Forums → The Tavern → The Internet: The Death of Grammar

The ironic part is how many people on this thread are like, "Oh, I have perfect grammar," yet they're making errors in their posts.

grammar isn't really that bad of an issue unless it is unintelligible.

MasterForger: Glorious Knight of the Intelligent Speakers.
(And no, that's Not sarcasm.)

I have to agree with you, MasterForger. All too often I see people slinging "grammar" about that is so thoroughly degraded it has become lifeless and unintelligible. And not just online - those of you who think that job applications and other trappings of the real world weed out or forcibly correct those babbling fools who are destroying speech are, sadly, mistaken. I encounter sloppy speaking patterns and other signs of declining intelligence (like a store clerk who couldn't figure out that five minus three is two without a calculator) even here in my small home-town. Bear in mind that many of the people creating those application forms now are of the current two or so generations of "1337"-speaking, abbreviation-drunk, cell-phone-texting addicted, and generally poorly educated products of modern culture.

But I digress. The ongoing degradation of written and verbal communication is quite present here, although to be fair I must also recognize those of you who at least try to be readable. Take Cenere for instance - English is his second language, and although he struggles sometimes in the course of his posts, his writings are inherently easier to read than a alarmingly high percentage of what known English-as-first-language speakers here post. The reason for this is simple: Cen actually tries to use good grammar. He puts effort into his writing, and the results are rewarding to him and others who read his posts. Any of you who saw his poorly named but nonetheless fascinating Great Wall of Posts known as "Super Cool And Awesome Kittens!" can attest to that. Using the aforementioned reasoning, one can easily determine the cause of the grammatical dead zone that has so perplexed MasterForger and others. That reason is Laziness. Today's people are the product of a steady lessening of quality throughout the education system and family structure. The family life that should have instilled them with good morals and strong character and the school system that should, by its own declaration, have educated them have both come under heavy fire in the past handful of decades. Students have little if any drive to learn correctly, and standards lowered in a bid to still look on-par when the government comes to dole out money allow them to think that the glaring mistakes that they make are as acceptable as the correct method. As a result, people are too lazy to, for example, use proper grammar, and the people responsible for them are too lazy to do anything about it.

Fortunately though, in the midst of this grim scene, there are still a few of us who take the time and exert the effort to do things right. I have no intention of bragging, but the example I can provide the most detail about is myself. I do my best to use proper grammar here and in the real world. Capitalization, punctuation, correct spelling and sound sentence structure are all things I strive to use, and when I witness the omission or abuse of these things it grates on my brain like claws on a chalkboard. Yes, no one is perfect in this or any other field. Mental shutdown from posting at 3:30 a.m. has allowed me to make and subsequently miss some errors. When I want my post to have a silly or sarcastic connotation, I occasionally allow myself a "moar" or some such thing. And for brevity's sake, I'll even use a "BTW" now and then. The point is that myself and others likewise inclined put forward a concerted effort to not butcher the language we use.

Call us Grammar Nazis if you like, but remember this: The Nazis set out to conquer and destroy, and that's exactly what these babbling aberrations are doing. Some day soon, when your communication skills are reduced to grunts and growls, people like MasterForger and myself will be there shaking our heads in disgust and whispering, "We warned them..."


Oh, and Jacen, while I disagree with your comment, I like the comic you posted. That's pretty much how it feels sometimes.

Is it just me, or am I the only one waiting for someone to mess up with their grammer, so I can watch half of this thread's posters attack the poor sap.

Is it just me, or am I the only one

I think that everyone here makes a mistake every once in while.
Although sometimes I see posts that makes me want to cry.
I'm not the best either but I try

Is it just me, or am I the only one waiting for someone to mess up with their grammer

grammer

That reason is Laziness.

grammar isn't really that bad of an issue unless it is unintelligible.

Like I said, it depends on what kind of grammar mistakes. Mistakes like "too" and "to" are so simple, and the extra "o" do not make some magical hidden meaning suddenly become clear.

Then there is the issue of "typos vs. grammar", people can't tell the difference....

But what really is starting to annoy me is when users or people in real life get terribly angered when I try to correct them on their grammar.

as semone said before, the internet is not the death of grammar because:
-first, because of the fast wryting you can make a mistake and the others would think that i didn't know how to speak;
-some abbreviations are used because you really don't have time to write the entire word
-because these forums and many other forums and games and....are global and the most used language is english maybe some people from other countryes aren't english spellers and they can easly make mistakes
-the abbreviations like "wut" instead of "what" are frequently used by peoples that peoples that want to look cooler but this is only making them to look silly, but they can't see that, however when they speak "what" they won't say "wut" whey would say "what".
(sorry for eventually bad grammae i am not an english speaker)

I shall admit that i have taken part in the horrible grammar and abbreviations on the internet. But I'm trying to change! Although, it is funny to see some of the things people say. I watch "Your Grammar Sucks!" on Youtube, and it's ridiculous. But it is funny.

Grammar Nazi hosts an AG forum! But seriously, I hear your plight. The next time I see someone type "alot" or "ur" then I am going to explode.

This is ridiculous. It's the Internet. Grammar doesn't matter. Demanding something be correct for its own sake is a waste of everyone's valuable time and energy.

While I'm happy to jump on some grammatical issues, I think it should only ever be done in service of a larger point. Clearing up misunderstandings is useful. It can also be worth it to fight about if it speaks to more significant philosophical beliefs: e.g. I often insist that people capitalize "Internet" because it IS a proper noun, even though people often fail to consider it as such. I ask for its capitalization not as a grammatical fun fact, but because I think people should think of it as such.

Of course, once you've been told, feel free to capitalize it or not. It's the freakin' Internet. Deliberately alienating people based on propriety of grammar is a pretty rude thing to do, no matter which stylebook you're using.