Compliments and complements - for grammar Nazis only! :P

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu May 04, 2006 6:47 am

Compliments and complements - do you know the difference? Many people don't seem to ...

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Thu May 04, 2006 6:56 am

What's sad is that non-english speaking people know more about the language than those who've been immersed in it their entire lives.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu May 04, 2006 7:02 am

I am not a non-English speaking person!

I am just not a native English speaker.

(Geez, I'm having my smarta$$ day today

, the baker must have put something in the raisin rolls, or the wife in the coffee? Or maybe I just slept too long today - I am not feeling tired at all, what a strange sensation ...)

De Rigueur · Post by **De Rigueur** » Thu May 04, 2006 7:18 am

I'm usually lost when it comes to disentangling eminent, immanent, and imminent.

But I do know the difference between disinterested and uninterested; and 'begging the question' and 'raising the question.'

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu May 04, 2006 7:24 am

I knew the former, and now I know the latter too.

And then there is 'popping the question' ... but that's something totally different.

Kiran · Post by **Kiran** » Thu May 04, 2006 8:05 am

English is such a challenging language.

De Rigueur · Post by **De Rigueur** » Thu May 04, 2006 8:15 am

Diedel wrote:I knew the further, and now I know the latter too.

'Latter' is usually contrasted with 'former'. As in, "I knew the former and now I know the latter, too."

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu May 04, 2006 8:16 am

Oops.

De Rigueur · Post by **De Rigueur** » Thu May 04, 2006 9:02 am

Don't feel bad. I used to know a fraeulein from Ulm who corrected my German.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu May 04, 2006 9:03 am

You don't say Fräulein anymore in Germany, that's very old fashioned.

You'd rather say \"junge Frau\" (if she really is young - don't say that to a Lady in her 40s or 50s). Which brings me to the difference between \"if he/she/it really is\" and \"if he/she/it is really\" ...

... I usually chose the wrong form in the first attempt.

Samuel Dravis · Post by **Samuel Dravis** » Thu May 04, 2006 9:25 am

I'm generally pretty good at picking the right word to use. I read a lot and that seems to help my vocabulary. I knew how to use all of them except the German words. And... I am a native English speaker.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Thu May 04, 2006 9:31 am

And people tell me French is hard to learn. HA!

De Rigueur · Post by **De Rigueur** » Thu May 04, 2006 10:31 am

Diedel wrote:You don't say Fräulein anymore in Germany, that's very old fashioned. You'd rather say "junge Frau" (if she really is young - don't say that to a Lady in her 40s or 50s).

Oh, I see. That bit of intelligence hasn't quite reached Mississippi. So, how do you say babe or hotty?

Diedel wrote:Which brings me to the difference between "if he/she/it really is" and "if he/she/it is really" ... ... I usually chose the wrong form in the first attempt.

My opinion on this: In English, a modifier tends to precede the word to be modified. In "really is", "really" modifies "is" and means truly or indeed. In "is really", "really" modifies the predicate (whatever it is). In this sense, "really" becomes an intensifier meaning very.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Thu May 04, 2006 10:32 am

Kiran wrote:English is such a challenging language.

-:P-

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Thu May 04, 2006 10:34 am

Diedel wrote:I am not a non-English speaking person!

I am just not a native English speaker.

Sorry, not your first language is what I meant.

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Thu May 04, 2006 11:25 am

Testiculese wrote:What's sad is that non-english speaking people know more about the language than those who've been immersed in it their entire lives.

I think it's more like "we native speaking people just don't care". We seem to understand each other just fine when we use some words incorrectly.

Shoot, I have been learning Japanese for a while now. When I went to Japan in January I found out that a lot of words are spoken "incorrectly". In many cases they shorten the word by only saying the first half of it. They still understand each other just fine. I didn't of course.

Now if you speak formally then you probably wouldn't do that but it still applies to these boards. We don't speak formally on these boards.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu May 04, 2006 12:10 pm

It's one thing to use informal language, and another thing to misspell words like 'compliment' when 'complement' is being meant. That is not informal language, it is plain wrong because the poster doesn't know better.

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Thu May 04, 2006 12:20 pm

Diedel wrote:because the poster doesn't know better.

No, just doesn't care.
receive? recieve?
their? there?
effect? affect?
sence? sense?

Who cares when you can understand what they are saying.
Man, you are sounding a lot like mobius!

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu May 04, 2006 12:30 pm

In many cases, they don't know better.

I am not Mobius - I don't give negative feedback to ebay traders whos P&P cost I have agreed to before.

For me, reading a post or an article is very much like listening to music: If some notes are played wrong, you will still understand it, but it gives you a sense of discomfort. It's like the eye (or the brains) stumbles over misspelt words, or bad grammar (I am certainly not perfect here, but then English isn't my native language. I am trying hard though.

).

Sometimes I come across a poem, or a simple article in some newspaper that is so well written that I deeply relax when reading it. It's more than a pleasure to read something like that for me - it actually is genuine joy. Such reading has an effect on me similar to listening to very good music.

So if I read someone writing \"effect\" when it should read \"affect\" or \"compliment\", where \"complement\" would be the proper word it makes me go \"ouch!\".

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Thu May 04, 2006 12:38 pm

Fair enough. I agree with that.

Yeah, you deffinately are NOT Mobius.

Diedel, you have great grammer. I would assume English was your native lanuguage if I didn't know better.

Kilarin · Post by **Kilarin** » Thu May 04, 2006 3:54 pm

Xamindar wrote:Diedel, you have great grammer. I would assume English was your native lanuguage if I didn't know better.

That's what proves it's NOT his native language.

De Rigueur · Post by **De Rigueur** » Thu May 04, 2006 5:04 pm

Xamindar wrote:Diedel, you have great grammer. I would assume English was your native lanuguage if I didn't know better.

I think studying foreign languages is a good way to get a better grasp of your own language.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu May 04, 2006 5:14 pm

Kilarin wrote:
Xamindar wrote:Diedel, you have great grammer. I would assume English was your native lanuguage if I didn't know better.
That's what proves it's NOT his native language.

Are you, as a native speaker, sure you can judge that?

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Thu May 04, 2006 6:20 pm

Diedel wrote:
Kilarin wrote:
Xamindar wrote:Diedel, you have great grammer. I would assume English was your native lanuguage if I didn't know better.
That's what proves it's NOT his native language.
Are you, as a native speaker, sure you can judge that?

LoL

Dedman · Post by **Dedman** » Thu May 04, 2006 6:22 pm

Kiran wrote:English is such a challenging language.

Only for us Americans

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Fri May 05, 2006 4:49 am

De Rigueur wrote:I think studying foreign languages is a good way to get a better grasp of your own language.

Quite possibly. Latin worked for me (mainly in clearing up the spelling of 90% of "difficult" words).

Most of the time so-called irregularities have patterns to them - they are just more complex.

dissent · Post by **dissent** » Fri May 05, 2006 8:11 am

Xamindar wrote:Diedel, you have great grammer.

And possibly even better grammar. ... sorry, couldn't resist.

De Rigueur · Post by **De Rigueur** » Fri May 05, 2006 9:21 am

A couple more thoughts on the advantages of knowing some grammar.

You get the joke in the \"Romans go home\" scene in Monty Python's \"Life of Brian\". IMO one of the funniest bits of comedy ever.

The best looking girl ever to be interested in me was a Russian college student. She really liked it when I helped her with her English.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Fri May 05, 2006 9:36 am

Xam, who cares is other peple who will think you're an idiot. Idiots don't care how they speak, and other idiots don't recognize that it's wrong.

When you say \"I ain't be got none\" to someone with reasonable intelligence, they're going to discount anything you say, and you are now marginalized. That will put you in the back of the line for many things. Jobs, promotions, lots of things.

FunkyStickman · Post by **FunkyStickman** » Fri May 05, 2006 8:39 pm

I tend to get extremely annoyed with poor grammar and spelling on the internet. I understand it fine, but as Testiculese alluded to, when somebody posts \"OIC ur not gunna go thr, r U?\" I immediately write them off as morons. I studied and thoroughly enjoyed German in high school, though I could never remember all the words. I even scored a perfect \"36\" on the English part of the ACT in college.

But yeah, I'm also from southern Louisiana.... that about nullifies anything as soon as I open my mouth. I tend to articulate much more effectively in writing.

And Deidel, I still think you rock.

SirWinner · Post by **SirWinner** » Fri May 05, 2006 10:40 pm

Try this sometime while in a chatroom: Read for what someone meant not how they spell things.

Some examples:

ppl - people
l8r - later
tnl - (un)til next level (gaming term used in MMORPG's)
cya - see you (see you later)
ttyl - talk to you later
nn - night night (goodbye)
bye - goodbye
MMORPG - Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game

... ad nauseum ...

No one spells correctly 100% of the time.

My problem is when I go back to re-read what I've typed in a message then forget to re-read the WHOLE message after editing sections of it. This can be quite embarrassing at times.

Wheeeee!

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Fri May 05, 2006 10:41 pm

Question: who cares?

Answers:
Your potential employer.
Your teachers.
Your audience.
Your Momma.
The recipient of your email.
The readers of your posts.
The person who reads your excuse for doing 70 in a 60 zone.

There ARE plenty of people who don't care though:
Fools.
The cops.
The judge.
Your prison warden.
Your parole officer.
The soup kitchen woman.
The bum whose bin-with-a-fire-in-it you'll be sharing.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:37 pm

FunkyStickman wrote:And Deidel, I still think you rock.

"still" ... despite my starting this thread?

SirWinner,

all of what you listed is spelt like that intentionally. Those are well accepted acronyms. Exchanging "complement" with "compliment" is not.

Mobius,

you may think good spelling and grammar are soooo important for success in life. I believe good character counts more. After having read your ebay article, I definitely believe you have good reason to work on yours. Intensely. Ofc you can instead chose your friends from people with a similar mind set and be happy as you think everybody is like you and nobody resents your ways. But the guy lacking good grammar and correct spelling is entitled to do the same thing then.

Compliments and complements - for grammar Nazis only! :P

Compliments and complements - for grammar Nazis only! :P

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re:

Re: