I’ve been known to correct people’s grammar and spelling, particularly in typing. I correct my own when necessary (and sometimes when not) and blush at my mistakes. In the event that someone takes offense at my speaking up and argues that it is irrelevant because I (eventually) understood them, I get quite flustered. <\/p>\n
You see, good communication to me is not irrelevant. Not ever. If language was misused in a conversation, but I immediately understood the intent, then the foul is on me when I chide the mistake. With the advent of email, IM, IRC, and in-game channels, however, it is all the more imperative that proper grammar, spelling, and usage prevail. Without inflection and the further context of facial expression, miscommunication is bound to occur. Thus, special care should be taken to express oneself without ambiguity.<\/p>\n
Yet, the internet — to use a comprehensive, if generalized, term — is riddled with inaccurate statements and arguments made all the weaker by the issuer’s poor command of the language. Examples are everywhere, yet difficult to cite. It goes beyond the simple misplacement of punctuation or the dangling participle. It has evolved into a language of its own, perhaps for the worse. Try to explain to an anonymous soul on a forum the “cry-wolf” implications of an acronym like LOL and see how long it is before the argument degenerates into nothing resembling civil discourse.<\/p>\n
Granted, there are times in friendly internet communication that I intentionally put on the airs of an English major; but, even when I politely point out the correction and a concise reasoning for its significance I am often met with resistance to the point of hostility. <\/p>\n
I have chosen as my cause the reclamation of accurate communication. To me, it is no less worthy a cause than any political, personal or philosophical ideal. After all, could any one of us claim that they have never had a minor issue turn into a dilemma simply due to poor communication? I could not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve been known to correct people’s grammar and spelling, particularly in typing. I correct my own when necessary (and sometimes when not) and blush at my mistakes. In the event that someone takes offense at my speaking up and argues that it is irrelevant because I (eventually) understood them, I get quite flustered. You see, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73iP8-64","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":134,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=134","url_meta":{"origin":376,"position":0},"title":"“This sort of blog misuse can’t go unpunished.”","date":"5\/18\/2004","format":false,"excerpt":"An IM between Czelticgirl and Steelbuddha regarding the tragedy known as Fred Durst's blog, in which Czelticgirl does all the work. SB: Is that actually Fred Durst's blog? Or did I just fall for it? CG: Sure looks like his blog when you click on the link. God, it's terrible.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Found Art"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1189,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=1189","url_meta":{"origin":376,"position":1},"title":"Update coming soon","date":"9\/10\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee The Rover November at Windfall Theater Little Red Hoodie at Sunset Playhouse MACE Training Web Site","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":841,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=841","url_meta":{"origin":376,"position":2},"title":"Trials","date":"9\/8\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Got to work. Voicemail from new tenants about attic boxes. Called back. Not my boxes, I said. Still have to deliver key, maybe get my mail, I said. You left dishes in dishwasher, she said. Move not over. Found security deposit. More than I expected. At lunch, personally handled change\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=95","url_meta":{"origin":376,"position":3},"title":"limos and clowns","date":"4\/6\/2004","format":false,"excerpt":"TL: NO! Limos are scary. Like clown limos. *shudder* SB: Um...bwa? Ok then. TL: bwa? SB: Clown limos? bwa? SB: It's just the sound, not an acronym. TL: gotcha. TL: Brothers With Attitude TL: Buddha Walking Airedales SB: Which is one of the new road signs you'll be seeing. TL:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Found Art"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1099,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=1099","url_meta":{"origin":376,"position":4},"title":"8 jobs. 8 jobs? 8. Jobs.","date":"10\/26\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Why no blogging, Buddha? In previous weeks, I have had no just cause, but for the next two, I have 8 just causes. I am working the equivalent of 8 (at least part-time) jobs: GS Design (my real job) The New Century (my current show) La Cage aux Folles (my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":956,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=956","url_meta":{"origin":376,"position":5},"title":"Dream Journal: Chekov’s Naked Lunch with Ricky Gervais","date":"3\/4\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"My friend, Ricky Gervais, and I are visiting a cherry orchard with some very salt-of-the-earth people, who invite us to lunch in their barn-like open eating area. As we chat and eat, I notice that the place is also my apartment. Ricky is wearing a shirt which is completely black,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dream Journal"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}