Religion and Ethics Forum

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Nearly Sane on April 03, 2017, 02:07:42 PM

Title: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Nearly Sane on April 03, 2017, 02:07:42 PM

Hero or bollock's?



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/03/revealed-self-styled-grammar-vigilante-corrects-badly-punctuated/
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: ad_orientem on April 03, 2017, 02:13:59 PM
Neither. Just funny. Let him get on with it. Doing nobody any harm.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: SusanDoris on April 03, 2017, 02:18:29 PM
I'll be listening to Radio 4 this evening!
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: ippy on April 03, 2017, 02:40:18 PM
I'll be listening to Radio 4 this evening!

We're all oddballs in one way or another, makes me feel somewhere near normal, I love hearing about people like this one.

ippy
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: floo on April 03, 2017, 02:49:04 PM
Hero or bollock's?



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/03/revealed-self-styled-grammar-vigilante-corrects-badly-punctuated/

A very sad person who needs to get a life, imo!
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Rhiannon on April 03, 2017, 03:57:18 PM
Bollock's is preferable to bollox.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Harrowby Hall on April 03, 2017, 04:02:41 PM
Hero or bollock's?

Has he been round to see you yet?

Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Nearly Sane on April 03, 2017, 04:08:14 PM
Hero or bollock's?

Has he been round to see you yet?

Not unless he has lost a sense of humour.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Harrowby Hall on April 03, 2017, 04:21:40 PM
A very sad person who needs to get a life, imo!

No, a quiet hero who is trying to shame people out of their linguistic complacency.

Just consider the following:    ... you will need a license  ...    A verb used as a noun.

And think about the number of times you see apostrophes misused - the word ends with the letter "s" so it must be preceded by an apostrophe, and it's used for its. I suppose part of the problem is that smart phones and tablets often "predict" words to save input time and their users do not bother to check that the prediction is correct. The apostrophe has only one use - to indicate that a letter or letters or a word has been missed out.

Correct grammar is not a fad - it is an act of politeness and of respect for your reader.



Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Harrowby Hall on April 03, 2017, 04:23:24 PM


Not unless he has lost a sense of humour.

I guessed that was your point. How many people do you think did not spot the joke?
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Nearly Sane on April 03, 2017, 04:29:34 PM
I guessed that was your point. How many people do you think did not spot the joke?
Enough either way.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on April 03, 2017, 04:40:51 PM
Hero.

"My uncle Jack's off his horse" and "my uncle jacks off his horse" do not mean the same thing...

Interesting "Beyond Belief" on Radio 4 just now about truth by the way.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Rhiannon on April 03, 2017, 04:55:19 PM
No, a quiet hero who is trying to shame people out of their linguistic complacency.

Just consider the following:    ... you will need a license  ...    A verb used as a noun.

And think about the number of times you see apostrophes misused - the word ends with the letter "s" so it must be preceded by an apostrophe, and it's used for its. I suppose part of the problem is that smart phones and tablets often "predict" words to save input time and their users do not bother to check that the prediction is correct. The apostrophe has only one use - to indicate that a letter or letters or a word has been missed out.

Correct grammar is not a fad - it is an act of politeness and of respect for your reader.

Autocorrect repeatedly puts an apostrophe in 'its' when there shouldn't be one even after I go back and correct it again. Drives me nuts.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on April 03, 2017, 06:11:02 PM
Hero.

"My uncle Jack's off his horse" and "my uncle jacks off his horse" do not mean the same thing...

I agree the standard of English is awful.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: SusanDoris on April 03, 2017, 08:04:16 PM
Apostrophe s also indicates possession.

bluehillside
I heard the title and thought, I can't listen to that so went off and sorted out the washing machine. I listened to the end, but heard - was it a Bishop? - trying to compromise on what is true for some ...
What was the general conclusion? Was one of them a non-believer?
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Harrowby Hall on April 03, 2017, 08:34:44 PM
Apostrophe s also indicates possession.


In possessive instances the apostrophe indicates a missing word. "Henry's book" is the modern version of the medieval "Henry his book".
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Bubbles on April 03, 2017, 08:38:25 PM
Hero or bollock's?



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/03/revealed-self-styled-grammar-vigilante-corrects-badly-punctuated/
I must admit my first thought was he needed to get a life, even if he was right.
And I would hate for him to be my boss


🤣
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: SusanDoris on April 04, 2017, 06:17:45 AM
In possessive instances the apostrophe indicates a missing word. "Henry's book" is the modern version of the medieval "Henry his book".
Ah, yes, of course - thank you for saing. I thought the programme was not the most exciting of documentaries,, but I listened to most of it.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: jeremyp on April 04, 2017, 01:20:32 PM
Hero or bollock's?



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/03/revealed-self-styled-grammar-vigilante-corrects-badly-punctuated/

Quote
the man has corrected tens of missing and misplaced apostrophes on shop banners across Bristol over the past 13 years.

10's in only 13 years? His best possible average is less than nine per year.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on April 06, 2017, 01:20:28 PM
Radio 4 have made a programme about him!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08kys4c
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on April 06, 2017, 01:48:13 PM
Has the guardian reported on him........and was it grammatically correct.
Title: Re: The grammar vigilante
Post by: bluehillside Retd. on April 06, 2017, 01:56:15 PM
Vlad,

Quote
Has the guardian reported on him........and was it grammatically correct.

It's Guardian.