What do you think of fellow forumgoers? (Again!)

[Autumn]

It really irritates me when people say things like 'grammar nazi' or 'femminazi'. Learn what a nazi is, geez.

it's not a matter of me (or anyone else) not knowing what a nazi is but it's an established phrase so :/ i'll edit it though anyway

 

[Minish]

also to add to the grammar conversation: i used to be a serious grammar freak, both in real life and on the internet.

me too a bit, omg most embarrassing period of my life. I was never particularly bad, just sort of vaguely scornful at things at friends of mine who would use ~chatspeak or whatever (wow there is literally nothing in the world that bothers me less than chatspeak nowadays (though I don't really 'use' it?? but wow please own up if 'idk' isn't useful for you sometimes you are weird)). I used to have this friend who was pretty bad about it but in a kind of 15 year old sort of way, except she still is like this and just so much second-hand embarrassment

anyway yep language use is the coolest ever!!


As for tildes though, it's hard for me to stand a single tilde at the end of a word now because I majorly associate it with pretentiousness and. I dunno it just gives me cringey xD-level vibes but I guess I don't really see anyone but kids on Neopets use it nowadays, anyway.

It's just. I remember it being used so passive-aggressively. No don't worry~ keep doing that ridiculous thing you are doing~ I don't mind~

and yet it's mega cute if there's a space???? ting along ~
internet writing is SO WEIRD and a complex affair, yep

 

[Autumn]

It's just. I remember it being used so passive-aggressively. No don't worry~ keep doing that ridiculous thing you are doing~ I don't mind~

ffff i found some like two-year-old posts of mine on the srs bzns forum and i ended a very taunting, self-righteous post with a tilde and i cringed because all i could think was "oh god what an asshat i was". now i don't use it at all for that reason, only for the sarcastic reason or the suggestive reason.

and yet it's kind of cute if there's a space???? ting along ~

true! it gives this kind of super-happy sing-song quality to a post that makes me think people are skipping along or just generally having a GREAT DAY.

internet writing is SO WEIRD and a complex affair, yep

I love it though. It's just such a great medium of expression, at least for me.

 

[Minish]

I think people are generally a bit shy of admitting they find the internet interesting because no it can't be taken seriously ever you have to be chill!!! but it is interesting! I remember this old linguistics textbook I had that found like late 90s-era chatspeak to be the most fascinating thing and went on for pages and pages and chapters about how it was a new mode of writing in between spoken and written that would blow everyone's minds, and I just hope that person found their way onto the internet. I like all my linguistics lecturers and teachers over the years who have uniformly been bemused yet excited about it.

it's generally ever so slightly closer to traditional written language, but also something else entirely!! and you have stuff like serious online journalism all the way to the shittiest of image boards and Photo Finish is right, IM is something of its own category!


OH NO this has escalated into full-blown linguistics worst mod ever

uh lately I have been thinking that I like a few people more than I thought and a few people less than I thought! my favourite people on the forums are opaltiger, Hiikaru, Eifie, uv, Dannichu, pathos, surskitty, but there are also a consistent handful of people I like from very afar such as Keltena, Clover, Dinru, Chalumeau, sovram, Spoon, Verne, Zhorken, res, etc. Mhals is p. cool but she's never around, is she. and I pretty much can't stand the same people as ever but that's okay it's allowed.

 

[Butterfree]

But the forums are not real time. You have as much time as you need to write and edit your posts. If you think that the second half of a sentence is unnecessary, then why bother writing the conjunction?

Uh. The rest of the sentence after the conjunction being unnecessary doesn't mean the conjunction itself is. Do you really not see the crucial difference in meaning between these two sentences?

"It's not the end of the world if you use parentheses incorrectly."

"It's not the end of the world if you use parentheses incorrectly, but."

The first one conveys that you don't think parentheses use matters. The second one conveys reservations about saying that: while it's not the end of the world, it still matters, generally because of something explained previously in the post. If you've already said "Any grammar mistakes will make your writing look slightly worse and make it less likely to be accepted by an editor", then writing "It's not the end of the world if you use parentheses incorrectly, but editors will still have a worse impression of you for it" is rather redundant, hence "It's not the end of the world if you use parentheses incorrectly, but" (which prompts the reader to fill in what comes after the but based on the context).

(Not trying to be passive-aggressive with this example sentence, by the way; it was just the first thing that came to mind.)

 

[Datura]

I don't know - just look at this stuff I'm typing!

Bro that's not what hyphens are for!

 

[Music Dragon]

Bro that's not what hyphens are for!

That's not a hyphen, it's a dash in disguise! Now go add a comma to your sentence!

 

[Zero Moment]

And so this became; Grammar Discussion: The Thread

also can someone explain to me how to use semicolons because english class didn't really get it through to me

 

[Music Dragon]

And so this became; Grammar Discussion: The Thread

also can someone explain to me how to use semicolons because english class didn't really get it through to me

There really are no rules. Just sprinkle them wherever it looks good. They're kinda like hyphens in that sense. Uh, dashes. I meant dashes.

 

[Datura]

they're for the end of your sentences

make you look hella cool;;

 

[Zora of Termina]

I'm just going to ignore all the grammar discussion and cut straight to the chase.

PEOPLE I LIKE: Colours, Flora, Sunflower, Flareth, Moony, VM, Mike, Alraune

PEOPLE I LIKE WHO DO NOT GO HERE ANYMORE: Markku, Sable

PEOPLE WHO I AM NEUTRAL ON LEANING TOWARD POSITIVE: poly, Dannichu (who can honestly hate dannichu)

PEOPLE WHO I VAGUELY DISLIKE/AM NEUTRAL ON: The rest of you

but don't take it personally! frankly i just. dislike most people by default. so.

 

[Autumn]

I also think poly's really cool and has the third most distinct typing style here. Also I think it's sort of neat that we joined around the same time.

PEOPLE I LIKE: Colours, Flora, Sunflower, Flareth, Moony, VM, Mike

PEOPLE I LIKE WHO DO NOT GO HERE ANYMORE: Markku, Sable

PEOPLE WHO I AM NEUTRAL ON LEANING TOWARD POSITIVE: poly, Dannichu (who can honestly hate dannichu)

what is with the sudden trend of lowercasing my (nick)name :p

 

[Spoon]

baffled by how much it knows, how so?

Like forum history, I suppose! I remember you being able to find the old profiles after the forum implosion. (Or at least I think it was you.) Also your ability to code is pretty impressive to me, who hasn't the foggiest how to code.

what is with the sudden trend of lowercasing my (nick)name :p

When people type shiftless, I usually extend that to their username.

 

[ultraviolet]

I never said people can't write however they like, I was just expressing my disgust at how unnatural it looks to read. It may feel natural to write (I personally can't see how though) but to me at least, if there aren't at least ellipses it just reads like there's a sudden interruption.

If it makes it easier for you, when I end sentences with ", so.' imagine me shrugging or going 'idunno'. like Butterfree said, it kind of indicates you're a bit reserved about making that statement: I'm reserved about making most statements. ~__~ That's the general mood and I speak like this basically all the time in real life - MD could tell you that. And I basically make posts in the same way that I speak in real life, because this is a forum! I used to meticulously edit my posts so they were proper and correct but it just wasn't a fun or interesting way to speak.

Similarly, the time I yelled out "I HAVE BEEN UNDERSTOODING THIS!" in the middle of music theory class

one thing that my study partner and I did for basically the entirety of our 3D classes this year would be to stare at our screen, look at the tutor and go 'so how do I..... do??' and then gesture at the screen until he told us why our scene was exploding or something.

And so this became; Grammar Discussion: The Thread

also can someone explain to me how to use semicolons because english class didn't really get it through to me

In a very broad sense they have two uses:

• when you're making a list that has punctuated items, e.g. I like three kinds of cake: chocolate, which is my favourite; birthday cake (because birthdays); and vanilla, because it's so plain.
• to connect related independent clauses that don't have a coordinating conjunction already. that's gibberish so basically: it's to connect sentences that are related but could potentially be sentences on their own if you wanted. "I packed my umbrella; the rain was drowning everything outside." would be correct, "it was raining; so I packed my umbrella" isn't. these are shitty examples but you get the gist (the semicolon article on wiki explains it better).

it *can* be used to connect independent clauses to transitional phrases and stuff (e.g. "Everyone knows he is guilty of committing the crime; of course, it will never be proven") but this is kind of uncommon and I was personally taught not to do that. you can if you want. just don't do it in essays or published things. edit: this is in english obviously. they do other cool things in other languages.

As someone who studied grammar for about a year at university, it's kind of irritating how many people go on about grammar on the internet when like one of the more important elements of grammar is appropriacy. :| and yet nobody pays attention to this.

oh right this is about people not grammar: everyone is cool including viki opal zhorken cirruminish pathos alraune probably more. MD is the flower of tcod as always.

 

[Superbird]

It's easier to make a list of people on this forum who I dislike (mainly because that list is so small) than to make a list of people I like, because you're all awesome.

Also, I make special note of Music Dragon, who...I just don't even know. idefk. THE TROLL EXCEPT NOT ACTUALLY TROLLING SOMETIMES AND I DONT KNOW WHATEVER BLARRHG ASDFGHJKL
Also res. because res is...res. and I've learned a lot from res. probably not the right stuff, mind you, but.

 

[Adriane]

The people who write in nocaps I get used to, but this makes me cringe every time I read it.

In social writing (forums, Facebook, IRC, etc.) I write like I talk. I am all for great grammar in writing, but actively policing my posts for really arbitrary things feels really artificial when I am just trying to be casual and social here? Really, I think legibility and understandability are of much greater importance. I use trailing conjunctions, inhibitors/intensifiers, and tag questions all the time in my social speech, so I don't see why it's a huge crime to write in the same fashion. I don't "go out of [my] way" to do it.

 

[Jolty]

did i not post in this thread again yet
well the other day i was thinking huh tcod is actually not so bad right now this is nice. my opinion on poly has gone up a lot, she's a very nice person.

but then with some of these threads that have been active in the past few days, i just see posts from certain people and think "my god what a massive tosser"
i think it's just one or two people at the moment but i expect there to be more.........

i'm pretty neutral on most people here since i've never spoken to them, or i think they're nice but some things they say/do grates the fuck out of me

and i do not doubt that most people do not hold me in very high regard

 

[Autumn]

did i not post in this thread again yet
well the other day i was thinking huh tcod is actually not so bad right now this is nice. my opinion on poly has gone up a lot, she's a very nice person.

i try to be nice and understanding to everyone!! one of my biggest things is that i try not to judge people no matter the circumstance without getting to know them well first.

and i do not doubt that most people do not hold me in very high regard

to be completely honest i think you're all right... when you're not posting in the debating hall. it's not that i always disagree with the points you make, it's that sometimes you just word them in very raw ways that can be offensive to other members and it seems like you're aware that you're doing it but you're doing it anyway! i think people might be less disapproving of you if you were a little more civil in making your points. i mean it just feels like your arguments sometimes consist of condescending insults which really aren't beneficial to a debate or serious discussion!

 

[1. Luftballon]

It's easier to make a list of people on this forum who I dislike (mainly because that list is so small) than to make a list of people I like, because you're all awesome.

Also, I make special note of Music Dragon, who...I just don't even know. idefk. THE TROLL EXCEPT NOT ACTUALLY TROLLING SOMETIMES AND I DONT KNOW WHATEVER BLARRHG ASDFGHJKL
Also res. because res is...res. and I've learned a lot from res. probably not the right stuff, mind you, but.

nonsense, all the stuff is definitely right

 

[Tarvos]

Semicolons are for when you cannot use a comma, but a colon would look equally out of place. That is pretty much a semicolon. Also I like correct grammar, but I consider colloquial contractions to be "correct grammar". I.e. not inverting the sentence but tacking a question mark onto the end of it with rising intonation is correct grammar at times:

"You know you're not supposed to say that, right?"

English isn't so problematic in this regard anyway because the difference between colloquial and formal registers is somewhat smaller than it is in other languages. Go and speak French colloquially and you'll see why writing formal French (as if it had to be inspired by Proust) is absolute nonsense.

As for this topic, I have probably already posted in it somewhere, but I like a few people here including ZE ADMINISTRATOR. I also like ..., Vehement Mustelid, Scizor (wherever the hell that guy went), uv, Keta, Tailsy, Music Dragon, and people who aren't jumping to mind right now.