THE
BAKER'S DOZEN
grammar nazi.png
Here are the 13 things
Grammar Nazis know and it ain't much of anything to
know. They are mostly just spelling errors and not
grammar at all. But as I say, they constitute the
TOTAL SUM of everything grammar Nazis are capable of
bothering anyone with.
1. its VS it's
2. your VS you're
3. there VS their VS they're
4. affect VS effect
5. lose VS loose
6. who's VS whose
7. weather VS whether
8. then VS than
9. to VS too VS two
10. were VS we're
11. Lie
VS Lay
12. can I VS may I ("Can I" is never
incorrect as they say so I ought to omit this one.)
13. few/fewer VS. less
I have left out the
split infinitive because it's not an error though
grammar Nazis think it is because they aren't very
good at grammar. They often are devoted followers
of the ninnies, STRUNK AND WHITE and their silly
and dumb book, elementsofstyle.html
Grammar Nazis often err and say "I feel badly"
when it should be "I feel bad" and "This was given
to my wife and I" when it should be "This was given
to my wife and me." Thus, I didn't
include them in the list above.
Also, Grammar nazis don't
understand that and which and are totally confused
about them as they don't know the difference between
restrictive and non-restrictive adjective clauses.
They are not helped by GRAMMARLY, the absolute worst
grammar site imaginable. It's as though they made a
search for people who knew the least about grammar
and hired them to run the site. Grammerly gives
HORRIBLE advice. Stay far away!
For APOSTROPHES, go to Apostrophe Alley
OH, THESE RULES GET CONTROVERSIAL AMONG, PROUD PROUD
GRAMMAR NAZIS.
Kimberly Clark
Excuse me, I am proudly a grammar nazi and I am
capable of quite a bit more than just the 13 things
you believe us capable of. I am not only a published
writer but I have also edited a book that has been
printed in 2 editions. I was a tutor in a
university writing center, wherein I was able to
help students understand how to write reports,
dissertations, resumés, etc. The majority of
students were from disciplines other than English,
as well as several foreign students. Furthermore,
the thirteen rules that you reference so derisively
are not from any actual list; it appears that you
have compiled these from sundry sources. There is an
extremely valid list of thirteen grammar rules: it
is a list of the grammar rules that someone would
need to know when taking the SAT and ACT tests.
There is even a thirteen little-known grammar rules.
I believe that what you were trying to insult us
with is the list of commonly misused homophones but
then you tossed in numbers 12 and 13, which concern
preferred word usage. Please, next time you intend
to insult anyone, be sure you know the subject
better than the people you are trying to insult
.
Tom Cole
I was just teasing in fun, not
insulting anyone as you have. I just made up that
perky and cheerful list for people to have a laugh
over and it seems about right to me.
Pulling rank on me? I have a master's degree in
English linguistics and my grammar texts,
published by Prentice Hall Regents and the
prestigious University of Michigan Press, are still
in print and selling since the nineties and early
and mid 2000s. One is in its second edition and has
a third Japanese edition as well. I lived and taught
abroad and at major US universities for 35 years
before retiring. I have written 20 books, 11 of them
in Spanish and 9 in English.
I am deeply offended by your lack of appreciation
for my great linguistic talent. So their!
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