Pet Peeve - It's Gear not Gears!

[vcoheda]

having good grammar is very much overrated. no one cares, even in the workplace. as long as your writing is understandable and clear and not patently wrong, that's good enough. it doesn't matter if you break a few "rules" here and there. most are not steadfast anyway. and people hate other people who correct their mistakes. that is certain.

 

[fordgtlover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif having good grammar is very much overrated. no one cares, even in the workplace. as long as your writing is understandable and clear and not patently wrong, that's good enough. it doesn't matter if you break a few "rules" here and there. most are not steadfast anyway. and people hate other people who correct their mistakes. that is certain.

While I agree that the purpose of communication is to convey a message, I see it happen all too often in the workplace, and of course on the internet where people focus on spelling, punctuation and grammar, but fail to comment on the meaning.

Personally, I think it's all a bit trivial.

It all reminds me of this:

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg: the phaonmneel pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rseearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiatrely cllaed Typoglycemia

- Mbaye taht's why FCUK T-srihts are so cmoomn? Amzanig huh? Yaeh and you awlyas thguoht slpeling was ipmorantt.

 

[vagarach]

I find the unnecessary pluralisation rather endearing, actually. Weird, I know, but what can you do? I find that the extra 's' thing happens more with ESL people, and I think it's the native language's more solid seating in the mind that causes the speaker to unconsciously add the extra 's', and that fascinates me!

 

[chesebert]

I find the word 'gear' to be analogous to the word 'people'; both of which are used as a singular nouns in the majority of situations, except for when you are actually referring to mechanical gears. Much like how we refer to more than 1 group of people as 'pepoles', we use 'gears' when we want to refer to more than 1 group of gear.

 

[SiriuslyCold]

thanks God someone raised this matter. While some may thing the informations is being conveyed it's better to do it correctly.

 

[jonathanjong]

I'm a bit of a grammar nazi when I'm teaching, but I fully recognize that it's a little irrational. Grammar is a linguistic convention, which is a socio-cultural convention. And those are fuzzy. Variation is generally acceptable, and changes occur over time. English has evolved, just like every other language. Should we really care about split infinitives and sentences ending with prepositions? I do, but I don't think I should. Should I care whether words are spelt with an S or a Z? Once again, I do, but I don't think I should. Usage dictates meaning. That's how it's always been. Words have changed meanings, etc. Soon, "lol" "interwebs" and "roflcopter" might make their way into Webster's. And so what if they do?

 

[Canuck57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordgtlover /img/forum/go_quote.gif While I agree that the purpose of communication is to convey a message, I see it happen all too often in the workplace, and of course on the internet where people focus on spelling, punctuation and grammar, but fail to comment on the meaning. Personally, I think it's all a bit trivial. It all reminds me of this: I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg: the phaonmneel pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rseearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiatrely cllaed Typoglycemia - Mbaye taht's why FCUK T-srihts are so cmoomn? Amzanig huh? Yaeh and you awlyas thguoht slpeling was ipmorantt.

It's amazing how easy that was to read.

Please keep the definition of a "pet peeve" in mind folks. Don't take this thread too seriously.

A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that can instill great frustration in a very small group of people, yet is experienced by everyone. It also must be insignificant, so people insulting you is not a pet peeve. For example, if you find that elevator doors closing before you can get in annoys you, but does not annoy all the people around you, it's a pet peeve, as it meets all three criteria: insignificant, experienced by all, and only you and a few others are annoyed by it.[

I completely understand that writing in a second language would be very difficult and I'm impressed by anyone that can write/speak a second language at all. I sucked big time when I had to take a French class in school. I dropped the course as soon as I could.

Also, writing here can/should be more informal than elsewhere.

Canuck57
"Grammar ******"

 

[chesebert]

Sweet! We got our very own official head-fi grammar ******! Congratulations

 

[fordgtlover]

^

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that having peeves is trivial. I'd bet most us have them.

What I find trivial is when people focus on, and feel the need to comment on, the spelling, punctuation and grammar of a post rather than on the content - grammar-nazi style.

 

[StevieDvd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 928GTS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Its just like the British saying "maths" while us Americans say "math".

More like the Americans say "math" and the rest of the world say "maths" not just us Brits

 

[Canuck57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StevieDvd /img/forum/go_quote.gif More like the Americans say "math" and the rest of the world say "maths" not just us Brits

I learned something new today, any reason for saying maths rather than math? Would you say, "I'm going to study for my maths exam next week." Would it apply to say geography (geographies) as well?

FYI, Canadians say math.

And pop rather than soda!

 

[shigzeo]

i know quite a few who say maths rather than math. but math is more prevalent in toronto at least. i also have met some who say soda: from NS.

 

[928GTS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canuck57 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I learned something new today, any reason for saying maths rather than math? Would you say, "I'm going to study for my maths exam next week." Would it apply to say geography (geographies) as well? FYI, Canadians say math. And pop rather than soda!

I've only heard the word "maths" from the British(and perhaps a few Australians and New Zealanders)but other countries could very much use the same convention as well. Speaking of soda versus pop somewhere on the Internet there is a map of the United States that is colour coded according to what they call that certain carbonated concoction.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 928GTS /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've only heard the word "maths" from the British(and perhaps a few Australians and New Zealanders)but other countries could very much use the same convention as well.

Very true, we've always said 'maths'. And it feels really odd (to me anyway), to say it or to write it without the 's'.
It's another thing we do to 'copy' the French apparently, along with the use of -ise endings!

 

[928GTS]

Considering that English is such a mish mash of many different languages its not surprising that we steal a few pages from French and the other romance languages even if English itself isn't a romance language.

Its strange though that when I look at the similarities in word spelling and construction between English and French words I find more connection in them than say French and Spanish. This sort of goes against what most people call "convention" since I've always been told "Oh if you know French/Spanish then you'll have little trouble translating Spanish/French."

Go figure.