Language Nazis Unite!

[FungiUg]

Here's a little thread for we language Nazis who need a place to rant. Spelling, grammar or any other language feature that we decide is annoying at the time.

And my opening rant.

The word is "lose". As distinct from the word "loose".

The dictionary definition for lose is basically "To be unsuccessful in retaining possession of; mislay."

However, I have (to my irritation as a fully fledged language Nazi) read a number of stories and threads where people use the word "loose" instead.

The dictionary definition for loose is basically "Not fastened, restrained, or contained."

Don't confuse the two! It makes for very jarring reading, particularly in the middle of an erotic story.

 

[bridgeburner]

THEN - THAN

I nearly started a thread on this very topic!!! Not lose/loose but then/than.

I cannot tell you how crazy making it is to see these words misused.


THEN functions as an adverb, adjective or noun and primarily exists to denote time or order.

Ex: First you will eat your meat and THEN you will have your pudding. I was younger THEN and not so tall as now. Nobody would have guessed in the 1970's that THEN popular fashions would later be abhorred and later still revived.


THAN is a comparison word and can be either a conjunction or a preposition.

Ex:
One is smarter THAN another, some things are bigger THAN others or older THAN others. I'd rather eat chocolate THAN get a sharp stick in the eye.



For a little comparison let's look at a sentence with only the one word changed:

I would rather go to the movies than take a nap.

This means I would like to attend the movies instead of taking a nap.

Compared to:

I would rather go to the movies THEN take a nap.

This means I would like to attend the movies before I take a nap.

The first sentence is clearly a choice between the two items while the second places no value on the choices themselves but merely addresses the order in which I'd like to engage in them.



Here are some dictionary links:
THEN

THAN

 

[dolf]

*hides in the corner*...the nazi's are after me
xx

 

[A Desert Rose]

Re: THEN - THAN

I nearly started a thread on this very topic!!! Not lose/loose but then/than.

Do WHO and THAT... I'm too tired to explain it and how to use it but it drives me fucking nuts.

You explain when to use WHO and when to use THAT... please.

I love seeing threads titled "subs THAT love to be horsewhipped."

NOT.

 

[FungiUg]

When you're talking about a person, use "who". When you're talking about a thing, use "that". When talking about a person's thing... well, your choice.

I still haven't quite gotten "who" and "whom" correct. Mostly correct though. We were never taught to use "whom" at school -- I picked it up from reading and at University.

 

[A Desert Rose]

When you're talking about a person, use "who". When you're talking about a thing, use "that". When talking about a person's thing... well, your choice.

I still haven't quite gotten "who" and "whom" correct. Mostly correct though. We were never taught to use "whom" at school -- I picked it up from reading and at University.

Thanks.

 

[Netzach]

When you're talking about a person, use "who". When you're talking about a thing, use "that". When talking about a person's thing... well, your choice.

I still haven't quite gotten "who" and "whom" correct. Mostly correct though. We were never taught to use "whom" at school -- I picked it up from reading and at University.

whom is the object of the sentence

to whom it may concern
of whom it is said


who is the subject
who is going to take out the trash
I don't care who does it!

 

[Guest]

*sigh*

Personally, I can let most of the other slide.
(And frequently do, I''m told)
But It would warm me to the bottom of my black heart, to apply a single tail to the next person that mis-uses "Dominate", for "Dominant".

 

[Kassiana]

Vial is a container for liquid.

Vile is an adjective meaning disgusting or loathsome.

Atheist is the spelling, not athiest.

Your is a possessive, meaning that something is owned by you.

You're is a contraction of the two words "you are."

 

[Netzach]

*chuckle*
and the people most attracted to this thread are probably the people who are least in need of it.

To be fair, my grammar, punctuation, and spelling have all taken an atrocious slide since getting online. Anyone else notice the same?

So I tend not to even really kvetch about it, unless it's so problematic I have no idea what the hell the person in question might be trying to say.

 

[FungiUg]

Yup, okay, I admit I am often lazy when I type threads online. It's more things like stories or articles were I worry about it.

After I had a dream a few days back where I was screaming at the screen "for fuck's sake, learn to use an apostrophe!" I decided it was time to create this thread.

 

[Marquis]

A bit of trivia I figure you grammar nerds might like.

When you put a word in the middle of another word for effect (e.g. abso-fucking-lutely) it's called tmesis. Plural, tmeses.

 

[Miss Diva]

I am from Quebec Canada, where we do have (or used to have) what we lovingly call the LANGUAGE POLICE. They guys were a bunch of overpaid, uneducated, bureaucrats who went around to make sure that the French wording on sign was twice the size of the English wording.

FungiUg would you like to spank these bureaucrats? And if yes count in French and make it twice as hard than if you were counting in English.

 

[AngelicAssassin]

So I tend not to even really kvetch about it, unless it's so problematic I have no idea what the hell the person in question might be trying to say.

You'd be fucking-a TweetY-surprised how many times i've re-read some posts only to discover, i think, the dear writer meant the exact opposite of what i understood at first glance.

 

[Marquis]

What's a TweetY, and why is it spelled so unusually?

 

[morninggirl5]

They're, their, and there


They're is a contraction for they are

They're going to the zoo.


Their is the possessive form of they.

They like their new toys.


There is used to indicate position or to introduce a clause or phrase.

Sit the book down there.

There, now you've got it.

 

[bridgeburner]

Waist is what's between your ribs and hips where you button your pants.

Waste is something you throw out.

Labia are the fleshy lips of the vulva. Majora are the outer lips and minora are the inner lips. It is never correct to say "labia lips" or "labial lips". That's like saying "foot foot" or "footy foot".

Breast is a singular noun. It can be one half of a pair of breasts or it can refer to the chest in general as in "beating one's breast" or "Robin Red Breast" but if you grab more than one breast at a time then you've got breastS.

TAUT/TAUNT

TAUT is an adjective meaning tight or tense. A rigging line may be pulled TAUT or a wrist or ankle restraint for that matter.

TAUNT means to insult, harrase or tease eg "I fart in your general direction you silly English ka-niggit (knight)! Now go away or I will TAUNT you a second time."

-B

 

[Marquis]

Labia are the fleshy lips of the vulva. Majora are the outer lips and minora are the inner lips. It is never correct to say "labia lips" or "labial lips". That's like saying "foot foot" or "footy foot".

Or Shrimp Scampi?

 

[AngelicAssassin]

TAUT/TAUNT

TAUT is an adjective meaning tight or tense. A rigging line may be pulled TAUT or a wrist or ankle restraint for that matter.

TAUNT means to insult, harrase or tease eg "I fart in your general direction you silly English ka-niggit (knight)! Now go away or I will TAUNT you a second time."

-B

And the more commonly abused TAUGHT, the past and past participle of TEACH.

Marquis ... think Warner Brothers and Sylvester "playing with his food" ... http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/363868/5squeeze.gif

 

[MastrJ]

All of my pet peeves have already been mentioned, but I'll report any glaring errors I come across in other threads.

My biggest pet peeve is when people don't feel the need to captilize or use sentences when chatting online. That drives me nuts.

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Two describes an integer that follows one and precedes three.

Too carries different meanings dependent on use.

• also: Tie her ankles and her wrists too.
• excessively: DVS has too much dick for anal sex with most subs on this board.
• so: Last act of defiance from a pyl out of her mind? "But i did too!"

To also carries different meanings dependent on use. Click me.

 

[bridgeburner]

excessively: DVS has too much dick for anal sex with most subs on this board.

Now, you just knew that was going to totally derail somebody's train of thought, didn't you?



-B

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Now, you just knew that was going to totally derail somebody's train of thought, didn't you?

-B

i seldom miss that at which i aim.

Let's see if the mnemonic works for those with that particular homonym issue.

 

[Miss Diva]

A pet peeve for me is someone who types in CAPs and uses no punctuation. This is an actual post from another board:

NO I HAVE NOT SEEN IT YET I AM GOING TO BUT I BOUGHT THE SOUNDTRACK FOR MOM TODAY AND IT IS GOOD .....BUT IT IS NO MICHAEL CRAWFORD OR SARAH BRIGHTMAN LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE MOVE WHAT IS KIND OF FUNNY IS THAT NEITHER GERALD OR MICHAEL HAD ANY PROFFESIONAL TRAINING UNTIL THE OPERA TOOK THE GRANGKIDS TO SEE THE INCREDIABLES TODAY NOT BAD THEY ENJOYED IT SO THAT IS WHAT COUNTS WE WENT TO THE $ STORE MACDONALDS ROAMED THE MALL THEN THE MOVIE HAD A GOOD TIME

What happened to the basic grammar rules of punctuation?

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Laughing too hard

Click me.