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 PrehistoricUFO wrote:
My boss, who makes 100 grand a year, posted a memo with the words 'should of' in it. I circled it and corrected it as a contraction like a grade 4 teacher would of . . .

Just goes to show, good grammar dose not make you a successful person. I'm sure it made you feel very superior to him for 20 seconds.

 Steve steveson wrote:

 PrehistoricUFO wrote:
My boss, who makes 100 grand a year, posted a memo with the words 'should of' in it. I circled it and corrected it as a contraction like a grade 4 teacher would of . . .

Just goes to show, good grammar dose not make you a successful person. I'm sure it made you feel very superior to him for 20 seconds.

lol

 Steve steveson wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
Written English.....will be joining Latin soon I believe

Unlikely given that we are writing more than ever before. It will evolve, but it's not going to die.

I'm completely fine with the country's overall decline in writing skills. It's just more job security for me. Companies still have to communicate with the written word, and so they need people who can do that clearly, effectively and persuasively.

 gorgon wrote:

 Steve steveson wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
Written English.....will be joining Latin soon I believe

Unlikely given that we are writing more than ever before. It will evolve, but it's not going to die.

I'm completely fine with the country's overall decline in writing skills. It's just more job security for me. Companies still have to communicate with the written word, and so they need people who can do that clearly, effectively and persuasively.

I dream of that fine day when "literacy" will be a marketable skill.

 Fafnir wrote:

 gorgon wrote:

 Steve steveson wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
Written English.....will be joining Latin soon I believe

Unlikely given that we are writing more than ever before. It will evolve, but it's not going to die.

I'm completely fine with the country's overall decline in writing skills. It's just more job security for me. Companies still have to communicate with the written word, and so they need people who can do that clearly, effectively and persuasively.

I dream of that fine day when "literacy" will be a marketable skill.

I'm the son of two English teachers, so I was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

But there is a part of me that just shrugs when I see people doing things like writing in text-speak. Ultimately it's more security for my family.

Also note that the work I do requires more than just literacy. Most universities don't seem to teach much professional writing outside of journalism, and that's a very different discipline than ad writing, PR writing, web writing, etc.

Tibbsy wrote:

 PrehistoricUFO wrote:
My boss, who makes 100 grand a year, posted a memo with the words 'should of' in it. I circled it and corrected it as a contraction like a grade 4 teacher would of . . .

Was this intended as a joke?

Ummmm, doy!

One more reason to learn Chinese: No complicated punctuation!

I think there are many unnecessary aspects to the English language. Commas, though, are important. Just because people can't be assed to add them doesn't detract from their importance.

However, silent letters should be abolished since they serve no purpose. Like the letter "C" in the word "rock".

But then you just have a big bird.

No, you would have to get rid of the 'k' for that.

Maybe we should give the Commas guns, so they can better defend themselves

What amazes me is all the grammatical and spelling errors in this very thread. Even errors being made whilst criticising someone else's mistakes! For example:

 PrehistoricUFO wrote:
My boss, who makes 100 grand a year, posted a memo with the words 'should of' in it. I circled it and corrected it as a contraction like a grade 4 teacher would of . . .

Should be "should have", which doesn't necessarily need contracting. What's the contraction of "should of"? "Should'f"? Likewise, you should have written, "would have."

Man, I feel so dirty now. Correcting other people's grammar on the Internet is so wrong but it feels so good. I hope I didn't make any mistakes.

 Captain Fantastic wrote:
One more reason to learn Chinese: No complicated punctuation!

Yeah, just a seriously fethed up writing system.

master of asgard wrote:
What amazes me is all the grammatical and spelling errors in this very thread. Even errors being made whilst criticising someone else's mistakes! For example:

 PrehistoricUFO wrote:
My boss, who makes 100 grand a year, posted a memo with the words 'should of' in it. I circled it and corrected it as a contraction like a grade 4 teacher would of . . .

Should be "should have", which doesn't necessarily need contracting. What's the contraction of "should of"? "Should'f"? Likewise, you should have written, "would have."

Man, I feel so dirty now. Correcting other people's grammar on the Internet is so wrong but it feels so good. I hope I didn't make any mistakes.

Your English grammar just got corrected by a Frenchmen. Eternal shame on you!

Also, master of asgard made a few mistakes as well.

What amazes me is all the grammatical and spelling errors in this very thread. Even errors being made whilst criticising someone else's mistakes!

You should have used 'are' instead of 'is', because 'all the grammatical and spelling errors' is plural.
Also, I think there should have been an 'are' between 'errors' and 'being made', but I am not 100% sure on that.

*Sigh*

Ok

The English language is dynamic: it's constantly in a state of change. For example, we write and speak differently to, say, Chaucer. But we're still all speaking English (albeit different kinds.) So, really, there's no such thing as correct English.

Having said that, The comma is pretty darn important. I mean, I don't even have an uncle Jack, so removing commas from that particular statement would make me a liar on the side

Tl;Dr: Language constantly changes, but the comma should stay for the same reason the full stop (or "period", across the pond) should.

Because they're vital for proper coherency.

master of asgard wrote:
What amazes me is all the grammatical and spelling errors in this very thread. Even errors being made whilst criticising someone else's mistakes! For example:

 PrehistoricUFO wrote:
My boss, who makes 100 grand a year, posted a memo with the words 'should of' in it. I circled it and corrected it as a contraction like a grade 4 teacher would of . . .

Should be "should have", which doesn't necessarily need contracting. What's the contraction of "should of"? "Should'f"? Likewise, you should have written, "would have."

Man, I feel so dirty now. Correcting other people's grammar on the Internet is so wrong but it feels so good. I hope I didn't make any mistakes.

^I think he actually posted earlier that he did that on purpose. I believe somebody asked him if it was and he had a good chortle.

 Iron_Captain wrote:


Your English grammar just got corrected by a Frenchmen. Eternal shame on you!

Also, master of asgard made a few mistakes as well.

What amazes me is all the grammatical and spelling errors in this very thread. Even errors being made whilst criticising someone else's mistakes!

You should have used 'are' instead of 'is', because 'all the grammatical and spelling errors' is plural.
Also, I think there should have been an 'are' between 'errors' and 'being made', but I am not 100% sure on that.

Ah damn I think you got me on the is/are! I hang my head in grammar shame.

By the way, I'm actually English, but I live in France. Funnily enough learning French seems to be forcing a lot of English (mostly spelling) out of my brain. It doesn't help that Google Chrome only recognises the American spelling of words!

Q: What eats shoots and leaves?
A: A Panda.

Q: What eats, shoots, and leaves?
A: An American.

 Sturmtruppen wrote:
Q: What eats, shoots, and leaves?

A: Someone who couldn't afford the full hour.

master of asgard wrote:

 Iron_Captain wrote:


Your English grammar just got corrected by a Frenchmen. Eternal shame on you!

Also, master of asgard made a few mistakes as well.

What amazes me is all the grammatical and spelling errors in this very thread. Even errors being made whilst criticising someone else's mistakes!

You should have used 'are' instead of 'is', because 'all the grammatical and spelling errors' is plural.
Also, I think there should have been an 'are' between 'errors' and 'being made', but I am not 100% sure on that.

Ah damn I think you got me on the is/are! I hang my head in grammar shame.

By the way, I'm actually English, but I live in France. Funnily enough learning French seems to be forcing a lot of English (mostly spelling) out of my brain. It doesn't help that Google Chrome only recognises the American spelling of words!

IOM the subject of the sentence is "What amazes me", a singular, the clause "all the ... errors ..." is subordinate.

 Avatar 720 wrote:

 Sturmtruppen wrote:
Q: What eats, shoots, and leaves?

A: Someone who couldn't afford the full hour.

Nice.