com its no surprise to me that people could care less about what they type or how they type it. Everyone is in such a damn rush these days that nobody seems to have time to slow down and actually think about what it is they typing and whether or not it makes perfect sense. It seems to me that many people these days feel that as long the person reading the message basically understands it then that's all that matters.
 
Spelling is one thing. Punctuation is another.

I use a lot of sentences joined by ..... (series of periods). To me it reads more like the way in which we talk, and think for that matter. It's not that I don't know how to use proper punctuation, it's just that these boards are for informal discussion.

I'm happy to use proper spelling, but when it comes to grammar and punctuation, I don't consider those to be of the utmost importance on a forum. I'm talking to people who share my interest, not writing a formal essay.

So long as the point is coherent and communicated effectively, I don't particularly think grammar and punctuation are terribly important.

Also, you probably want to avoid repeating yourself three times as I just did. It's not that it's technically incorrect to do so, however, it looks silly. :eek:
 
On fora I tend to use punctuation in my writing to make it "sound" more like it would if I were speaking to someone on the street.

I'm happy to use proper spelling, but when it comes to grammar and punctuation, I don't consider those to be of the utmost importance on a forum. I'm talking to people who share my interest, not writing a formal essay.
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+1, but every time I see someone's first post completely devoid of punctuation with horrible grammar and frequent spelling errors, I still cringe.
 
I'm not a Harvard graduate , or even a H.S. graduate . The extent of my formal education is the procurement of a GED . But , I try to be coherent and clear in my posts . Do I misspell occasionally? Sure I do . Punctuation? Well , could be better . Do people "get my drift" ? They seem to .

I'm less concerned about grammatical errors than of content. This happens to be a gun board , not "English 101" .

I'm also not concerned with the antis pointing to gun owner's lack of spelling or punctuation . I have seen their premier antagonist's postings , and they are no better/worse . Actually , I can say that most times their grammar IS worse . But again , it's the content that matters .

I shall now wait for the grammar police to come along and correct any mistakes I have made in this post . After all , this IS a gun board and grammar should be the focal point . :rolleyes:
 
Bah. I'm not here to please the anti- crowd. I'm here to fight them! :cuss:

Of Churchill and Grammar:

On the subject of ending sentences with prepositions, people often recount a story involving Winston Churchill. When an editor dared to change a sentence of Churchill's that appeared to end inappropriately with a preposition, Churchill responded by writing to the editor, "This is the kind of impertinence up with which I shall not put." His purpose, of course, was to illustrate the awkwardness that can result from rigid adherence to the notion that prepositions at the end of sentences are always incorrect.
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If you know how to spell well and use proper grammar, then you should do so. However, not everyone is blessed with writing proficiency. I know some perfectly intelligent people who could not spell to save their soul. My 14 year old brother is constantly reading everything from Greek mythology to The Count of Monte Cristo and yet his spelling is terrible. I try not to judge people based on their writing.

By the way, the plural of anti would be antis. Anti's is the possessive form.
 
Just this morning, on another forum, there was a post that was barely understandable. No capital letters, only punctuation was periods in the wrong places, multiple misspellings, atrocious grammar and the poster stated that he was a college student. I hope he wasn't an English Major.
 
When I see that style of writing, I immediately add the name to my ignore list. Unfortunately, that does not prevent receiving an email copy for a subscribed thread. When viewing the browser, however, the posts are hidden.

To add someone to your ignore list, left click on the poster's name, select View Public profile, select Add to ignore list, click SAVE.

I don't buy the concern for the "public image of gun owners". That is just a premise to control people, the premise to justify expressing aggravation. It's baloney.
 
*sigh* Errors lurk even within the edited version of the OP's missive.

I guess we'll just have to arm ourselves against poorly executed English (that was alliteration, added by myself) and bear it. ;)

Qualifiers, anyone? They go well with possessive pronouns, but better with ellipses.
 
Linguistics states that if meaning has been transmitted, then successful communication has taken place. If someone - anyone - understands, you have succeeded.

Personally, though, I can't stand common errors. These are the errors that should never be made by anyone older than 16. Capitalization, for example. Some of the more obscure language rules I readily ignore, because we tend to use the vernacular anyway (as someone stated above). There's no need to create publish-quality compositions, but some of the stuff we see on these boards is just plain BAD.

It's wrong to judge based on the quality of writing, but it's hard not to assume ignorance when the writing is especially full of errors.
 
I'm probably the only one enjoying the irony of nearly everyone putting an apostrophe in the word "antis" -- on a thread complaining about grammar.

I would cheerfully ignore all the poor grammar and silly spelling in the universe -- I could even forgive the folks who can't be bothered to push the "shift" key at the beginning of a sentence -- if only we would all turn the clock back a few years to when humankind seemed to have a solid grasp of the apostrophe. Just because it ends with an "s" does not mean it gets an apostrophe.

Thank you for letting me share.
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Actually, I think you are wrong here. Yes, the apostrophe is used when referring to possessive and anti's are not possessive.

However, I've always regarded this as a contraction- anti-gunners or anti-guns because they are not simply "anti" everything. Thus, I think in this case the apostrophe is merited as we are dropping "gun" but keeping the s, hence: anti's (anti-guns).
 
Incidentally, while we are ranting:

Bear- v. to carry; n. a large omnivorous mammal.

bare- v. to show, exhibit; n. naked, uncovered


Roll- v. to cause to make revolutions; n. an oftentimes round bread

Role- n. purpose, primary function

These are the ones freshest in my mind; I know there are more. BEWARE OF HOMONYMS!
 
Thats just the internet in general, even tech forums, I belong to many, it's usually because folks are in a hurry, not like sitting down and writing a letter. Which most folks don't do anymore. And "texting" is really out of control. I can't read half the stuff that my wifes "adult kids", send me, they know I won't even respond to text messaging. Most people can't spell very well, even smart people, did you ever watch that show "are you smarter than a 5th grader", amazing.
 
I don't care about typos. I don't care about a playful use of the language. I don't care about an incomplete or run-on sentence every so often. It does bother me when someone doesn't care enough about what they have to say that they can't reach out to the readers and at least try to make it as easy as possible to read.

"i do it because thats what i do. its intentional. my internet voice, if you will. "

Do you mumble when you speak to your family and friends? Then why make us work to understand you here. Make an effort to reach out to your readers if you want to be heard and appreciated as a thoughtful poster.

John
 
Linguistics states that if meaning has been transmitted, then successful communication has taken place. If someone - anyone - understands, you have succeeded.
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Unless the presentation is deliberately offensive or unintelligible, whatever works. The content is the issue. And bad images a plenty are created by the content of some of the most eloquent messages.
 
What makes me Mad is people wasting company time .
Everyone back to work !
And quit whining .

THE BOSS
 
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