Language things that have bugged me today

Accompanied by begonias. Why? Because begonias, that's why. Actually, just because they were there. Dad recently put them in his front planter, which he generally does every year. Mom usually had geraniums instead, but I'm not that big of a fan of geraniums because of the smell. I'm just as happy to see the begonias.

 All right, let's get down to it. Oh, and I'm hoping that there are less words today than yesterday because I really should do that work drawing I've been putting off.

First, let me say that I'm well aware that when I said "because begonias" up at the top there I completely annoyed a few people. It would have annoyed me if I'd read it in, say, a book, unless a character was being quoted. I figure that there's a time and a place for certain types of language, though, and I certainly use different forms of English depending on how formal the situation is. This? This is a blog. If it was formal it would come across as being incredibly pretentious. I purposely choose a pretty casual voice when I'm blogging (yeah, you read right. There's actually thought behind this blog). However, there are language and grammar usages that are always going to annoy me no matter what the situation, and I found a surprising amount of them even in a short browse around the web and social media this morning. Gotta love the internet for making people sound uneducated, right? Here's a bit of what I saw, then:

More unique.  Or it could have been many other variations on comparing uniqueness. This is a very longstanding annoyance of mine, to be honest, because whether people realise it or not it indicates that a person doesn't know the meaning of unique. Unique is unique, as in there's nothing else like it. By definition, something that's unique can't be qualified. Nothing that's unique is more or less unique than something else that's unique. They're both JUST unique, because saying unique is enough.

It's a usage that's creeping in more and more which means that in a living language sense the meaning of unique is changing for people. That means that, in the end, as a proponent of non-proscriptive language rules (rules should describe a language as it is, not tell it what it should be. In an organic language, at least. A created language like Esperanto is a different animal) I should and will (grudgingly) accept the new, evolving use of unique. It sure the heck bugs me, though.

It's versus its. It's not hard, people. It's = it is. Two words. Its = something it has. Possessive. Yes, I do know that its is an unusual possessive and that most possessives have commas, but English (the ultimate mongrel language) has tons of exceptions to rules and most people remember them without much problem. We all (well, most of us) know that the plural of foot is feet, not foots; why can't so many people remember it's and its?

It's (it is) something you should have learned in elementary school.

 Apostrophes where apostrophes aren't necessary. Oh man. You see this everywhere these days, and I can't figure out if it's (it is...) some form of overcompensation or what the deal is. Plurals do not need apostrophes, folks. The plural of desk? Desks, not desk's. The plural of cat? Cats, not cat's. The other day I was at my local grocery store and they had bagged up overripe banana's for quicker sale. The banana's what? The banana's bag? I didn't even know that bananas owned things.

You're versus your. I can't believe that I even have to get into this one. You're = you are. Again, two words. Your = something that belongs to you. Possessive. 'Nuff said. Or should be.

Have people stopped teaching contractions, or something?



By the way, if anyone's wondering why some of the begonias (not begonia's) have rock-looking things on them, they're (great, now I'll have to do they're versus their) plastic glow-in-the-dark pebbles that my uncle brought home from the dollar store while he was working there. I have no idea why Dad decided to put them in the plants. Whim, I suppose.

They're, their, and there. I'm getting tired. Let's make this quick. They're = they are. See a pattern? Their = something that belongs to them. There = a place that's not here.



Sigh. That was just this morning, folks. It's enough to drive a language freak spare. I'm not really a snob about it, even though it probably looks that way now. It's just... well, part of my job is editing things, and I get really tired of seeing educated, intelligent people looking like they don't know their own language just because their brains have gotten autocheck/internet-speak/cellphone lazy about it. You may think it doesn't matter and wonder what stick is up all the grammar nazis butts, but it really does affect the way you appear to the others who are reading your words. It also makes your opinions matter a lot less, whether you realise it or not. So please, take a breath and think about your language next time you post a comment or... well, anything. It'll be good for your image, and much better for my head.



And so much for less words. Ah well, busy week ahead, so it may well be no words at all coming up for a while. We'll see how it goes.