I didn't realize that Patrick had a Twitter account.

http://www.xojane.com/issues/stfu-grammar-nazis

If only people cared half as much about whether they were saying something rationally correct and of value, as whether the grammar were correct.

I'm with you, Lobster. A regular commenter here has dyslexia and would sometimes swap letters. He's rational and worth reading. What I care about in a blog setting.

If I were a professional dancer, I wouldn't go up to everyone dancing at a club and critique their form. If I were an amazing singer, I wouldn't interrupt and correct someone onstage at karaoke. What is it about the grammar-nazis that makes them think they're honestly making the world a better place?

Not to worry. The poor bastard will soon see that the need is greater than the gift.

"What I care about in a blog setting."

Fragment, -1

Irresistable!

"Fragment, -1"

A verb, Senator! We need a verb!

I keed, I keed...

Hey, y'all, leave my gramma alone!

Well, there's nothing rude about asking: "Did you mean X or Y? I'm afraid I couldn't tell, the way you phrased it."

BTW, I found that there's now a juvenile, picture-book version of Lynne Truss' book - it's called "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference!"

Very handy, I'm sure - but at least one amateur reviewer said it was NOT quite grammatically accurate! There are two sequels.

This also reminds me of this thread:

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/01/04/its_soooo_much.html

In it, Amy complains of those who want her help but can't be bothered to use complete words.

Here's what I said in it:

I don't think it would be that hard (to correct people politely), given the right circumstances. Especially when you're dealing with a kid who's constantly trying to communicate his/her wants and needs to adults but takes twice as long as necessary to do so due to poor speaking and/or writing skills.

After all, while common sense can HELP one decipher a poorly written memo or casual text, it doesn't always work and then the communication could be turned into the opposite of what was meant. Nobody wants that.

Here's a classic example of why punctuation is so important, for one:

"Woman, without her man, is nothing."

"Woman - without her, man is nothing."

And, in the same vein, it is NOT cute or even polite for adults to get preschoolers to leave the message on families' answering machines, because often, people who call can't understand the mumblings of a toddler and aren't sure they reached the right house. (Especially if we're talking about someone who's calling from, say, a doctor's office and who doesn't really know the patient's family.)

Bottom line is: It's not polite to burden others with your sloppiness and to give them the job of figuring out what you mean. There's no point in having everyone speak different, changing "languages" when it only leads to painful misunderstandings. Even best friends can miscommunicate - why aggravate that possibility?