Punishing "grammar police

Ethan Martinez11 said:Everything you're saying makes perfect sense—just not on every single sub-forum. ☕

If you wander into the Social Science section intending to debate linguistics, yet you can't decide whether to spell a word correctly or incorrectly, or if it's an option or an objection—well, that lack of basic knowledge renders you incompetent for any serious discussion. It’s akin to someone attempting to lecture on mathematics without being able to solve a simple equation, or discussing medicine while insisting the human body consists of 237 bones.

And frankly, I will always call out such individuals, regardless of how you feel about it, the moment I spot them. It’s the sheer audacity of those who refuse to master the basics yet insist on acting like experts. Trying to compete with true scholars—that is the primary issue.

Secondly, this forum is a medium of the written word. In this space, your grammar serves as your personal ID card. It speaks volumes about your education and your level of culture. Therefore, it wouldn't hurt to be a bit more careful here and there. Because as much as being corrected might irritate you (not that I do it often myself!), it raises the blood pressure of others just as much when people stumble over basic spelling or punctuation rules and nuances (or whatever else), making themselves look ridiculous. Moreover, it shows a lack of respect for others. I have realized this countless times, and if you actually took a moment to reflect, you would see the truth in it. Communication is a two-way street; if you expect concessions from others, you must be willing to make them yourself. Let's flip the script: why should anyone here have to struggle through your sloppy, half-baked ramblings? Is it really too much to ask to think for a second or two before hitting a key? Are we on the same page, or what? 😉

Finally, it is telling that those who grumble most loudly against proper writing are exclusively the uneducated. For the learned—or at least those who actually bother to learn something on this forum—it is never an issue. On the contrary, they are grateful for every lesson.

And it isn't just limited to Social Science circles.

People who lack the basic ability to distinguish simple spelling variations or fundamental grammar rules? I don't view them as equal participants in a discussion.

To put it a bit more "sharply." 😉

Ethan Martinez11 said:Everything you're saying makes perfect sense—just not on every single sub-forum. ☕

If you wander into the Social Science section intending to debate linguistics, yet you can't decide whether to spell a word correctly or incorrectly, or if it's an option or an objection—well, that lack of basic knowledge renders you incompetent for any serious discussion. It’s akin to someone attempting to lecture on mathematics without being able to solve a simple equation, or discussing medicine while insisting the human body consists of 237 bones.

And frankly, I will always call out such individuals, regardless of how you feel about it, the moment I spot them. It’s the sheer audacity of those who refuse to master the basics yet insist on acting like experts. Trying to compete with true scholars—that is the primary issue.

Secondly, this forum is a medium of the written word. In this space, your grammar serves as your personal ID card. It speaks volumes about your education and your level of culture. Therefore, it wouldn't hurt to be a bit more careful here and there. Because as much as being corrected might irritate you (not that I do it often myself!), it raises the blood pressure of others just as much when people stumble over basic spelling or punctuation rules and nuances (or whatever else), making themselves look ridiculous. Moreover, it shows a lack of respect for others. I have realized this countless times, and if you actually took a moment to reflect, you would see the truth in it. Communication is a two-way street; if you expect concessions from others, you must be willing to make them yourself. Let's flip the script: why should anyone here have to struggle through your sloppy, half-baked ramblings? Is it really too much to ask to think for a second or two before hitting a key? Are we on the same page, or what? 😉

Finally, it is telling that those who grumble most loudly against proper writing are exclusively the uneducated. For the learned—or at least those who actually bother to learn something on this forum—it is never an issue. On the contrary, they are grateful for every lesson.

Let's flip the script then—nobody's forcing anyone who's annoyed by my "nitpicking" to deal with it. Just skip my post and all your problems are solved. No more brain cells wasted on deciding whether to use a comma or a period...

..is it seriously that much work to pause for two seconds and just think about how you're typing? You feel me? 😉

Communication is a two-way street. If you want concessions, you have to make them too.

People who care more about perfect grammar than actually listening to what someone is trying to say... those are the ones I don't even bother talking to...

Jason Campbell70 said:And it isn't just limited to Social Science circles.

People who lack the basic ability to distinguish simple spelling variations or fundamental grammar rules? I don't view them as equal participants in a discussion.

To put it a bit more "sharply." 😉

People from the Midwest have issues with certain pronunciations. Similarly, in places like Chicago, the local accent often leans toward a different vowel sound rather than the standard dialect...
And those individuals who get worked up about it, or who feel entitled to call commentators uneducated based solely on their accent, aren't exactly being "good faith" commenters themselves—to put it mildly. 😉
I suppose one is expected to be tolerant of regional differences within America?
What do you think?

@ruggedfox28 I’m from the West Coast too, even though I usually stick to proper English (minus a few typos here and there, which I couldn't care less about), but sometimes I just get lazy and write chilln instead of chillm and if some kids want to lose their minds over one single letter, they can go ahead... no chance. Sometimes I'll even drop an entire paragraph in my local slang and honestly, I don't give a damn...

It hasn't happened to me in a while (miracle, I know), but if it does, I'll take hollowtrucker77's advice. And look, I'm reporting posts for trolling without any hard feelings—if someone's got nothing better to do than act like a troll, maybe they should just cool off and think about how they're wasting their precious time...

@Jeremy Diaz9, I'm with you on this one. If it means anything to you, 🙂

Ethan Martinez11 said:Everything you're saying makes perfect sense—just not on every single sub-forum. ☕

If you wander into the Social Science section intending to debate linguistics, yet you can't decide whether to spell a word correctly or incorrectly, or if it's an option or an objection—well, that lack of basic knowledge renders you incompetent for any serious discussion. It’s akin to someone attempting to lecture on mathematics without being able to solve a simple equation, or discussing medicine while insisting the human body consists of 237 bones.

And frankly, I will always call out such individuals, regardless of how you feel about it, the moment I spot them. It’s the sheer audacity of those who refuse to master the basics yet insist on acting like experts. Trying to compete with true scholars—that is the primary issue.

Secondly, this forum is a medium of the written word. In this space, your grammar serves as your personal ID card. It speaks volumes about your education and your level of culture. Therefore, it wouldn't hurt to be a bit more careful here and there. Because as much as being corrected might irritate you (not that I do it often myself!), it raises the blood pressure of others just as much when people stumble over basic spelling or punctuation rules and nuances (or whatever else), making themselves look ridiculous. Moreover, it shows a lack of respect for others. I have realized this countless times, and if you actually took a moment to reflect, you would see the truth in it. Communication is a two-way street; if you expect concessions from others, you must be willing to make them yourself. Let's flip the script: why should anyone here have to struggle through your sloppy, half-baked ramblings? Is it really too much to ask to think for a second or two before hitting a key? Are we on the same page, or what? 😉

Finally, it is telling that those who grumble most loudly against proper writing are exclusively the uneducated. For the learned—or at least those who actually bother to learn something on this forum—it is never an issue. On the contrary, they are grateful for every lesson.

I suppose I have to agree there. I’ll be the first to admit my own literacy is lacking, mostly because back when I was in school, the official medium of instruction was a hybrid dialect used during the old era.
It was the same with our native language classes; we had teachers who were essentially ideological hardliners, constantly messing with our heads regarding grammar, spelling, and all that stuff.
On two occasions, though, we had professors who were true patriots, and they would completely overhaul how we wrote things, noting that what we were doing wasn't actually the proper American language.
I think anyone can see how that would cause a massive amount of confusion for a kid.
As for myself, I just accept the fact that I don't have much to contribute to discussions about linguistics on the Social Science boards.
You won't catch me participating in those debates.
However, if I happen to shut someone down on technical matters by using logic to dismantle their nonsense, then I’d expect a moderator to hand out a warning for pedantry.
There’s an old saying—I can't quite remember who coined it—that goes something like this:
When one side in a debate starts nitpicking their opponent's grammar or spelling, it usually means they've run out of actual arguments and have resorted to the lowest possible level of discourse.

Jeremy Diaz9 said:People from the Midwest have issues with certain pronunciations. Similarly, in places like Chicago, the local accent often leans toward a different vowel sound rather than the standard dialect...
And those individuals who get worked up about it, or who feel entitled to call commentators uneducated based solely on their accent, aren't exactly being "good faith" commenters themselves—to put it mildly. 😉
I suppose one is expected to be tolerant of regional differences within America?
What do you think?

As far as I know, "American English" is taught in every single grade throughout elementary and high school.

If someone who uses a heavy regional dialect can still write properly on this forum—distinguishing between formal grammar and casual speech—then why shouldn't they? Like a typical New Yorker, for instance.

Because, in my humble opinion, the way people speak in New York is much closer to standard literary American English than the slang you might hear down in Florida.

Jason Campbell70 said:As far as I know, "American English" is taught in every single grade throughout elementary and high school.

If someone who uses a heavy regional dialect can still write properly on this forum—distinguishing between formal grammar and casual speech—then why shouldn't they? Like a typical New Yorker, for instance.

Because, in my humble opinion, the way people speak in New York is much closer to standard literary American English than the slang you might hear down in Florida.

Just because you've got a knack for something doesn't mean everyone else does. 🙂

In my opinion, the way people talk in NYC is way closer to standard American English than how they talk down in Miami.

I wouldn't go that far, but it's a whole different story altogether...

Jason Campbell70 said:As far as I know, "American English" is taught in every single grade throughout elementary and high school.

If someone who uses a heavy regional dialect can still write properly on this forum—distinguishing between formal grammar and casual speech—then why shouldn't they? Like a typical New Yorker, for instance.

Because, in my humble opinion, the way people speak in New York is much closer to standard literary American English than the slang you might hear down in Florida.

Well, elementary and high school combined cover about twelve years of education.
And if a person was born in a small town in rural Ohio, for example.
What kind of influence do you think carries more weight?
And by the way, you didn't even spell that resident term right; you probably meant a certain type of urbanite, though some folks insist on a different spelling for it.
It's the same deal with someone from a mid-sized city like Des Moines; some say one way, others swear by another.
So, three things here: how does it feel to realize that, in your attempt at an articulated debate, you’ve been misspelling basic words?
Secondly, wouldn't that be considered a bit uncultured on my part?
Thirdly, following your own logic, why should I even bother talking to you if you're functionally illiterate?
So, go ahead, tell me—how does that feel?

everything's already been said 🙏

I’m asking this specifically for the guys who love to "flex" how much they know about the American language 😉

Because of stuff like this, I ended up losing a dozen A's back in high school; now I’ve graduated with an economics degree and I still have no clue (and probably never will...)

So, we’ve got these verbs: bugariti and dujiti

How do you conjugate these in the aorist and imperfect tense across all three singular and plural persons?

(Honestly, I don't even know what these words mean, which is why I tanked a few grades...)

😉

Jeremy Diaz9 said:Well, elementary and high school combined cover about twelve years of education.
And if a person was born in a small town in rural Ohio, for example.
What kind of influence do you think carries more weight?
And by the way, you didn't even spell that resident term right; you probably meant a certain type of urbanite, though some folks insist on a different spelling for it.
It's the same deal with someone from a mid-sized city like Des Moines; some say one way, others swear by another.
So, three things here: how does it feel to realize that, in your attempt at an articulated debate, you’ve been misspelling basic words?
Secondly, wouldn't that be considered a bit uncultured on my part?
Thirdly, following your own logic, why should I even bother talking to you if you're functionally illiterate?
So, go ahead, tell me—how does that feel?

Next time you're in ST, hit me up for sure. Drinks are on me... maybe two or three rounds.

🙏

Jeremy Diaz9 said:Well, elementary and high school combined cover about twelve years of education.
And if a person was born in a small town in rural Ohio, for example.
What kind of influence do you think carries more weight?
And by the way, you didn't even spell that resident term right; you probably meant a certain type of urbanite, though some folks insist on a different spelling for it.
It's the same deal with someone from a mid-sized city like Des Moines; some say one way, others swear by another.
So, three things here: how does it feel to realize that, in your attempt at an articulated debate, you’ve been misspelling basic words?
Secondly, wouldn't that be considered a bit uncultured on my part?
Thirdly, following your own logic, why should I even bother talking to you if you're functionally illiterate?
So, go ahead, tell me—how does that feel?

Big deal, you caught my slip of the pen.🤷

Since we're discussing literacy here, all your observations regarding my spelling are entirely fair.

On certain subforums, I "tolerate" poor grammar, mainly because of how "serious" those specific sections are.
But on other subforums, bad grammar just discredits a user, making them look incompetent for any "higher" level of discussion.

Jeremy Diaz9 said:...what I might be able to reck...

"Say" is spelled with a soft 'c'.😁

Jason Campbell70 is out here preaching to the choir while you're just farting in the wind😁

Nobody ever talks about those random losers who drop from the sky onto some subforum and post a massive wall of text filled with a hundred typos, zero grammar, and such brain-dead internet incompetence that you literally can't even read it (all caps, no line breaks, no paragraphs, absolutely zero punctuation).

People are already buzzing about how if you drop an 8,000-character deep dive on the Hardware forum and absolutely demolish some guy acting like a "know-it-all" with pure facts, he’ll pivot. He’ll spend his own 8,000 characters hunting for two tiny spelling mistakes just so he can call you a communist or something equally stupid (I've seen it happen)...

It is irritating as hell, honestly, and this childish trolling is just pathetic.🙂
I mean, damn, most people in their next few posts prove they don't have the slightest clue how online discussions actually work. They either completely miss when they're being trolled, misread the situation entirely, or they're just clueless about what's even going on. And it's a total disaster when one of those people is actually a moderator.😁

Generally speaking, I don't care much about someone else's illiteracy, but I have to admit, Jason Campbell70 makes a valid point on one specific matter. How can anyone take an argument seriously on a "professional" PDF regarding, say, a simple technical component, if that individual can't even distinguish basic punctuation or spelling errors? 🤷
The real question is determining who is trolling here and what their actual motive is. It really does get under my skin... 🙂

Jerry Martin19 said:Look, here's the thing. It’s not a problem when someone calls out a typo during a serious, high-level debate. The issue is that trolls almost always weaponize grammar as an "argument," turning a standard discussion into a cheap ad hominem attack. They pull that move once they run out of actual points to make, just typing stuff like, "Look at this guy, he can't even spell XYZ correctly."

There’s another scenario where this happens too. It’s pretty stupid to lecture someone if, say, a guy from the Deep South insists on writing change instead of chang'n. Most of the time, they know exactly how it's spelled and said; they just feel more relaxed using their local dialect while typing. I mean, if some guy in America doesn't realize that chang'n is actually change, he basically needs a PhD just to understand regional slang...

We seem to be on the same page here; what we're seeing is clearly a provocation.

Jerry Martin19 said:Look, here's the thing. It’s not a problem when someone calls out a typo during a serious, high-level debate. The issue is that trolls almost always weaponize grammar as an "argument," turning a standard discussion into a cheap ad hominem attack. They pull that move once they run out of actual points to make, just typing stuff like, "Look at this guy, he can't even spell XYZ correctly."

There’s another scenario where this happens too. It’s pretty stupid to lecture someone if, say, a guy from the Deep South insists on writing change instead of chang'n. Most of the time, they know exactly how it's spelled and said; they just feel more relaxed using their local dialect while typing. I mean, if some guy in America doesn't realize that chang'n is actually change, he basically needs a PhD just to understand regional slang...

I have nothing against dialects, quite the contrary. However, if someone chooses to write in a regional vernacular, they should be consistent about it. You shouldn't have chang'n in one sentence and then use standard English like milk in the next. That kind of linguistic hybridity is just grotesque.

The same applies to those with a Midwestern drawl. I don't know if you ever read Brankov's blog, but it was brilliant from start to finish, despite being occasionally incomprehensible. 😁

Dialects are part of our heritage and should be cherished. 🙂

ruggedfox28 said:I’m asking this specifically for the guys who love to "flex" how much they know about the American language 😉

Because of stuff like this, I ended up losing a dozen A's back in high school; now I’ve graduated with an economics degree and I still have no clue (and probably never will...)

So, we’ve got these verbs: bugariti and dujiti

How do you conjugate these in the aorist and imperfect tense across all three singular and plural persons?

(Honestly, I don't even know what these words mean, which is why I tanked a few grades...)

😉

Bugariti means to speak or sing sadly; that's one of the etymologies for certain folk songs. Since it's an imperfective verb, there is no aorist. Because it's a fourth-type verb, the imperfect is formed with the original suffix plus a jotation, though there's no need here because of the existing palatal (even if r is depalatalized in American, it wasn't like that in Proto-Slavic). So, bugarah, bugaraše, bugaraše, bugarasmo, bugaraste, bugarahu.

Dujiti is strictly a dialectal verb and doesn't exist in the standard language at all. Depending on the region, it can mean anything from blowing to milking to being still, but most often it refers to being quiet. It’s derived from the noun spirit, but you can tell this happened in the southern regions due to the shift of h > j (which isn't rare; it changes to either j or v), hence duvati (< duhati), dunuti, and so on. The imperfect is dujah based on that principle, and there is no aorist since it's imperfective.

Got anything harder? 😉

Jason Campbell70 said:And it isn't just limited to Social Science circles.

People who lack the basic ability to distinguish simple spelling variations or fundamental grammar rules? I don't view them as equal participants in a discussion.

To put it a bit more "sharply." 😉

I'm definitely one of those guys. 😬

People like you actually bother me way more, and honestly, you know exactly why.😉 I can have a perfectly normal conversation with someone, no issues at all—right up until they completely run out of actual arguments. That's when they suddenly decide to start nitpicking my typos and dropping posts like:

Learn how to spell. 😛So, just hit me up then.

I honestly feel pretty bad about it.😢 Not because of how you talk—that was honestly hilarious to me. If I saw a post like that, I'd know immediately that I was absolutely right.☕Man, I feel for you. It sucks that they blocked your access to those Formula 1 PDFs over stuff like that. Total nonsense.😢

And I've always had a blast messing with you.👍 And honestly, nothing else ever made me laugh quite as hard as that. I was literally crying tears of laughter.👍

Ethan Martinez11 said:We seem to be on the same page here; what we're seeing is clearly a provocation.

I have nothing against dialects, quite the contrary. However, if someone chooses to write in a regional vernacular, they should be consistent about it. You shouldn't have chang'n in one sentence and then use standard English like milk in the next. That kind of linguistic hybridity is just grotesque.

The same applies to those with a Midwestern drawl. I don't know if you ever read Brankov's blog, but it was brilliant from start to finish, despite being occasionally incomprehensible. 😁

Dialects are part of our heritage and should be cherished. 🙂

And what if the speaker uses some regional American dialect and just can't live up to Mayer-Jakubinskijev's rules? 😲😍

stormybadger8 said:I'm definitely one of those guys. 😬

People like you actually bother me way more, and honestly, you know exactly why.😉 I can have a perfectly normal conversation with someone, no issues at all—right up until they completely run out of actual arguments. That's when they suddenly decide to start nitpicking my typos and dropping posts like:

Learn how to spell. 😛So, just hit me up then.

I honestly feel pretty bad about it.😢 Not because of how you talk—that was honestly hilarious to me. If I saw a post like that, I'd know immediately that I was absolutely right.☕Man, I feel for you. It sucks that they blocked your access to those Formula 1 PDFs over stuff like that. Total nonsense.😢

And I've always had a blast messing with you.👍 And honestly, nothing else ever made me laugh quite as hard as that. I was literally crying tears of laughter.👍

First off—if an F1 forum user can't even spell the names of the drivers or the teams correctly, I don't consider them capable of having a high-quality discussion.

Second—I have never responded to a well-reasoned argument on a "serious" topic by saying:

"Learn how to spell 😛, then maybe get back to me"

Never.

There were times when I would give a reasoned response to someone's post and conclude by suggesting a term was misspelled.

And that bothers me for the exact reason mentioned above😉.

Ethan Martinez11 said:But if someone is going to write in a regional dialect, they should be consistent about it. You can't use one slang word in one sentence and standard English in the next. That kind of hybrid speech is just awkward.

Exactly. In my humble opinion, there is no better indicator of someone's ignorance or lack of effort than using broken, phonetic slang while still trying to sound coherent.

In everyday conversation, I don't use formal English. But on a forum, I usually "force" myself to. Especially during a "serious" debate.

Does that make me a superman? Or just a more serious forum user?

Matthew Ortiz said:And what if the speaker uses some regional American dialect and just can't live up to Mayer-Jakubinskijev's rules? 😲😍

😁

One could always consistently adhere to them, though. 😉