|
jblack -> RE: "My dear" "Little one" (11/26/2006 6:53:46 PM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: ownedgirlie
JBlack, Thank you for replying to my post. What if I were to say, "Mom and I went to lunch?" She is Mom to me, after all. It's the name I always called her, even though it is not her birth name. I call my aunt "Tita" (Spanish word for Auntie). These are names to me, therefore there is no missing article. As for my Master...he is Master to me. Just like saying "John and I went to lunch," I would say "Master and I went to lunch." Just like saying "Mom and I went to lunch," and so on. It's all in how you look at it, I suppose.
As for those who post with imperfect grammar, I suppose I tend to give people a break about such things (except in published documents, then it is annoying to me). I suppose it boils down to personal preference. There are a lot of OPs that do not specifically ask for advice, but who are initiating conversation about a particular topic. It is your choice to read it. Simply because someone hopes you will read it does not require you to do so. I might see a hitch hiker on the side of the road and drive past him...doesn't mean I am going to pick him up.
I am not trying to be argumentative here. My curiosity is in why things effect people emotionally. I might become annoyed by a certain mannerism or a certain writing style, but enough to "want to puke?" (as you put it). What nerve is it striking, exactly, that elicits such a strong reply in people? To me, that is more thought provoking than the way someone writes. In Off Topics, there is an entire thread about people who misspell or use poor grammar. The strong emotions expressed in that thread simply baffle me. With all the suffering going on in this life, people choose to get angry or ill by a writing mannerism. I find that quite intriguing.
I'd much rather help someone remedy their shorcomings than ridicule them for them. Of course, not everyone can be like me...heh.
Thanks for replying to my reply. [:)]
As for your first point, I think that we probably have a different conversational style. I don't say "Mom and I went to lunch" unless I'm talking to my sisters, who would also use the term "Mom." Usually, I say, "My Mom and I went to lunch." We just must be used to different sentence constructions in that particular case. Unless everyone calls my Mom "Mom" (which would be scary), then it's not her name to them, so it seems awkward and rude for me to treat it as such when conversing with them.
While you didn't mention this point, others did. The expression "My Sir" makes little sense to me because of the way that "Sir" is generally used. No one really says, "Thank you, My Sir," but they may very well say, "Thank you, Sir." I would suspect that's because "Sir" is an honorific and "Master" is a title. I've never thought about either as a name because they are both earned, so that might be why articles come into play for me in the first place.
As for the vehemence of the reaction to bad grammar (yes, there is another thread on this), I can't tell you why it elicits such a strong response. All I know is that I spend much of my professional life in the pursuit of good grammar and proper sentence construction, so it means quite a bit to me. It is odd that I have a visceral response, but my preoccupation with language is the best reason I can provide.
When responding to posts, I don't mention sentence construction or grammar (unless one is so unclear that I can't understand the problem or unless the usage of language has been addressed already). I only mention grammar here since we are discussing language. But if someone posted a message that explained that "Master and I went to dinner," I would not bring up my opinion on grammar because that's unimportant to the question at hand. I would focus on the question posed or observation made by the writer and would never mention the sentence construction if I had anything to add. If I have nothing to say that will help or be of use to the writer, I tend not to reply. As you said, one doesn't have to.
And I think I tend not to "help someone remedy" a "shortcoming" because that puts me into teacher mode, a mode I'm trying to avoid from here on out. Mocking someone, however, lets me stay in "smart ass" mode, a mode that I love to be in until I'm spanked right out of it. [:)]
Ah, a girl can dream, yes?
|
|
|
|
