OT: Common Ignorance these days

[Jeff B.]

I was recently at a race, and painted on the side of a race car in nice professional script was the following phrase:

"If your not first, your last".

I pointed at it and my son got it right away, but it made me wonder how many other people did and if anyone had ever pointed it out to these people who owned the car?

Then today I was reading a magazine and came across an advertisement for a book. In bold print in the ad it read:

"After reading this book you're life will never be the same". This was in a professional ad copy.

I see this stuff all of the time too with "their" and "they're".

Don't they teach grammar in school anymore?

[Squidspeak]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

Yo, what up wit dat Jeff.

[lowpolyjoe]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

The grammar stuff bothers me sometimes, but considering how bad my spelling is - I guess I shouldn't complain.

Points for the Ricky Bobby quote tho

[Paul K.]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

Assuming proper grammar is being taught, it's likely that many people are simply too lazy to write correctly because they're so used to taking shortcuts they use for texting, tweeting, etc. As another example, I often see ads where hyphens are omitted, like in "IT'S A 3 DAY SALE".
Paul

I was recently at a race, and painted on the side of a race car in nice professional script was the following phrase:

"If your nor first, your last".

I pointed at it and my son got it right away, but it made me wonder how many other people did and if anyone had ever pointed it out to these people who owned the car?

Then today I was reading a magazine and came across an advertisement for a book. In bold print in the ad it read:

"After reading this book you're life will never be the same". This was in a professional ad copy.

I see this stuff all of the time too with "their" and "they're".

Don't they teach grammar in school anymore?

[isaeagle4031]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

It is quite rampant I'm afraid. From professional type to hand painted signs. So many are more concerned with their own personal agenda and bias, that intelligent dialogue and conversation has taken a back seat.

[Face]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

My local online news periodical has terrible grammar. That's what you get for hiring bottom rate editors.

[djg]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

There, they're, their Jeff.

[knowledgebass]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

Assuming proper grammar is being taught, it's likely that many people are simply too lazy to write correctly because they're so used to taking shortcuts they use for texting, tweeting, etc.

I think short hand is less prevalent now with semi-intelligent auto completing keyboards on phones. Certainly compared to what it was like when most people still had only T9 keyboards. Twitter is keeping it alive to a degree. You do see the occasional unfortunate word insertion but I've had that with spell checkers too. Grammar wasn't taught specifically as a subject while I was in school. The expectation was that you would pick it up by reading. So in a way ignorance is being taught.

Typed on my phone BTW [emoji6]

[djg]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

Who here has ever diagrammed a sentence?

[isaeagle4031]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

I have and we have taught diagrams in home schooling as well. I'm not sure if it is still taught in our local public schools.

[DanHine]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

Who here has ever diagrammed a sentence?

I have but I am sure I couldn't do it now if I needed to.

I know it was taught as recently as 1993 where I grew up. I'm not sure if they still do.

[djg]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

Just curious, I went to grade school a long time ago.

[50 watt head]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

Don't they teach grammar in school anymore?

As a teacher, every time I see this question posed, I am tempted to pose the following question in response:

Doesn't anyone learn grammar in school anymore?

Learning is a two-way street, and not every student takes responsibility for their own learning.

Again, speaking as a teacher: I *wish* each one of my students worked as hard as we teachers do to achieve their education. In. My. Dreams.

[williamrschneider]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

It's so bad that it scares me a bit.

Two years ago my mother died. Here's a snip from the obituary written by the funeral home...

"...Mary was truly one of the “Greatest Generation.” She was the supportive wife and lifelong companion of William E. Schneider, a loving and devoted daughter, a loyal and caring sister, a mother and champion of 5 children, a grandmother and great grandmother who took quiet pleasure in their growth and development and a woman who accepted all of her “outlaws” totally."

Yeah, totally.

That sentence is a mess all the way through. Sadly, this was an extra-cost service offered by the funeral home. We rewrote it ourselves on a tight deadline for the newspaper.

Adding insult to injury were errors in the Power of Attorney document that was drawn up afterward for my father. The law office didn't catch three typos in the document - two important addresses in the document itself, and the date recorded by the notary public. Those errors cost us $150 for a correction affidavit when we sold his house this past spring.

It's grim out there!

[billfitzmaurice]

Re: OT: Common Ignorance these days

Don't they teach grammar in school anymore?

I know that they don't teach the meaning of the word 'anniversary' to television news commentators. :rolleyes: