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Pyrate Jenni (pyratejenni) wrote in otf_wank,
@ 2004-03-15 12:28:00

Current mood:

Amazed

Pagan Anti-Grammar Police Wank
We haven't had a good grammar wank in a while, have we?

On the _michigan_pagans Yahoo!Groups list, someone asked for a proofreader for her story.

Tiana replies

Sue responds with some helpful advice

Tiana: But I wanna be lazy!

Nancy points out no one is perfect

Paul points out some things Nancy seems to have missed

Tiana plays the e.e. cummings card

In which Paul reads my mind

And Tallisen supplies the fodder for the ADD community's "Stop being on my side" icon.

Things get messy after that. The archives are public; just follow the thread headers, if you can't look away.

(Post a new comment)

	apoplexia 2004-03-15 07:06 pm UTC (link)
	Unleash the e e cummings icons of war! (Reply to this)(Thread)

janegraddell
2004-03-15 09:30 pm UTC (link)

Truer icon wisdom was never spoken. I salute you.

Tiana, honey, I hate to break this to you, but you aren't E. E. Cummings. Second, the reason E. E. Cummings got away with that shit was that he did it when he wrote poetry. You know, the stuff with short lines? Not paragraphs of relentless uncapitalized prose that quickly becomes unreadable when there are no caps to relieve the monotony? That stuff?

Lastly, if you're going to be faithful and accurate in using Cummings as a model for your no doubt subtle and carefully crafted posting style, then you should be aware that, even when he was writing poetry, he hit the freakin' shift key once in a while!

I want a new law. Anyone who brings up E. E. Cummings in a capitalization argument is immediately branded an illiterate moron and loses.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

apoplexia
2004-03-15 10:42 pm UTC (link)

I've only been here a month, and after seeing two references to cummings, I had the inspiration for the icon. To see it again! Jesus. I think he's more popular on message boards than in English Lit courses.

I would completely support the creation of this law. Maybe we could force them to type one-handed in penance (I'm not saying chop off a hand or anything, let's have some perspective).

And while I may be ~~frequently mocked~~ well-known for my immaculately punctuated emails (which are entirely a result of professional circumstances), I still can't get over the fact that she's so outraged that people think her laziness somehow impacts upon her ability to proofread.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

janegraddell, 2004-03-16 01:52 am UTC

stoopid questionk. -

moonjaguar, 2004-03-16 02:00 am UTC

Re: stoopid questionk. -

janegraddell, 2004-03-16 05:21 am UTC

Re: stoopid questionk. - (Anonymous), 2004-03-16 07:12 am UTC

Re: stoopid questionk. -

smo, 2004-03-16 04:13 pm UTC

pyratejenni, 2004-03-16 02:27 am UTC

	yadda 2004-03-15 09:49 pm UTC (link)
	Dear Tiana, You are a dumbass. Love, e e cummings (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	yadda 2004-03-15 09:49 pm UTC (link)
	Do'h! Wrong icon! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

apoplexia, 2004-03-15 10:50 pm UTC

	moonjaguar 2004-03-16 02:02 am UTC (link)
	dead, someone call the meatwagon (Reply to this)(Parent)

	aruru 2004-03-16 05:57 am UTC (link)
	Do the italics of RAGE get to go along? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

apoplexia, 2004-03-16 07:21 am UTC

smo, 2004-03-16 04:14 pm UTC

	kijikun 2004-03-15 07:14 pm UTC (link)
	Only e.e cummings can write like that. So said my English teacher when I tried to turn in a paper writen in his 'style'. (Reply to this)

Tiana

deoridhe
2004-03-15 07:21 pm UTC (link)

No credibility. None. She's arguing that she shouldn't have to work as hard because shes "not being paid" when offering to proofread, presumably for free, meaning that she is, in her own posts, implying that she will do a half-assed job of proofreading.

What a moron.

Proper grammar and punctuation are like getting dressed in the morning; if you're sloppy, people will judge you for it. You can overcome these judgments by being brilliant and having interesting things to say, but she doesn't appear to have any skill in that direction either.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: Tiana cleolinda 2004-03-15 08:07 pm UTC (link)
	I've said it before, but... typing like a sugared-up rhesus monkey on the internet is analogous to dressing like a syphilitic crack whore in real life: I'm going to judge you for it unless you can give me a really compelling reason not to. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

deoridhe, 2004-03-15 08:21 pm UTC

janegraddell, 2004-03-15 09:38 pm UTC

Re: Tiana - snowball, 2004-03-17 03:33 am UTC

Re: Tiana

ymfaery
2004-03-16 12:48 am UTC (link)

This reminds me of when my workplace was interviewing for some student job openings, and one of the things we asked the applicants for was a resume. A student came in for an interview and presented us with her resume, and during the interview she was asked if she was good with details. She answered yes confidently. After she left we were discussing the student, and my boss and coworker were fairly enthusiastic about her and asked me for my opinion. I eyed them, then looked a bit pointedly at the girl's resume, where not only was her *address* spelled wrong, she had several typos that would have been avoided if she had used spell-check since she put down she uses MS Word, she had crossed-out her old cell number and wrote in a new one, and the resume itself was a little awkward to read.

Let's just say the other two weren't very enthusiastic after I pointed all that out.

(Original comment deleted for corrections. ^_^;;)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

deoridhe, 2004-03-16 04:14 pm UTC

dunc
2004-03-15 07:25 pm UTC (link)

One of my biggest pet peeves about those local lists is the fact that less than half the people can type decently. Sorry, but yes, if I haven't met you, I WILL judge your opinions on how well you type... Or rather just delete your messages outright because I can't be bothered. Tough beans.

I've been so tempted to post in that... But eh. Preying on the fandom dumbasses is so much more fun. And this situation is just ridiculous.

(Reply to this)

	iczer6 2004-03-15 07:45 pm UTC (link)
	I'll give Tianna some credit for at least admitting that she doesn't capitalize because she's lazy. It's still annoying but at least she's honest about it. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	big_bad_wolf 2004-03-16 12:06 pm UTC (link)
	She must be a pretty slow typist then; it doesn't take any longer to hold down the shift key than it does not to. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	janegraddell 2004-03-15 08:59 pm UTC (link)
	The latest from Paul: The only way in which I think I'm holier-than-thou is that I realize I'm as much of an inane prejudicial sack of cultural baggage as you are. You don't appear to reciprocate. :) FIRE IN THE HOLE!!! (Reply to this)(Thread)

	tekenduis 2004-03-15 09:05 pm UTC (link)
	cackles I especially enjoy the happy smiley face at the end of the post. With that smiley there, I can almost hear the pleasant, cheerful tone that he delievered the verbal slap with. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

apoplexia, 2004-03-15 09:17 pm UTC

tekenduis, 2004-03-15 09:22 pm UTC

apoplexia, 2004-03-15 10:48 pm UTC

	big_bad_wolf 2004-03-16 12:07 pm UTC (link)
	BEAUTIFUL. (Reply to this)(Parent)

melusine
2004-03-15 09:01 pm UTC (link)

. . . Holy crap.

I was diagnosed with severe ADHD when I was five and I have never, ever tried to use my ADHD as an excuse for spelling, grammar, and capitalization errors. If I ever posted anything like Tallisen did, I would want her so-called Gammer Patrol to come after me and gam me to death.

Tiana's attitude was equally irritating: the time she spent posting that rant about why she didn't capitalize and other such stuff could have been spent correcting the capitalization and grammatical errors. Bleh. At least she admits she's lazy.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	pyratejenni 2004-03-15 09:32 pm UTC (link)
	Tallesin is a "he", for the record. And I think his name was supposed to be Talisien, but I'm not positive. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-03-16 08:31 am UTC

I'm in awe

vasaris
2004-03-15 09:18 pm UTC (link)

It's amazing. Even if you ignore the fact that if you act like an uneducated ignoramus people will often assume you are one... She was asking about advice on how to become a professional proofreader and is surprised at the notion that her inability to capitalize and punctuate garnered attention?

What is she on?

I'll agree that at least she admits that she's lazy (after all, hitting the shift key is *soooooo* much extra work), but honestly:

"hi, i'd like a job as an editor."

"Dude, capitalize the beginning of sentences and the pronoun 'I'."

"you evil syntax-slut-whore-of-doom how dare you criticize how i write"

"Er, what?"

It's just mind boggling. I'm not the world's greatest syntax-whore, myself, but I certainly wouldn't hire her or suggest that she be hired to anyone. Even if I could ignore her laziness generally, she asked for help regarding a profession. Obviously someone was going to comment on it.

(Reply to this)

also_not_a_pipe
2004-03-15 10:53 pm UTC (link)

Interesting. I'm an English major, too, and other people's poor typing online makes me froth and twitch. But maybe it's the creative writing subset of the English or the history major on the side that makes me care about being, what's the word? Oh, yeah. "Literate."

A while ago, I had in my AIM profile a line with the basic gist, "If you insist on using stupid netspeak when you talk to me, I reserve the right to be an evil bitch about it." It was amazing how angry that made people. I would get total strangers sending me messages like "u judgmentil bithc do u think ur better then other ppl? u cant tell me how 2 type!"

That was fun. I should put that part back.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	smo 2004-03-16 04:15 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, yes you should. (Reply to this)(Parent)

erik
2004-03-15 11:39 pm UTC (link)

Dear Tiana,

1. You are not e.e. cummings.
2. Even though you can normally get away with imitating e.e. cummings during the course of normal conversation, if you do so while talking about being a copy editor, you have no right to whine after being smacked down.

And...

Good gracious no one is perfect... A few typos does not someone whom is not bright make.

False pretenses of fancy grammar do not an intelligent poster make, either. *smacks the offender with a copy of The Elements of Style*

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	ymfaery 2004-03-16 12:33 am UTC (link)
	Nah, Elements of Style is too skinny. Try The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

also_not_a_pipe, 2004-03-16 01:01 am UTC

also_not_a_pipe, 2004-03-16 01:02 am UTC

erik, 2004-03-16 01:46 am UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-03-16 02:46 am UTC

erik, 2004-03-16 04:06 am UTC

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2004-03-16 05:29 am UTC

ymfaery, 2004-03-16 06:38 am UTC

big_bad_wolf, 2004-03-16 12:11 pm UTC

smo, 2004-03-16 04:16 pm UTC

pyratejenni, 2004-03-17 02:27 am UTC

	coreopsis 2004-03-16 02:28 am UTC (link)
	I'm kinda in love with Paul right now. Hope that wears off before the husband gets home. "But...but honey, he delivered an awesome smackdown! That's teh sexeh!" (Reply to this)

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