The Official Grammar and Style Still Matter on the Internet Thread

[Midtowner]

Despite popular belief, grammar and style are still important--even on the internet. Despite the supposed injustice of it all, how you write, how you spell, how you punctuate all have a bearing on whether your readers believe you are a person worth reading. In this thread, we give style and grammar tips for better internet writing, for example:

Apostrophes do not make words plural. Apostrophes do not need to precede the letter s when it happens to be at the end of a word.

Don't ever write in all caps. Not even when you think you need to in order to place emphasis on a certain word. Let your writing do that.

Also, if anyone has any grammar/style questions, ask away.

[Midtowner]

[Midtowner]

[OKCisOK4me]

are still important -- even on the internet.

These spaces are not suppose to be here. Grammar correction "are still important--even on the internet". Thanks

[Midtowner]

No, thank you! I've been using em dashes wrongly for a long time now.

[Eep]

these spaces are not suppose to be here. Grammar correction "are still important—even on the internet". Thanks

FTFY! If we're going to be extremely pedantic in this thread we might as well make use of the em dash.

[Midtowner]

FTFY! If we're going to be extremely pedantic in this thread we might as well make use of the em dash.

I'm glad he brought it to my attention. I've been using em dashes incorrectly for years now. No one is advocating being overly pedantic, but we can all work on our grammar and style.

The internet has created a generation of lazy writers. Why should we tolerate and accept poor grammar simply because this is supposedly an informal means of communication?

Consider the following analogy:

Though it may be arguably acceptable to wear a mullet, wouldn't one typically be better served wearing a hair style which won't draw scoffs behind your back? Writing, just like really awful hair, tells us what kind of a person you are. It's how you choose to appear to your audience.

I'm not asking that we harshly criticize fellow posters for failing to closely follow MLA guidelines; but I, as well as many here will think less of a writer who doesn't know the difference between affect (the verb) and effect (usually a noun).

[Eep]

I'm glad he brought it to my attention. I've been using em dashes incorrectly for years now. No one is advocating being overly pedantic, but we can all work on our grammar and style.

Oh believe me, I love the thread idea! I just changed his "--" to an actual em dash (—).

[ck76]

I think y'all might be reptilians..............

[skyrick]

I think y'all might be reptilians..............

There, their, they're. I usually see the second one misused for the third.

[OKCisOK4me]

No, thank you! I've been using em dashes wrongly for a long time now.

I got a good laugh out of your thread so I figured you wouldn't mind the correction. Too bad the other guy took it the wrong way, lol.

[mugofbeer]

Mid, I will agree with your thread topic to some extent, but this isn't an English class. While care should be given to spelling and punctuation, etc., it's basically an exchange of thoughts, ideas and opinions which boils down to a written conversation. I don't demean anyone for their grammatical mistakes and I know I have committed some of the same "crimes" against grammar that you list. As long as the person's thought can be ascertained from their posting, then fine. Keep in mind, when a conversation is going, there sometimes isn't enough time to pour through the posting to catch every error.

[kevinpate]

And sum write as they speak in casual settings, and jus' let da chips fall whar they may (just in case ya dinna know it's sometimes down right deliberate)

[Midtowner]

Mid, I will agree with your thread topic to some extent, but this isn't an English class. While care should be given to spelling and punctuation, etc., it's basically an exchange of thoughts, ideas and opinions which boils down to a written conversation.

And why should a writer not endeavor to be correct? Sometimes, as Kevin says, it's okay to break the rules. I am convinced, however, that Kevin knows the rules and breaks them for more effective, colorful communication rather than because he is ignorant of the rules, sloppy, or just doesn't care.

I don't demean anyone for their grammatical mistakes and I know I have committed some of the same "crimes" against grammar that you list. As long as the person's thought can be ascertained from their posting, then fine. Keep in mind, when a conversation is going, there sometimes isn't enough time to pour through the posting to catch every error.

But you can always try to get it right. No one is perfect. That said, as a culture, we need to value our language more. It's part of our culture--part of who we are. Other cultures and countries have bodies such as the Académie Française which actually protect the integrity of the language and pass clear rules as to its use. In the U.S., we have several different sets. In academia, we have MLA, APA and Chicago -- all of which have different, but similar, rules. And from there, we have numerous (probably hundreds) of grammar guides out there [I favor Garner's Modern American Usage if anyone cares], and again, within those there are numerous differences.

Still though, there are quite a few simple rules which you need to know in order to effectively communicate, and yes, I think you should have enough respect for your fellow posters to at least attempt to care. Grammar isn't just about following rules, it's about clear communication.

And no, I'm not here to demean you or anyone else. I only want to help you and receive help myself. I already learned I've been improperly using em dashes.

[Midtowner]

[mugofbeer]

And why should a writer not endeavor to be correct? Sometimes, as Kevin says, it's okay to break the rules. I am convinced, however, that Kevin knows the rules and breaks them for more effective, colorful communication rather than because he is ignorant of the rules, sloppy, or just doesn't care.

Mid, all in all, my posts for what they are worth, are fairly spelling-accurate but not perfect and I will be the first to admit I use dashes and occasionally capitalize words I want to emphasize. If I were writing a legal brief or a newsletter or an article for the paper then I will agree it is very important to "follow the rules" as much as possible. But posting on a chat forum is written conversation. Its less formal. I will agree that some posters don't make themselves clear a great deal of the time. Being understood is the important thing.

[dismayed]

Omg why our u h8ing so mutch on grammer. <3 not h8.

[kevinpate]

Omg why our u h8ing so mutch on grammer. <3 not h8.

[El Gato Pollo Loco!!!]

I think y'all might be reptilians..............

You mean...like V's??? or is it Vs? waitaminute....

[Martin]

These spaces are not supposed to be here.

ftfy. xoxo -M

[Peach fuzz]

This thread makes too much sense.... eet ill nevur wurk

[Midtowner]

You mean...like V's??? or is it Vs? waitaminute....

It's generally acceptable to use the apostrophe s to show the plural of a lowercase letter, e.g., v's. It is verboten to use it to show the plural of an uppercase letter.

[JIMBO]

Isn't verboten a German word?
Didn"t we fight a war so we wouldn't have speak German?

[MikeOKC]

I don't think anyone should stress out too much about any of it, at least not on an ongoing discussion forum. Yes, it's best to use proper grammar, but using -- for the em seems perfectly acceptable. I read an "Internet Grammar Guide" once that said discussion forums where thoughts are running fast should not be as big of a concern as if one were constructing a static blog post (which should be close to perfect, imo). There's a difference. At least none of us here shrtn evrthng so we keep w/in T/'s 140 char limt or use cell-phone speak. Now THAT would drive me crazy. Sorry for the all caps "that," but it would. Drive. Me. Crazy. Oops! See? Too many variables to stress out over on a discussion board. Apologies to Strunk & White. Oh, and while anybody could find hundreds of cases of improper grammar by me in a theoretical sense, I should admit to having majored in Literature (not English, but Literature). I was once told by Stephen King who was speaking at a conference in Iowa, (and this from a guy who wrote a book about writing well), that outside of the very basics, the only rule in writing is that there are no rules.

[El Gato Pollo Loco!!!]

Isn't verboten a German word?
Didn"t we fight a war so we wouldn't have speak German?

We also fought a war to not speak the King's English anymore either, but that's a different story...