Grammar Nazi – GUILTY!!


I got into a pissing contest with a self-proclaimed Conservative (notice the capital “C”) on Facebook the other day, regarding the use of the word “themselves”.  You see, a good friend of mine, someone I respect more than he’ll ever know, posted a thought-provoking quote by John Lennon on his Facebook wall.  I point out the respect I have for my friend because though our political opinions sometimes differ  (not all the time), I am always willing to listen and keep an open mind to what he says.  He is articulate, well-educated, and can very clearly and concisely express what he wants to say.

At least I think he’s well-educated.  I mean, I’ve never looked up his credentials, nor asked him specifically what level of education he’s completed.  I don’t make it a habit, honestly.  I just know when something is really, really wrong.

Which brings us to the dunderhead in question and said pissing contest.  After some thinly veiled, snide remarks to my friend, the dunderhead posted this:

 Libertarians are a lot closer to Conservatism then they are to the blue-blood borderline-liberals who call their selfs Republicans. Bush was somewhere in the mix, but he definately was not a Conservative.

Nails. On. A. Chalk. Board.

Why??  Why can’t otherwise intelligent, perhaps even educated people bother to use the English language properly?  We are such an arrogant a nation as to demand that immigrants “learn the language”, when we can’t use it ourselves!  Who is going to teach it?

I will admit, I dropped my elitist pinkie for just a moment, got down into the mud and asked “Why can’t Conservatives spell or use proper grammar?  Because generalizations suck.”  Now, before certain right side only panties get in a bunch, let me clarify.  I DO NOT believe that improper grammar is a “Conservative” issue.  And “generalizations suck” was supposed to be ironic, considering I was generalizing…oh, you get it!

Well, Mr. Dunderhead didn’t, got the right side of his jockeys in a bunch (ouch!) and  responded by “correcting” “their selfs” to “them selfs” and telling me that “Because generalizations suck.” isn’t a sentence either!  Then he accused me of being overly eager to vote for Obama and called me a “liberal elites….snobs….looking down their noses”

So truly, this is the problem in America.  If you have an education, you’re an elitist snob.  If you don’t have an education, but actually respect yourself enough to sound like you do, you’re an elitist snob.  When did education become a bad thing?  When did an education mean you’re a LIBERAL??

I do have to praise my friend (I’ll call him “Bob”).  He never got into it, never responded, never took sides.  I laughed it off and told the guy to have a nice day after he went all ape-shit ballistic and CAPS LOCK on my sorry ass.  (Double ouch!)

Hey, people.  I will admit it.  I use spell-check.  I have a nifty program called Ginger to check my grammar.  I have called my 9th grader to ask about the proper use of commas in a list of items.  I’m not perfect.  But I can speak properly.  I call it self respect.  :deep breath…steps down off soap box:

The irony of ironies?  This was the John Lennon quote.

When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you: pull your beard, flick your face to make you fight. Because once they get you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.

And now this high school-educated, $35,000 a year earning, elitist snob is calling it a day.  Thanks again for visiting.

P.S. A nickel to anyone who can tell me how many errors in Mr. Dunderhead’s quote.

P.P.S. Peace out, “Bob”.  You rock.


5 responses »

  1. Ok, you know I adore you – right? Now that said, over the course of (too) many years in cyberland I’ve come to realize that proper spelling or diction are not always indicative of intellect or self-respect. My son can’t put 6 words together properly, when writing (say nothing of spelling them correctly), yet he graduated high-honors and is surprisingly eloquent. My brother-in-law, who makes his living writing direct mail pieces, had his mom as his personal editor until he was able to afford his own staff. He’s done quite well. I’ve seen many others that the same holds true. These are intelligent, well educated, successful adults that you would never guess couldn’t write worth a plug-nickel…and the thing is, most of them don’t care. They’re far more interested in the content than the technical delivery.

    Does it make me nuts to see my own, or others, slaughter of a perfectly good (but oft times confusing) language? Yep, it tweaks my anal-chord constantly. It’s mho that it has more to do with the wiring of one’s brain and the level of importance they afford it based on audience. What we may write on a social board, and what tools we may (not) employ probably differ than a presentation in an office.

    Now breathe deeply our little Grammar Nazi, there are more dragons to slay! 😛

  2. “themselves”, not “themselfs”. Yep, I’m a grammar nazi, too. Language is important, written or spoken. It tells alot about our education system, when someone who is seemingly intelligent,can’t put a sentence together or spell properly. It makes me crazy! And I’m not perfect, either, (notice I started the sentence with “and”), but I try. That’s a lot more than can be said for most people. Sadly.

  3. It’s a touchy subject, I know. No one likes to feel inferior, so getting defensive seems to be the general response. So is the argument that “it’s the Internet, so it doesn’t matter. But it should. Anytime you’re trying to have an intelligent conversation or debate an issue, how you present yourself matters.

    I totally understand that in the course of normal, everyday conversation, making grammatical errors is just commonplace. But, I think that’s also part of the problem. We’ve gotten lazy. We think that it doesn’t matter, when it should. Our kids can talk one way with their friends, but when it comes to a job interview, I damn-well expect them to speak properly. My mother insisted upon it, as do I. Even our Autistic son get corrected, just like everyone else. Because if he isn’t, he’ll talk like he’s stupid, which he’s not. He will have the cards stacked against him as it is, for reasons beyond his control. He will probably write poorly, so I get your point, Joy. That doesn’t mean that I let him throw up his hands and say, “oh well.”

    However, that still doesn’t address the other, probably more irritating topic. Since when does the appearance of an education make one automatically a liberal? Conversely, does that make someone with poor grammar a conservative? What does that say about our country? All this chest thumping and shouting “We’re #1!”…maybe we could actually act like it and hold ourselfs to a higher standard?

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