Larry Flyntz
Fishy With the Eye Fallin' Out
Posts: 1921
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« on: March 22, 2007, 10:15:50 PM » |
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I hope someone else participates in this...
1. I don't care a whole lot about the prepositions at the end of sentences thing (after all, I don't expect people to say "With whom are you going?" or "To what college are you going?"), but I hate it when people add the word "at" to sentences or questions for no reason whatsoever. "Where is Bill at?" Wouldn't "Where is Bill?" have sufficed?
2. Confusion regarding "I" vs. "me" usage. People say "Bob and I" all the time to try to sound smart, but when the first-person is the object of the sentence, "me" is proper. "I" is a subject; not an object. An example of such an error: "Give Bob or I the money." Blah. It's "Give Bob or me the money!"
3. "From whence." Again, people say "from whence" to try to sound smart, but "whence" means "from which," so by saying "from whence," one is actually saying "from from which."
4. "Good" vs. "well" usage. This didn't always annoy me, but whenever I hear such a mistake nowadays, it's like I'm being stabbed in the ear. "I play guitar good." Ugh!
5. Spontaneous pluralization of pronouns. I have the infamous Diane Masar to thank for this one. For example, "if someone wants to get rich, they should just rob a bank!" "Someone" is singular; "they" is plural. I am a writing tutor, and I have to correct this mistake on almost every essay I read. Maybe I should just abandon all hope.
FUN GAME! Pick out the grammatical errors in this post! Extra points if I made any of the mistakes listed above!
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oatmeal fetish....
Administrator
The Color 7
Posts: 2447
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« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2007, 02:54:46 PM » |
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I don't think I can think of 5, but here are some good ones -
Less vs Fewer - The rule is that "less" is for measurement; "fewer" is for objects that are counted. Every grocery store sign that says "8 items or less" is grammatically incorrect.
M-dash vs N-dash - You'd think this be simple but I find myself correcting this on a lot of papers that I peer edit. A dash is an M-dash (because it is the length of the letter "m") and is used similiarly to the semi-colon (in most instances they are interchangeable but for stylistic choices. A semi-colon has more stopping power in a sentence than a dash). It is used with a space on either end of it seperating the begginning words of the clauses it attaches. An N-dash (length of "n") is a hyphen. It is used for attaching two or more words. There is no space. If you are using say, a typerwiter, or a program wthat doesn't convert hyphens into dashes as Word does (like this messageboard, though I break my own rule), represent a dash with two hyphens: "--".
Also Flyntz, did you intentionally make mistakes that are there to be found, or just challenging us, because for the life of me I couldn't find anything.
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Rhino......................
Administrator
Posting Entrepreneur
Posts: 3104
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« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2007, 03:37:48 PM » |
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I have the infamous Diane Masar to thank for this one. She taught me a couple of obscure things that most people just accept because they're so fucking obscure. But for some reason when I see them now, they bug the shit out of me. You can use them later to sound smart at a party or something, you snobs. "Towards" and "forwards" are not words in American English. It is always proper to say "toward" or "forward." "Forte," as in, "Grammar is not my forte" is supposed to be pronounced like the word "fort." "Farther" is only used in reference to measuring distance. "Further" is used to dscribe additional information not in reference to distance. |
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Larry Flyntz
Fishy With the Eye Fallin' Out
Posts: 1921
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« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2007, 04:25:33 PM » |
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Also Flyntz, did you intentionally make mistakes that are there to be found, or just challenging us, because for the life of me I couldn't find anything. I did not intentionally make any mistakes, but I figured if I made a thread about grammar, someone would try to pick out an error or two just to be a dick, so I just decided to make it a game. But, that makes me feel good that I made no mistakes. |
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Rhino......................
Administrator
Posting Entrepreneur
Posts: 3104
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« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2007, 05:22:23 PM » |
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But, that makes me feel good that I made no mistakes. Unnecessary comma use, nublet.  |
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oatmeal fetish....
Administrator
The Color 7
Posts: 2447
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« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2007, 06:17:10 PM » |
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But, that makes me feel good that I made no mistakes.
second "that" unneccessary |
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Larry Flyntz
Fishy With the Eye Fallin' Out
Posts: 1921
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« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2007, 09:36:01 PM » |
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Only the first post was a part of the game, you goons!
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steev
Newbie
Posts: 44
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« Reply #7 on: March 23, 2007, 10:27:48 PM » |
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your you're too/to/two loose/lose aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!!
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oatmeal fetish....
Administrator
The Color 7
Posts: 2447
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« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2007, 07:18:42 PM » |
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Flyntz, what is your avatar? I love it.
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Larry Flyntz
Fishy With the Eye Fallin' Out
Posts: 1921
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« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2007, 02:26:55 PM » |
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I'm assuming it's from some sort of educational software. I did a GIS for "grammar," and up came the Grammar Gorillas! It was love at first site.
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الله أكبر
Cosmic Buttress
Posts: 2024
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« Reply #11 on: March 31, 2007, 10:00:58 PM » |
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Nice Work! You finished "Grammar Gorillas". (Mar. 31, 2007 at 23:00) Your Score: 10 of 10  |
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Violent Unrest in Allentown
Administrator
Posting Entrepreneur
Posts: 4041
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« Reply #12 on: April 01, 2007, 12:33:48 PM » |
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Great Job!
You finished "Grammar Gorillas".
(Apr. 1, 2007 at 13:33)
Your Score:
0 of 10
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