ARE YOU AWARE THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO SUFFERS IN CORRECTING GRAMMATICAL ERROR? or ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE GRAMMAR NAZIS OVER THE INTERNET?
These people aren’t just smart nor intelligent to correct other people’s erroneous grammars, but they are also suffering from Grammar Pedantry Syndrome (GPS). GPS is an illness or a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder where someone has a compulsive desire to correct any grammatical errors one has made and is obsessed with taking this peculiar, constant, and vexatious (from the target's perspective) action. Without so much ado, Grammar Nazis are most commonly known as badass syntactician because of the compound noun's negative connotation. However, let me raise this red flag that not all Grammar Nazis are unrelenting correctionist. Think of a magnetic pole; If negative exists, so does the positive. To simply put, there are also grammar nazis who just correct sensibly for good. The professional populace consider them as discreet type - as in - "someone with meticulously sound judgment". To eliminate confusion, let me dub them as "Fairy Grammar Mother". |
I may be one to talk to but I'd like to believe that I am someone who is considerate and a quasi-passive type of grammarian. Someone who is more Fairy-Grammar-Mother oriented and less than a Grammar Nazi. I am neither even real sure if I mastered all the rules adherent to grammars nor perfected the thought correctly to achieve 100% balance comprehension in the equation, say input (message) = output (understanding), from my readers and/or listeners. For the most embarrassing part, I am fallible and may have had incurred so many blunders et al that will imbue my credibility as a blogger while blogging this post. English language is not my mother tounge as English grammar is not within my comfort zone. Take it from me, if you think you are still learning the hang of it then we are exactly on the same boat. Hakuna Matata.
A few months ago, a friend of mine – and a very clever one at that – began a text message with the words “its going to be a long night”. As I rode the waves of shock and smugness, imagine my delight when I then found the missing apostrophe inelegantly wedged between the T and the S in the word “It’s”, an obvious indication of his inability to know a possessive adjective when he sees one or pluralise words properly. On reading the text, I could have reacted in one of two ways: stay quiet for eternity but forever hold on to this text as a private adjunct to his every future accomplishment, or rib him until the cows come home. I went with the former.
A few months ago, a friend of mine – and a very clever one at that – began a text message with the words “its going to be a long night”. As I rode the waves of shock and smugness, imagine my delight when I then found the missing apostrophe inelegantly wedged between the T and the S in the word “It’s”, an obvious indication of his inability to know a possessive adjective when he sees one or pluralise words properly. On reading the text, I could have reacted in one of two ways: stay quiet for eternity but forever hold on to this text as a private adjunct to his every future accomplishment, or rib him until the cows come home. I went with the former.
It was not until I was on the receiving end of some no-holds-barred grammar “nazism” (not that I condone the word’s being bandied about but given its status as a much-used marker of grammar militants, I’ll use it as shorthand for now) that I was revolted at my own snobbery. Having written “here” instead of “hear” in a fleeting moment of lapsed concentration – I’d like to think that autocorrect had a role to play but I may have to admit to momentary abdication of consciousness – I found myself castigated by a friend who was far more forthcoming in her criticism than I had been some weeks previously. And thank heavens, for had she not been I may have forever remained in a most abject state of heathenness as far as she was concerned; me, who gets visibly and audibly excited over the likes of the subjunctive. |
People’s reactions to a poor use of grammar are manifold: quiet smugness, mock derision, actual derision, outrage and on-the-spot correction (usually accompanied by derision or a cursory tut for your troubles) probably constitute the most common. But while mockery and outrage may have their place – David Cameron’s pledge to make children illegal in a recent Twitter gaffe could well have incurred both, while the state of grammar teaching in schools and an application for a writer’s job replete with errors might trigger the latter – it’s the smugness at others’ mistakes and the accompanying assumptions we make that we ought to reassess.
Grammatical Pedantry Syndrome; a “new” form (by “new”, I mean it’s a new idea thought of by scientists) of OCD that causes people who have it to be disturbed by grammatical and spelling errors to the point where they must correct them. Grammar Nazis are people (or cats) who use their freakishly and/or annoyingly powerful understanding of and compliance with grammar and spelling to attempt to “correct” others, usually the blissfully-oblivious-to-the-outside-world members and users of the Internet, who only understand the grammatically genocidal text-speak. However, the Grammar Nazi sees “correcting” others as “making” others “look like fools”, and the others in question see the Grammar Nazi as “some asshole with no life”. Today, most Grammar Nazis have settled down from the violent battles of “der gut ölde daes” to shadowy lives of correcting the error-ridden comments found in the pictures affixed herewith. |
In most cases, the term carries a negative connotation of either being a buzz-killer who ruins a good joke by getting too technical or a noob who is gullible enough to be irritated by a Grammar Trap, an intentional use of incorrect grammar for the purpose of trolling. I would say that a vast majority of people who correct such errors do it just to be purposely annoying. However, it makes sense for such a form of OCD to exist.
These two are interrelated towards each other. However, everybody can be a grammar nazi but not everyone suffers from GPS. And on my part, I don’t know whether I should be condescending or just pedantic. But one thing I’m pretty sure of is I correct grammars for good. I correct grammar constantly. It is not a form of bullying or insecurity or delivered from a place of intellectual superiority.
These two are interrelated towards each other. However, everybody can be a grammar nazi but not everyone suffers from GPS. And on my part, I don’t know whether I should be condescending or just pedantic. But one thing I’m pretty sure of is I correct grammars for good. I correct grammar constantly. It is not a form of bullying or insecurity or delivered from a place of intellectual superiority.
Proper communication, including using proper grammar and words is a courtesy. It is a sign of respect to the audience. Poor grammar and incorrect word use is a sign of carelessness. It says to the audience, I do not care enough about my message or you the audience to put an effort into delivering a proper message. Though when correcting I tend transitioning my usual approach to some sort of syntactician-like perfectionist but I never mean to make one feel like they’re a lot literately moron. In light of this, I now subscribe to the belief that we should sometimes give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to spelling and grammar errors, especially in a world of hurried messaging and autocorrect. Mistaking “its” for “it’s” and “your” for “you’re” does not a criminal make; knowledge of the correct forms may not necessarily be lacking, and we cannot make the assumption that it is. |
Likewise, chortling at a grammatically challenged friend whom you may have put on a pedestal by warrant of their intelligence is surely a sign – albeit a subtle one – of our implicit desire for others to fail, or to look daft, lest we one day have to experience the same fate and feel like we’re the only ones exposed to such dismal humiliation.
Granted, we may be more exposed to grammar on a daily basis, but it’s no good just seeing something the workings behind which you’ve never really been shown; the quality of grammar teaching varies between passable to barely there in Britain, so poor grammar ought not to be ascribed to an inability to process information. While it’s of paramount importance that good grammar is upheld and taught well, a bit of self-reflection is needed before we sneer at others’ mistakes. Now, Chris Toph, Roque T. Folminar and Ed Lenteria, If I were to belong myself from these twosome classification, I don’t think I fit nicely to the former. I may be a Grammar Nazi but I don’t suffer GPS like any other cyber-dictatorial grammarians. If there’s one thing you sure to call me, that is, FAIRY GRAMMAR MOTHER. |
“People who cannot distinguish between good and bad language, or who regard the distinction as unimportant, are unlikely to think carefully about anything else.”