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Topic: Return of the Grammar Nazis! (Read 989 times)

Return of the Grammar Nazis!

Every language has particular and peculiar phrases that -usually- only native speakers understand, immediately. (Indeed, some such are relegated to only certain regions.) These are called idioms. And they enrich each language!

But some are so often misused that they cause aggravation!

May I submit the one that increasingly bothers me?

Comparisons that include the phrase "—, let alone — !" Isn't it obvious that the first term should be the specific instance and the second should be the general instance?
But many people, educated people, get the order reversed — that is to say, wrong!

Why? I'm unsure...

But perhaps someone else has their own "favorite" example of an idiom's frequent misuse?
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Return of the Grammar Nazis!

Reply #1 –
When Trump said about the NY case (the one where he became a convicted felon) that his witnesses were "literally crucified", he was channeling his inner Goebbels as usual. There needs to be a counter-force to his fascism and nazism. And somebody should defuse his narcissism too.

For example in typesetting and layout design, precision is very important.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y65FRxE7uMc

Re: Return of the Grammar Nazis!

Reply #2 –
"literally crucified" — Yes, the misuse of the word literally has become ubiquitous. It's figuratively a pain in my ass! :(
I suppose it's taken to be an intensifier of sorts You'd think — oh, I was about to say that simply using a dictionary would preclude such mistakes. But few people would; SpellCheck suffices, even when it's egregiously wrong!
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Return of the Grammar Nazis!

Reply #3 –
A regional peculiarity that I hear more and more: Using "whenever" in places where "when" is appropriate... I used to think it was an Okie-ism, something only folks from Oklahoma said. But I eventually noticed the usage spanned Pennsylvania through the south west U.S. — I guess my New England roots cause me to cringe at such.

Not quite so annoying is this sort of thing:
Quote from: ersi on
This is a dead serious thread.
The term is "deadly-serious" or "deathly serious" — but youngsters don't do adjectives, only memes! :)

While being dead is serious (it's a condition few recover from), this usage is yet another misapplication of a presumed intensifier.

Are there no examples from languages other than English that can be supplied?[1]
1 I'm an English monoglot — for which I'm sometimes derided. But many of our posters are not. Are they afraid of revealing their own languages' warts?! :) ↵
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Return of the Grammar Nazis!

Reply #4 –
Just to keep things going, let me remind you'all that ignorance, stupidity, nativity and parochialism are common; being any such doesn't improve by being expressible in multiple tongues... :)
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Return of the Grammar Nazis!

Reply #5 –
Travelling provides a broader picture of the world and so do language skills. Both moderate the kind of nonsense one is able to spew, if one is in the habit of spewing nonsense.

In my team at the job we have an American, who lived a few years in Sweden before moving to Estonia. Different from ordinary Americans, he is very good at history and geography, a valuable teammate in pub quizzes.

Here are two Americans discussing fascism in front of an audience in Austria in German.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCbKnRgeU8M

For Europeans a broader world view and being considerate of different perspectives in different languages is very common, so common that savagely bone-headed redneckery is hard to grasp. Luckily we have solid contribution of savagely bone-headed redneckery on this forum and can gear up our coping mechanisms.

Re: Return of the Grammar Nazis!

Reply #6 –
Quote
The Politics of Language
David Beaver and Jason Stanley
A provocative case for the inherently political nature of language

Of course, you'd approve of this academic! That explains most of your swerves: If it isn't overtly political, make it seem so with bombast, invective, and "fake news"...[1]

Good luck with your pub quizzes! :) (Unfortunately, your understanding of what's going on in the world will remain hampered by your early training under the Soviet system! :( )

So: You have no comment to make about the topic at hand? Too difficult a concept for you to grasp? Too embarrassing?
You claim fluency in multiple languages, yet can relate not even one "problematical" regional  expression that irks you?!
Knowing you as I do, I find that incredible! :)
1 BTW: Am I correct in assuming that you bring up Fascism — because the Leftists call Trump a fascist? :)↵
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Return of the Grammar Nazis!

Reply #7 –
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
A regional peculiarity that I hear more and more: Using "whenever" in places where "when" is appropriate... I used to think it was an Okie-ism, something only folks from Oklahoma said. But I eventually noticed the usage spanned Pennsylvania through the south west U.S. — I guess my New England roots cause me to cringe at such.

Not quite so annoying is this sort of thing:
Quote from: ersi on
This is a dead serious thread.
The term is "deadly-serious" or "deathly serious" — but youngsters don't do adjectives, only memes! :)

While being dead is serious (it's a condition few recover from), this usage is yet another misapplication of a presumed intensifier.

Dead is used as an adverb as well as an adjective (and noun, not yet verb). While I think it may have been more popular lately, as in the last 30 years or so, it's not a modern phenomena. Seems to be occurrences going back 500 years.

https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/dead