Pedants' Corner

Roger_Rampant

becski wrote: »

I hope no one minds me making this point and I know this thread is meant (for the most part) in a light-hearted manner. My comment isn't just about this thread but I see similar points been raised on many threads and just want to put another point of view across.

I appreciate that spelling and grammar are important and I do understand that some people are very hot on grammar and I applaud them for it I really do but there are many reasons that people have poor grammar and spelling. It's not always that they are lazy, don't care or that they are stupid.

I'm not saying that no one should ever make a comment about someone's spelling or grammar, it's a free world and all. I just want to say that what seems easy/obvious to one person can be completely baffling to someone else.

Right off my soapbox (for now), as you were....

To my mind there's a big difference between somebody posting their own personal comments on a forum, and a business presenting themselves to the world at large. I expect a business, and especially one that deals with the written word (any magazine or newspaper, for example), to be able to use the English language properly and also (hopefully) to make sense!

CCP

becski - I totally take your point, which is why I would never (or almost never) pick up on something someone has posted on a forum: quite apart from anything else, as long as it's understandable it really doesn't matter how a forum post is spelled! Like Roger, though, what does bother me is when big companies get things wrong, as it implies they either don't know better or just don't care, neither of which is the impression they want to give to prospective customers, I'm sure!

Roger_Rampant wrote: »

Not sure what the collective noun for pedants is - any suggestions? :rotfl:

An accuracy?

CheCazzo

An exactitude of pedants?

CheCazzo

I have just Googled this issue - because I really have a great many other things that I should be doing but can't find the will - and I think I have found the winner.

A quibble of pedants

:rotfl:

Roger_Rampant

CrikeyBananas wrote: »

My pet peeve is being forced to use 'Miss' or 'Mrs' as a title because a 'Ms' option hasn't been included. I was particularly amused/annoyed when one of the options was 'Master' and 'Ms' still hadn't been included!!

I had one the other day that didn't have Ms as an option, but they had included Doctor and Reverend as possibilities :rotfl:

BlueBella

Roger_Rampant wrote: »

I had one the other day that didn't have Ms as an option, but they had included Doctor and Reverend as possibilities :rotfl:

Some comps only offer a 'Mr' or 'Mrs' option (like last month's Wimbledom daily!) So what about us unmarried ladies?

CheCazzo

Some comps only offer a 'Mr' or 'Mrs' option (like last month's Wimbledom daily!) So what about us unmarried ladies?

Obviously you should get back to your needlework practice and stop entering competitions which are clearly the domain of the learned men of the world with occasional input from ladies who have married well.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Alidolly

Comps that are for the UK ONLY but have a drop down menu with 70 odd countries...and the United Kingdom is near the bottom...seriously why!?? :mad:

hamsterfan1

our local radio station just announced - World War One will continue tomorrow on.......Radio X

Roger_Rampant

How about the entry form in this comp?

I can just about understand why somebody wants to know my DoB, but why is our marital status any of their business? :rotfl:

BlueBella wrote: »

Some comps only offer a 'Mr' or 'Mrs' option (like last month's Wimbledom daily!) So what about us unmarried ladies?

My understanding is that the majority of competition entrants tend to be female anyway, so it seems to be a strange omission. I did like the choice of titles that were available for this comp. You could even choose "no title" if you wanted :rotfl: