My sister recently got a tattoo on her foot, right on a bone. The poorly written tattoo care instructions (containing several grammatical errors) were more painful to her than actually getting the tattoo. Have you ever experienced grammar this horrible?
2006-09-09 19:43:55 · 17 answers · asked by zaradulce02 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
I appreciate the answers related to tattoos, but I’m referring to Americans’ grammar in general. There are so many people who were born in this country and grew up learning English that still can't construct a proper English sentence. I have the most respect for immigrants who are trying to learn English…it’s a hard language, but if you grew up on this language, there is no excuse for not knowing it.
2006-09-09 19:55:25 · update #1
I agree with you 100%. Some questions are so horrible that I can't even finish reading them. People just don't understand how truly offensive it can be! I had a manager one time who compared it to a professional musician hearing a sour note; it resonates in a negative manner. Each and every grammatical error is another sour note. Can you imagine the anguish of a musician hearing a piece of music with a majority of the notes out of key? Poor grammar is every bit as offensive to the sensibilities of an educated person as a sour note is to a musician. Since there is a spell check feature, people are either too ignorant or too lazy to not take advantage of it. Granted, it does not catch everything, but it would certainly help.
2006-09-09 23:32:26 · answer #1 · answered by Jeannie 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think if the writing was so bad that I was convinced that it said pour alcohol on it and not the proper tatoo instructions yes.
Bad grammar is not painful for me because I am use to working with children who are learning language. I try to encourage them rather than look for the things they do wrong. This is not an easy task because it is sooo easy to jump and say something that is not so nice such that they are afraid to make mistakes. They have found in psychology that positive and negative reinforcement is most apt to succeed in permanent behavioral change rather than just one or the other alone.
So I know I have to say that is not spelled right but you are on the right track. etc.
Now in the case of a tattoo person I think it indicates this person is possibly not a well educated person such that they may not even be certified. Which would concern me as their capability to sterilize needles and follow proper procedures in a tatooing parlor. I would have great concerns about having contracted hepatitis or HIV from this person. Also get good instructions if they are not comprehensible such that she does not get a terrible or painful infection with subsequent scarring. If the person is from another country often the languages are so different in grammatical structuring that they may not be able to communicate much better. Just because children do not know the grammatical rules of our language we do not prevent them from trying to communicate. My Spanish is not always grammatically correct but I get the idea across sooner or later even if I have to write it out. Otherwise I would have died of thirst when I went there and needed a drink. I am sure that I hurt their ears but they sold to me anyways because they wanted to make the money.
Each region has a dialect. The south loves to use double negatives. Also depending on the area even the teachers may be prone to speak the dialect in the schools they teach in. It is all about habit. I know good English. I was taught good English but I know very few people who use it. They use common every day street language which is a living language. Whereas often that which is written in books is old archaic English which most people cannot understand. If I want to be understood I speak what those around me are speaking to the best of my capability because I need to be understood more than be grammatically correct and a part of that is being accepted in that group such that they listen to me. It is the old saying when in Rome do as the Romans do so I just get in step. I hated the Hooah of the army as it sounded to me like someone was spitting a loogie but if we went along and did a loud enough HOOAH we got to get out of formation sooner which appealed to me.
2006-09-10 02:46:51 · answer #2 · answered by Faerieeeiren 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ouch! Though I can't compare the pain of bad grammar to the pain of a tattoo (having never received one), I have indeed been offended by bad grammar. It's bad enough when otherwise educated folk say something like, "This is very important to you and I," instead of "you and me." Then there are the more subtle aural assaults like "Who are you going with?" instead of "Whom are you going with?" or, if one wants to come off as a real snob, "With whom are you going?" Granted, in some contexts such as music, such language is rich. "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" just wouldn't pack the same punch if it were titled "It Is Meaningless without a Certain Syncopation". But when I read emails or postings or even interoffice memos that are lacking in basic punctuation and grammar, it fills me with the urge to . . . never mind.
Your grammatically perfect grammatical question, and some of the other answers to your question, are a pleasure to read in a sea of Yahoo Answers sludge.
2006-09-10 03:18:38 · answer #3 · answered by Michigan 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I'm pretty sure that I have. I remember grading this one little boys paper in senior advanced English. It was so horrible. I don't see how anyone could make mistakes like that and never realize it. It's painful to read. I know my grammar isn't perfect, but it is not as bad as some of the things I have seen. My little step brother (11) wrote good, gooder, and goodest and bad, badder, and baddest. We explained things to him quickly. We didn't want him going out in public to a nice restaurant, and saying, "Which one of the these is gooder?" Not only would he have looked stupid, but so would all of us. I encourage everyone to teach their children proper English. I don't want our society looking stupid.
2006-09-10 10:13:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, that's why I am a religious follower of another website, where l33t speaking newbies with 200 posts of spam get mercilessly bashed with creative, grammatically-correct insults. Y!Answers doesn't have that option, since you can only post once, so a lot of the questions on here make my eyes bleed.
2006-09-10 02:58:39 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes the grammar mistakes are painful. Just read some of the questions posted on this site. I wince and refuse to answer them.
2006-09-10 02:47:12 · answer #6 · answered by Tempest88 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, but it seems like the generation coming out of the schools today, are not skilled in English and alot of other things.
2006-09-10 03:02:43 · answer #7 · answered by zookeeper 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, poor grammar and spelling bother me greatly. It amazes me that newspapers and even some novels contain glaring errors.
2006-09-10 14:47:12 · answer #8 · answered by rhymer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Agreed! I actually have gotten headaches at times from trying to translate gibberish to english
2006-09-10 06:33:57 · answer #9 · answered by Jen J 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Bad grammar offends my finer sensibilities and a lot of those who are on Yahoo Answers.
2006-09-10 03:58:49 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋