Does it make you cringe when...?

Question

you hear or see people using "incorrect" grammar? I have a hard time trying to control myself from correcting them all the time, but somehow I find a way to not say anything. But it really makes my skin crawl!

You guys are good. I did the "but" thing on purpose because I find myself doing it all the time on Answers. Apparently I'm not the only one it annoys!

Answer 1

I think the real question with grammar is not “correctness” but clarity. Shakespeare took great liberties with grammatical norms if it helped to convey his message. In so doing he advanced the language in countless ways.

Consider the taboo against splitting an infinitive, a rule created by some pedantic 19th-century grammarian, but violated by writers great and small before his time and since.

Or take the case of Winston Churchill, who, when criticized for ending a sentence in a preposition said, “That is the kind of criticism up with which I will not put!”

As for those people who say you cannot start a sentence with a conjunction, they have their heads up their "Buts." (And I say that with all due respect.) Hell, Mark Twain began entire paragraphs with conjunctions, and he wrote reeel good.

So, yes, I cringe inwardly at bad grammar when it’s based in ignorance. But if someone says “I could care less,” well, grammatically speaking, I couldn't care less.

Answer 2

I didn't think your "but" was that bad. It was in the middle of the sentence after a comma. I do, however cringe when the host of "Street Smarts", the game show, who should know better always says "you should have WENT with....." I always cringe at that one, BUT especially when it's a game show host. You'd think his director or producer would notice, BUT he keeps saying it over and over. I do the "but" thing all the time, and I think it's OK. What about when the announcer on "The Price is Right" says "here THEY come." That one's too hard to explain. I would think that Bob Barker cringes at that one! :) I just re-read your question, and the second "But" is not so great. But I don't care. lol

Answer 3

After teaching English in Japan for 7 years, I certainly notice it when people make grammatical mistakes. However, it doesn't make me cringe, as I've found that it's much more important to listen to ~what~ is being said, rather than ~how~ it's being said.

This was particularly true with the beginner-level classes. If I stopped a student every time that they made a mistake, they'd never make it through a sentence! And they'd get so discouraged that they'd never open their mouth again.

So, no, it doesn't make me cringe.

Answer 4

Unlike the other answerer, I will overlook your "error" as unegregious.

I work at a pizza chain, and answered a call from someone who had not received her pizza yet. She said, "I ordered a pizza and it hasn't CAME yet." I was in stunned silence for a moment, and then responded, "The pizza hasn't COME yet?" to which she repeated, "It hasn't CAME yet."

When I watch TV, especially the "court" shows, and hear all the terrible grammar, it just makes me cringe, too.

I can't lay claim to the best grammar in the world, but it's a darned sight better than a whole "lotta" other folks!

Answer 5

No I don't cringe. My best friend corrects my grammar all the time. She claims I put a "s" behind most of my nouns. Somebody tell her to get over it. :). Seriously, I appreciate her when she does it because it helps me to speak better grammar. Don't cringe, consider yourself an unpaid English teacher. But don't cringe.

Answer 6

Its not about grammar. Its about understanding what the person was saying. Grammar can help though in the communication process. But strictly following grammar can be awkward.

Answer 7

Yes, it makes me cringe. I consider myself an educated person, but even I slip up in my own way of speaking and use grammatically incorrect sentences. For instance: "Where's he at?" It's annoying, but I'll bet it's almost impossible to find anyone who speaks correctly 100% of the time... (Like yourself in starting a sentence with "but") :)

Answer 8

It only bothers me when it gets really bad, so it's hard to figure out what someone is trying to say. A single error I hardly even notice.

Answer 9

Not to be rude, but you're really not to start a sentence with a conjunction (i.e. but). Sorry, I wanted to point that out.

Answer 10

Get over it. Quickly, please. It's a phobia that will make you miserable. People will talk any old whichaway. It's to your own detriment to be that finicky.