I have a bumper sticker on my car my roommate got me one year that says “Grammar Ninja: Ruthless, Deadly, Articulate.” It’s true. I am a Grammar Ninja of some sort, if such a thing exists. I don’t think I’m really deadly though.
As a journalism major, fan of the English language and supporter of saying things the right way, I am a bit of a stickler for good grammar and spelling. Also, I hate using exclamation points unless I really need to and refuse to use LOL in any online conversation, because, lets face it, it’s ridiculous. Yes, you do “laugh out loud” but it sounds more like, “haha,” so write that instead, thanks.
Writing your when you mean you’re or there when you mean they’re – and vice versa – drives me nuts. And I don’t understand why people use seen when they mean saw. Run on sentences – of the no-punctuation or all lowercase letters variety – make me cringe.
In a college editing class I had a professor who pointed out that there’s no such thing as first annual and from then on I couldn’t, and still can’t, read a sign, paper, brochure, etc. that uses that as the description for an event. Unnecessary apostrophes make my head hurt and unnecessary quotation marks are worse.
I try not to correct people, and believe me, sometimes with Facebook statuses it’s really hard not to comment on how many things are wrong with what is written. It’s annoying of me, I know. And like I said, I try not to correct people on their grammar or their spelling. I try really hard.
The biggest pet peeve of mine though – and if you’re my friend or you’ve seen my Facebook profile you know what it is – is the consistent confusion, for reasons I don’t understand, of the words idea and ideal.
Definitions:
IDEAL* – a conception of something in its absolute perfection; one that is regarded as a standard or model of perfection or excellence; an ultimate object of endeavor; a goal; an honorable or worthy principle or aim.
IDEA* – any conception existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness, or activity; a thought, conception, or notion; an impression; an opinion, view, or belief.
Not synonyms, yet someone supplying notebooks to Meijer seems to think so.
What, exactly, is this book ideal for? Because I know it’s not a book to write ideas in…
And of course I took a picture, so I could show the ridiculousness that is bad grammar, like on things sold in a store, that people see nothing wrong with.
Told you. Grammar Ninja.
On account of... 