Hello members of English Usage and Grammar.

I see there are no comments here yet.

I am an English professor, and have experience in magazine, book, and test editing. I often comment on grammar related subs on “that other social media site”, but I’m trying to help Lemmy grow by contributing here instead. But to do that, there needs need to be posts. : )

The way to get a community growing is to start posting. I’m going to start some seed topics, so please comment on them and add your own. Questions are good too.

wegettosss,

Very cool we have professor here. I’m actually studying english studies and I’m sure that by the end of next semester we will have many different topics here.

TruckBC,

I think you all need to figure out the correct Lemmy terminology and make a guide for all the lost Lemmings!

If this community adequately rips me a new one for poor English usage and Grammar in this comment and you guys figure out a Lemmy guide, we will pin it instance wide for at least 24 hours!

OsakaWilson,

OK. There was no need to capitalize the word ‘grammar’, I see no other problems with your post. Your offer sounds very cool. And it will take some time to make something worth showing around. The first post here was yesterday! But it looks like we’ve got some guidelines started, so I think we can make it work.

TruckBC,

There was no need to capitalize the word ‘grammar’

I’m going to blame that on using swipe/gesture typing. I definitely do know it shouldn’t have been capitalized. Honestly though I’m surprised that’s the only thing you found considering English is my third language.

OsakaWilson,

Well. Respect. : ) I would have overlooked it, but you made criticizing you a condition for stickying our guidelines. Hehe.

CynAq,
CynAq avatar

Your right.

Grammar mistake are one of my pet peeve on the internet. I can't believe how some people seem like they could care less about grammar. I try and use correct grammar all the time. It would be good if every one cared about grammar rule's. I guess they can't help themself.

OsakaWilson,

I fully agree, but I have to admit, I have made every single mistake that I hate. When I am thinking about the idea and typing fast, I can break any of the rules that I hold dear and judge others on. The one that hit me the hardest was when I wrote ‘then’ when I meant ‘than’. (I reserve particularly harsh judgement for people who make that mistake.) But I’ve also actually written ‘could of’, and every possible iteration of ‘their’, ‘they’re’ and ‘there’ in the wrong context. I have edited for a living for decades. Editing and writing are two different things.

Like I said, I am typing fast and thinking about the ideas. When I do this, I am typing out the words partly based on how they sound. It’s not time for grammar, it’s time for getting my ideas into the computer. That’s when it happens.

CynAq,
CynAq avatar

I was just making a lighthearted joke but your serious tone made it even better in contrast. Thank you so much for this comment!

In hindsight, I should've asked how infuriated you were after reading the drivel I posted but you know what they say about hindsight.

OsakaWilson,

Actually, I read it on my phone and cracked up at the joke. Then later when I got on my desktop and began replying to everyone’s comments, I have to admit that I took it in at face value and did not assess it at all for grammar, punctuation or spelling before answering.

dutchkimble,

Seed topic suggestion - what is the genesis of some very common grammatical/linguistic errors like ‘could of’ instead of ‘could have’ or ‘there vs their’ or the lack of using the apostrophe after ‘s’ in case of plurals

OsakaWilson,

Why don’t you make post with that. Posts contribute to growing the community more than comments. And this topic is fun.

Taiatari,

Perfect, I’ve got a question for you. Whenever I read articles I notice that many write, for example, internalize. With ‘z’ instead of an ‘s’, there are many such words which end on ‘-lize’ where I would expect an ‘s’. My understanding thus far was, that American English uses the ‘z’ and British English the ‘s’ but is that always the case? Can I always change it to the version with ‘s’?

OsakaWilson,

Look in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and they’ll usually have -ize as the preferred spelling. The tendency in the 19th century was for American English with the Webster’s Dictionary to go with -ize and in Britain it was mixed. In the late 20th century, the BBC and the Guardian began to make the -ise spelling more mainstream in Britain. With the Internet, both spelling styles began to appear everywhere. However, its never been a clear cut rule. American English has words like “advise,” “surprise,” “compromise,” and “despise”.

I’m often using a variety of computers and apps throughout the day the have me going back and forth between dictionaries and spellings, so I find myself using a mishmash of both. I suspect that’s happening with a lot of people. When I am doing a project, I just note with style I need to use and remain consistent. Other then that all bets are off.

pglpm, (edited )
@pglpm@lemmy.ca avatar

The “-ise” spelling is the one usually given as primary by the Cambridge dictionary, while the Oxford dictionary prefers “-ize”. Oxford’s reason for this is etymological. They give an interesting explanation under the entry -ize. I attach a snapshot below.

Edit: in summary, many of these verbs come from Greek forms corresponding to “-ize”, and the change to “-ise” came later through French. The Oxford Dictionary people don’t see why the French derivative should be preferred to the original form. As a consequence, they use “-ize” for verbs that have that etymology, but not for others: for instance the dictionary gives realize but also analyse, because the latter doesn’t have the Greek “-ize” etymology.

Oxford Dictionary entry “-ize”

floofloof,

there needs to be posts.

I would have said “there need to be posts.” If it were just one post I would say “there needs to be a post.” Do we have to fight now?

OsakaWilson,

I could say that I, as the author of the sentence, perceived ‘posts’ as a unified entity. But that would be bullshitting you. I didn’t re-read before posting. I fixed it. Thanks.

MrRobot,

Thanks for doing that! I’m really excited to see the Lemmy community growing!

OsakaWilson,

Were you all just sitting there waiting for someone to post first? It took me like two weeks to get this much traction on a community that I started.

corsicanguppy,

On the spectrum between Popular and Correct, where are you?

OsakaWilson, (edited )

I am a descriptivist overall, so I accept that language changes and evolves. However, people have to pass tests, get through job interviews, and come across as respectable, so I do support everyone learning what it expected, so they can achieve what they want in society.

I am going to continue doing what is traditionally correct. But I’m going to keep the cringe to myself when others do it. However, I have children and a faculty of youngish English professors under my direction. The traditional grammar will be enforced for them.

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