Minimally Exceptional

alright, alright! i get it! i’ve been slacking! i know it!

well, not really slacking. honestly, up till this week, i’ve been busy as hell lately. like, early december lately. lots of work (up till last week, now i barely work a day a week) finals, a new semester of school, the holidays (which i’ll save for next time), a trip to chicago for dave & friends (which i’ll also get into next time)… you get the idea. that, and a computer that has been barely reliable (at best) for reasons i’m still having trouble figuring out.

speaking of which — an item of great importance i know you all are waiting on: the dvd.

well, its coming. the computer problems have prevented me from capturing the videos from the DV tapes. after about 10 minutes the computer will just restart. :/

i think i’ve finally fixed it, so i’m going to free up some hard drive space and give it another go.

anyway, seems i’ll have a little more free time now, which means, for better or worse, i’ll be carrying on about absolutely nothing once again. and more often than once every two months. on to the rant.

i’m not a grammar nazi by any means. i’ll let pretty much anything slide because i know that most people don’t talk or write with 100% ‘proper grammar.’ frankly, i don’t really expect anyone to talk or write like that.

but there’s a few things that bug the living shit out of me, and i’ve been seeing them more and more. like it or not, i’m going to bitch about it because it just pisses me off that much.

(edit: if you’re feeling offended by this or think i’m directing this at you personally – calm down. i’m not. it’s just an angry rant not directed towards any of my usual readers [or whats left of them.])

1. internet speak. okay, i get it. i understand that it’s easier to abbreviate. in fact, i sometimes do it myself. “lol,” “brb,” “ssia,” all things i dont have a problem with. but “rotflmao d00d u r so kewl neways” needs to take a fucking hike. if you do shit like that, stop it. it’s stupid and it makes you look stupid.

‘neways’ really pisses me off too. it’s one letter shorter. ONE LETTER. how hard is it really to type seven letters instead of six? does it really save you that much time?

“but it’s just the internet! who cares if i type like that?”

well, that’s your prerogative, i suppose. yes, it’s just the internet, but if the only way that someone knows you is over the internet (as is more and more the case lately) and you type like that, people will think you’re an idiot. if that’s the impression you’d like to give, people might think you’re an idiot for a reason.

2. singular terms with plural tense. this one really burns my ass. you see it more and more in the music and entertainment industry – uppity people who use a plural verb with a singular term to try and sound more ‘correct.’ you know what i’m talking about? let me give you an example, and i’ll chime in with questions some people may (or may not) be asking.

“radiohead are the greatest band ever.”

“korn have earned their place among heavy rock greats.”

“dave matthews band are on tour starting june 6th.”

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. radiohead IS the greatest band, korn HAS earned ITS place, and dmb IS on tour.

“but bands are made up of more than one person – shouldn’t you refer to them as such?”

NO. bands ARE made up of more than one person. but the name of the band is a PROPER NOUN – a single entity which refers to the members of the group. korn, radiohead, and dmb are singular terms which refer to groups of people. refering to these singular entities in the plural is not only wrong, it’s fucking stupid, and makes you look uneducated. especially if you’re a professional writer writing articles for, say, rolling stone.

“so, what about ‘the strokes?’ should i say ‘the strokes is a horrible band?’ ”

that’s a tough call, but ultimately, no, you shouldn’t. ‘the strokes’ IS a proper noun refering to a group of people, but the proper noun itself is plural. so, in essence, it’s saying that each person in the band is indeed a stroke, so using plural is okay here. this is different from, say, radiohead. now, if thom yorke decided to change the name of radiohead to ‘those dudes from radiohead’ or ‘radiohead-ers’, then plural would suddenly be okay there too.

there are exceptions to this, obviously, but generally speaking: say it out loud. if it’s awkward to say or sounds wrong, it probably is.

Replies: (1)

thank you!

by lani @ 01/23/2004 09:53 AM CST