Hey! watch You’re, Grammar. – IOTW Report

Hey! watch You’re, Grammar.

Saturday, 15 February 2025, 8:00 MJA Uncategorized 62


Ellen Jovin’s passion is linguistics. So she set up a table, to talk about grammar with strangers. Steve Hartman has her story on the road. h/t Wendy Bell Radio

62 Comments on Hey! watch You’re, Grammar.

  1. Mom was an English teacher, so I think most of my grammar skills are ingrained in me rather than actually having to think about it. I also think grammar has become another “lost art” just like cursive.

    A “fun” video would be to have her set up that table in the Hood!

    16

  4. Government monopoly day prisons that masquerade as schools have created multiple generations of folks with atrocious English skills. Abolishing them 9nce and for all, and getting Government 100% OUT of the business of education (including STEALING for parents) is the only solution that will ever address our educational issues.

    12

  7. This may qualify.

    …people talking on radios tend to be very brief and nit careful about sentence construction, and sometimes this can sound a bit odd.

    For today’s example, just to give a little background, I work in a food plant that ,among other things, uses beef flavoring for things that are meant to be beef flavored. This is not really MY problem but I monitor the Production frequencies for emergency and non-emergency reasons, and was doing so today.

    Suddenly, there was a call out!

    “Abu, did Tracey have the beef flavor?”

    I did not hear an answer on frequency.

    But I thought of several I COULD have made myself.

    I chose to keep my peace in this case, lest the NEXT conversation I have be with HR…

    https://youtu.be/0W-ASA7s0Nk?si=JCVOXG5gypMb0SPx

    6

  15. The word “ask” is a verb, not a noun, dammit. I would also like to ask her when the word “so” replaced the word “well” as a kickstarter for a sentence. I’m from the age of “well.” It seems like one day, everybody decided to start everything with “so”, and I missed that boat.

    7

  17. Their ought to be a law about idiots using bad grammar. They’re poor use of language shouldn’t be tolerated even in there own homes. Wear do they get off doing something that wheres my patients so much? What are they, a bunch of mental patience?

    7

  19. Thirdtwin-

    For years, my laptop and my phone changed Pore to Pour and We’re Were, among others. I had to shut every “handy” tool on my devices because of that annoyance, only for it to turn back on after ‘upgrades’. Ugh.

    Wait. Is it ‘upgrades.’ or ‘upgrades’. LOL

    Edit: I patched up my phone with a different keyboard app and it has stopped messing with me.

    5

  32. Harry
    Saturday, 15 February 2025, 12:18 at 12:18 pm
    “SNS – you mention radio chatter is abreviated to keep it short.”

    …yes, but youd be surprised how many folks have long conversations on them, forget they are party lines, and also dont realize they dont duplex so they try to interrupt someone else while theyre transmitting in vain…

    …there’s a story about a wing commander in the PTO in WWII who was very big on radio discipline, and quite officious with anyone who didnt practice it to his satisfaction.

    The story says he was on a routine patrol on June 19th, 1944, when he suddenly spotted an enemy plane.

    And another.

    And many, MANY others.

    It was the start of the Battle of the Phillipine Sea, to come to be known later as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot”.

    Overwhelmed by what he was seeing, he excitedly called back, “Enemy! Enemy approaching! Large attack on the way!”

    The carrier frantically radioed back “What bearing? what type? How many? Where away?”, but all they could get back was “There must be a million of ’em…a million of ’em!”

    …after things were sorted out and the battle turned the American’s way, he was later heard to say “Theyre falling like autumn leaves”, which is poetic but also not particuarly helpful.

    Anyone can lose their cool under pressure on the radio, but things like Im talking about are unforced errors.

    Alas, in this particular case, I have no idea if the lady in question is actually beef flavored or not. My admittedly limited experience with the flavors of female humans does not extend to one having the flavor of beef, and Im not about to start sampling random co-workers this late in the day to find out. The fact that the responent did not reply on the radio means I will forever have this gap in my knowledge that he could have easily filled. Alas.

    …still, its an intriguing notion, and perhaps one that soap and/or feminine hygine products may wish to explore in future in their never-ending quest for scents to assist women in intoxicating the senses of men…

    2

  33. Because I immediately stopped diagramming sentences as soon as I left elementary school (and was no longer forced to by the only teacher in the district, perhaps the entire state, who still taught it), I got one grammar question too many wrong on the Foreign Service Exam and failed to pass the English Language proficiency section. I aced all of the other sections (and the non-grammar English section), so my overall score was more than adequate, but the State Department policy at that time was that failing the English Language section was an automatic disqualifier.

    It was recommended that I practice diagramming sentences for a few months and take the exam again. Because of the Federal hiring freeze of the late 80s, the exam was not given again for several years. By then, I had effectively aged out.

    Oh well. At least I avoided having to listen to Hillary or see her face every day on the office wall.

    4

  34. I once saw a sign on the back of a truck that was from a company that sold vegetables to restaurants.

    Pre-Prepared Vegetables. A bit redundant, I thought, considering that paring vegetables is what you usually (not always) do with them. Pre-paring is what is done prior to paring them. Like you gather them, wash them, put them on a cutting board, find your paring knife or scraper.

    A better sign would have been: Pared Vegetables.

    Eats, Shoots, and Leaves vs Eats Shoots and Leaves. Comma placement can change the entire meaning of a sentence.

    2

  35. “I could care less.”

    AAuugghh! Like nails on a chalkboard. Whadda ya mean you COULD care less? How much less? So how much do you care? Ya grammar moron!! The expression is, “I couldn’t care less.” Like none at all. Like you don’t G-A-S!

    I think cussing is shorthand for getting through to people who don’t understand grammar…

    4

  39. I hate homophones, my Apple spell check is the worst, doesn’t quite get the their, there, and they’re.
    Others too, that’s the one that pops up the most.
    Suppose I made a mistake, go ahead MJA, steal the apostrophe.

    *Yoink!*
    -MJA

    3

  43. MJA, I’m here! I’ve been absent for a bit, but I try to catch up.

    I suffered a minor meltdown when reporters started saying “went missing” or “gone missing” when describing a missing person. Now, it’s everywhere. For my sanity, I MUST ignore it!

    When I was working writing articles, I had to include three sources and, believe me, the quality of the writing in some of the so-called first class news websites is atrocious. Do those authors actually get PAID???? I saw better writing from some of the 6th grade students I read to score their essays!

    But, I must confess. I get lazy sometimes and am not perfect. Yeah, I know that’s a shocker for some of you. HAHA

    6

  51. “Darn! I fell down.”
    Can one fall up?

    Even falling “up” the stairs, one’s head and body are actually descending – watch the Retarded Pedophile Usurper’s stairway antics again – just for fun.

    3

  55. Harry
    They must have stopped selling those yard signs. I don’t see many of them anymore. But when I do see one, I still laugh. They almost demanded a response. Like, how slow are they? Or maybe just an apology.

    2

  59. @Claudia

    That “gone missing” thing bugs me too. It’s as if there is a location somewhere called Missing that missing people go to, and if you can find Missing on a map, that’s where to go to find missing persons.

    I’d start looking for the Missing place in the state of Mississippi.

    2

  60. In academic writing, I often see this, at the start of a paragraph, the word “Now”. “Now, if we study this mathematical equation, we will readily see why the earth is round, rather than flat…etc.”

    When these professors want to sound profound, they start the paragraph with the word “Now…blah, blah…”. Like they are lecturing in front of a classroom of freshmen.

    1

  61. @Geoff

    That Buddy Holly was something. An early Rocker who looked like a nerd or a dork. He was pretty cool. He reminds me that you can’t judge a book by its cover. I’ve found out that even some over-tatted people are very often just regular folks. Not weirdos at all. The thing drunken sailors used to do in port has gone global. Tatting is just a trend that will someday die just like all other trends have.

    I think numbskull singer Cher started the modern tat trend.

    1

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