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Nov. 9th, 2010 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tammaiyaI am trying to get back into the habit of posting properly again! Hence, an update. Not that anything terribly interesting has happened to me today. My boss came round to pick up papers on his way to the airport, but otherwise I bummed around, business as usual. I was going to start Last Odyssey but I discovered the Eternal Sonata disc in the Xbox 360 so I finished that instead. I also looked up A Study in Scarlet and wished I had an e-reader (I'm not really that down with the idea of reading a full-length novel on my crappy netbook), played some Okamiden, and read a bit of Kyou Kara Maou. Yes, I know, my life is thrilling. I promise I'll do something interesting again one of these days. But for now, I would like to take this moment for a rant about grammar, particularly in fanfiction.
... I know, I know, but I can't help myself. Lately, there have been a few of these niggly things pissing me off.
1. Anyways. Yes, language is a growing thing; language changes. I would accept that anyways is now a word. In fact, I might even use it. What bugs me is when characters who are in their late 20s up (more so the older they are) and are well-educated and snobbish about their intellect use the word anyways. Actually, the first time this bothered me wasn't in fanfiction, it was in an episode of SGA when Rodney said "anyways" and it just jarred me. But I've seen it in fanfiction recently in a different fandom and was reminded and annoyed all over again.
ETA: I retract this! Or at least to a certain extent. See comments. It has been a word for much longer than I realised, but it's a non-standard variation, so not everyone would use it. It's probably more a matter of shades of grey and personal interpretation as to characterisation. Either way, Rodney using it is not as unlikely as previously thought. (I still don't think bbc!Sherlock would use it though.)
2. Much less. This is a perfectly good grammatical structure, when used correctly, in a way that makes semantic sense. "I can't X, much less Y" implies that if you can't do X, then there's no way you could do Y. For example, I can't even stand, much less walk. It's another way of saying "let alone". And yet several times recently I've run into it being used in reverse. I can't walk, much less stand - why does not being able to walk necessarily imply you can't stand? It doesn't make any sense and annoys me INTENSELY. I got over "I could care less" because that's in common usage and like I said, language changes, and it doesn't always make sense. But I'm pretty sure the meaning of "much less" hasn't changed yet, so I reserve the right to find that particular mistake terribly obnoxious.
3. Okay, this isn't about grammar, but when the narrative can't settle on whether to call a character by their first or last name, it's very distracting. Preferably, if it's a distanced 3rd person narrative, you use the name the readers are most likely to identify with the character - generally what most other characters would refer to them by. If it's a point-of-view narrative and the form of address used by the POV character varies, there's a little more leeway, but even that should be approached with caution.
... on a connected note, people really need to watch the excessive use of epithets. I think I've bitched about this one before, but it always bears repeating. Nothing smacks of purple prose more than repeatedly reading "the blond", "the taller man", "the doctor", etc.
*deep breath* Okay I'm done. Although I do have one question for any Brits reading this - would you call men's underpants knickers? Because I've seen that a few times and it made me curious. Speaking as an Australian, I would only use knickers to refer to women's underpants. For men, if I wasn't using something specific like boxers, I'd probably use a unisex word like undies or just pants. So is this a dialectual difference, or a dialectual cock-up?
... on that note I've been thinking of starting that video game meme, and now seems as good a time as ever so at least the whole POST isn't nitpicky language nerdery. *shifty*
Game Meme Day 1 - Very first video game
I suppose it depends what it means by video game. When I was three, we had a Commodore 64. I don't remember what I played first, precisely - I was three, after all - but I do remember playing Frogger, Bubble Bobble, this game which involved dinosaur eggs, and this game specifically aimed at children which was colourful and vaguely educational and had mini-games that I quite enjoyed, although I don't really recall beyond stairs and a honey pot. Yeah. It was probably that or Frogger, honestly.
If we're talking first console game, it'd probably be when I used to play Super Mario Bros. (2?) on the SNES at the holiday program when I was 7. The first one I owned would've been Sonic the Hedgehog on my Sega, though. Age 10. (Also had Echo, the main purpose of which seemed to be the causation of large amounts of frustration. That game was EVIL.)
Day 1 - Very first video game.
Day 2 - Your favorite character.
Day 3 - A game that is underrated.
Day 4 - Your guilty pleasure game.
Day 5 - Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 6 - Most annoying character.
Day 7 - Favorite game couple.
Day 8 - Best soundtrack.
Day 9 - Saddest game scene.
Day 10 - Best gameplay.
Day 11 - Gaming system of choice.
Day 12 - A game everyone should play.
Day 13 - A game you’ve played more than five times.
Day 14 - Current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper.
Day 15 - Post a screenshot from the game you’re playing right now.
Day 16 - Game with the best cut scenes.
Day 17 - Favorite antagonist.
Day 18 - Favorite protagonist.
Day 19 - Picture of a game setting you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite genre.
Day 21 - Game with the best story.
Day 22 - A game sequel which disappointed you.
Day 23 - Game you think had the best graphics or art style.
Day 24 - Favorite classic game.
Day 25 - A game you plan on playing.
Day 26 - Best voice acting.
Day 27 - Most epic scene ever.
Day 28 - Favorite game developer.
Day 29 - A game you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite game of all time.
... I know, I know, but I can't help myself. Lately, there have been a few of these niggly things pissing me off.
1. Anyways. Yes, language is a growing thing; language changes. I would accept that anyways is now a word. In fact, I might even use it. What bugs me is when characters who are in their late 20s up (more so the older they are) and are well-educated and snobbish about their intellect use the word anyways. Actually, the first time this bothered me wasn't in fanfiction, it was in an episode of SGA when Rodney said "anyways" and it just jarred me. But I've seen it in fanfiction recently in a different fandom and was reminded and annoyed all over again.
ETA: I retract this! Or at least to a certain extent. See comments. It has been a word for much longer than I realised, but it's a non-standard variation, so not everyone would use it. It's probably more a matter of shades of grey and personal interpretation as to characterisation. Either way, Rodney using it is not as unlikely as previously thought. (I still don't think bbc!Sherlock would use it though.)
2. Much less. This is a perfectly good grammatical structure, when used correctly, in a way that makes semantic sense. "I can't X, much less Y" implies that if you can't do X, then there's no way you could do Y. For example, I can't even stand, much less walk. It's another way of saying "let alone". And yet several times recently I've run into it being used in reverse. I can't walk, much less stand - why does not being able to walk necessarily imply you can't stand? It doesn't make any sense and annoys me INTENSELY. I got over "I could care less" because that's in common usage and like I said, language changes, and it doesn't always make sense. But I'm pretty sure the meaning of "much less" hasn't changed yet, so I reserve the right to find that particular mistake terribly obnoxious.
3. Okay, this isn't about grammar, but when the narrative can't settle on whether to call a character by their first or last name, it's very distracting. Preferably, if it's a distanced 3rd person narrative, you use the name the readers are most likely to identify with the character - generally what most other characters would refer to them by. If it's a point-of-view narrative and the form of address used by the POV character varies, there's a little more leeway, but even that should be approached with caution.
... on a connected note, people really need to watch the excessive use of epithets. I think I've bitched about this one before, but it always bears repeating. Nothing smacks of purple prose more than repeatedly reading "the blond", "the taller man", "the doctor", etc.
*deep breath* Okay I'm done. Although I do have one question for any Brits reading this - would you call men's underpants knickers? Because I've seen that a few times and it made me curious. Speaking as an Australian, I would only use knickers to refer to women's underpants. For men, if I wasn't using something specific like boxers, I'd probably use a unisex word like undies or just pants. So is this a dialectual difference, or a dialectual cock-up?
... on that note I've been thinking of starting that video game meme, and now seems as good a time as ever so at least the whole POST isn't nitpicky language nerdery. *shifty*
Game Meme Day 1 - Very first video game
I suppose it depends what it means by video game. When I was three, we had a Commodore 64. I don't remember what I played first, precisely - I was three, after all - but I do remember playing Frogger, Bubble Bobble, this game which involved dinosaur eggs, and this game specifically aimed at children which was colourful and vaguely educational and had mini-games that I quite enjoyed, although I don't really recall beyond stairs and a honey pot. Yeah. It was probably that or Frogger, honestly.
If we're talking first console game, it'd probably be when I used to play Super Mario Bros. (2?) on the SNES at the holiday program when I was 7. The first one I owned would've been Sonic the Hedgehog on my Sega, though. Age 10. (Also had Echo, the main purpose of which seemed to be the causation of large amounts of frustration. That game was EVIL.)
Day 2 - Your favorite character.
Day 3 - A game that is underrated.
Day 4 - Your guilty pleasure game.
Day 5 - Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 6 - Most annoying character.
Day 7 - Favorite game couple.
Day 8 - Best soundtrack.
Day 9 - Saddest game scene.
Day 10 - Best gameplay.
Day 11 - Gaming system of choice.
Day 12 - A game everyone should play.
Day 13 - A game you’ve played more than five times.
Day 14 - Current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper.
Day 15 - Post a screenshot from the game you’re playing right now.
Day 16 - Game with the best cut scenes.
Day 17 - Favorite antagonist.
Day 18 - Favorite protagonist.
Day 19 - Picture of a game setting you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite genre.
Day 21 - Game with the best story.
Day 22 - A game sequel which disappointed you.
Day 23 - Game you think had the best graphics or art style.
Day 24 - Favorite classic game.
Day 25 - A game you plan on playing.
Day 26 - Best voice acting.
Day 27 - Most epic scene ever.
Day 28 - Favorite game developer.
Day 29 - A game you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite game of all time.
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no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 01:03 pm (UTC)And oh man, Grammar. It kinda feels awkward when I'm the one wanting to correct others and it's not even my mother tongue (and I know mine isn't perfect, but... some things just make me cringe)
no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 01:52 pm (UTC)Haha, I know the feeling. Your English is better than my Japanese, at least. Sometimes I find myself going, Namco, your grammar is APPALLING, you should be ashamed of yourselves! orz I think sometimes native speaker errors stand out more to reasonably fluent second language speakers than they do to native speakers themselves, because to learn a language formally you go through a process of having the grammar drummed into you with a much stricter awareness of when something is wrong. It makes one almost hyper-alert to the strict rules of grammar. Whereas if you learn a language organically, especially if you are not an overly academic person, you don't undergo that process.
I say native error speakers, mind, because native speakers will be very quick to pick up on the awkward syntax and poor word choice that can be a symptom of second-language use.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 01:58 pm (UTC)Maybe it's just because I spent my childhood and teenage years reading so much.
Oh man yeah. I cringe so much when I notice I still do those T.T
no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 02:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 03:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 03:34 pm (UTC)anyways (ˈɛnɪˌweɪz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
— adv
( US ), ( Canadian ) a nonstandard word for anyway
It's not wrong, it's North American. Since Rodney is Canadian (?) I see no problems here.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 03:36 pm (UTC)Either way, I still don't think Sherlock would say it, though.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 03:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 03:47 pm (UTC)... Although it still stands to a certain extent in terms of characterisation, since it's a non-standard variation and not everybody would use it. But that applies to lots of things, I guess.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 03:51 pm (UTC)Right. I don't think I've ever seen it in formal writing. But I hear it in conversation here all the time, and not just from my own age group. I doubt Sherlock would use it, no ;p
But remember, here in Amurika "at the weekend" and "in hospital" are grammatically incorrect. This is a regionalism, I think, pure and simple, but I can absolutely understand how it would grate coming from a character who wasn't a young North American.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 03:55 pm (UTC)And I swear they only started using "at the weekend" in Australia after I came home from Japan, because I was teaching from UK textbooks over there and always felt weird every time I had to teach that turn of phrase - obviously I realised it was a dialect thing, but it sounded so wrong to me - and then I got back and they were doing it on all the news broadcasts. I've yet to hear it anywhere that's NOT a news broadcast, though.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-09 04:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 04:27 pm (UTC)