Where Do You Fall on the Grammar-Stickler Scale?

[Valkyrie]

Instead of the monthly "Chicago Style Workout" quiz, they decided to do something fun for the New Year.  So where do you fall on the Grammar-Stickler Scale?  I'm a big ol' eight.  As inflexible as a steel rod.   

 

http://cmosshoptalk.com/2018/12/20/where-are-you-on-our-grammar-stickler-sliding-scale/?fbclid=IwAR15RB2brDalmXmACF4SfQrr12mrVKvRH0U7oibPJsthHdI4RiEVtbZTaOs

[drpaladin]

I am a nine.

[Valkyrie]

15 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

I am a nine.

 I bet @Cia is a ten.   

[Timothy M.]

I don't have to take the test to know I'm in the 8-10 range, probably a ten for Danish grammar.  

[Valkyrie]

6 minutes ago, Timothy M. said:

I don't have to take the test to know I'm in the 8-10 range, probably a ten for Danish grammar.  

I was surprised I wasn't a ten.    I'm slipping.   

[Cia]

Actually, I'm an 8. It depends on usage. Sometimes popular usage does outweigh "correct" usage, especially when it comes to writing fiction. It all depends on the characters and usage the author is going with (narration versus dialogue). Certain things I am a super big stickler on like people are who, not that. Dialogue punctuation is HUGE because I think even if people don't know they know the rules, done incorrectly, it does distract readers. 

 

I like these kinds of topics because it shows respect for the craft when authors want to know or improve the basics. 

[Thorn Wilde]

*hides* I only got a six.... But there are a lot of things not covered here that I'm really militant about. 

[Valkyrie]

11 minutes ago, Cia said:

Actually, I'm an 8. It depends on usage. Sometimes popular usage does outweigh "correct" usage, especially when it comes to writing fiction. It all depends on the characters and usage the author is going with (narration versus dialogue). Certain things I am a super big stickler on like people are who, not that. Dialogue punctuation is HUGE because I think even if people don't know they know the rules, done incorrectly, it does distract readers. 

 

I like these kinds of topics because it shows respect for the craft when authors want to know or improve the basics. 

This is exactly why I got the eight.  I don't have a problem seeing "10 Items or Less" because every item-restricted lane in the country is labeled that way, grammatically correct or not.  I also don't generally say 'whom' in conversation, although I do admit I will occasionally.  

[MacGreg]

OK, before I begin, are these questions aimed at written grammar or spoken grammar?

[Valkyrie]

20 minutes ago, MacGreg said:

OK, before I begin, are these questions aimed at written grammar or spoken grammar?

It's a combination of both. 

[Efmaer]

I was quite surprised to score an 8. Using 8 instead of the correct eight made me flinch.

[MacGreg]

I got a nine. I decided to pass on the proper usage of whom in speech, because I don't consistently say it myself.

"This one's more perfect" made me physically cringe, though.

I promise, I'm not a grammar-stickler...

[Valkyrie]

2 minutes ago, MacGreg said:

I got a nine. I decided to pass on the proper usage of whom in speech, because I don't consistently say it myself.

"This one's more perfect" made me physically cringe, though.

I promise, I'm not a grammar-stickler...

Yeah, I cringed at that one too.  

[Thorn Wilde]

Using “whom” in conversation is one of the ones I did tick.  Cause I do that. Consistently. Where applicable.

 

I read somewhere once, “Why don’t people like copy editors when we’re such nice people out with whom to hang?” (I’m not that bad...)

 

And yeah, “this one’s more perfect” is terrible.

Edited December 29, 2018 by Thorn Wilde

[Thorn Wilde]

Redid it for shits and giggles and got 7. Not sure what I did differently...

[Efmaer]

Retook it and admitted I actually use whom and she properly and got the expected 10.

[Jdonley75]

Sure, I'll play your little game.

 

*takes the test and gets a 4*

 

This test is broken!

[Thorn Wilde]

18 minutes ago, Efmaer said:

Retook it and admitted I actually use whom and she properly and got the expected 10.

 

See, I just plain disagree with that she. It doesn't make grammatical sense to me. It doesn't make linguistic sense when you compare it to many other germanic languages with comparable sentence structure. In Scandinavian languages, you'd use the equivalent to 'her', unless you're following 'she' with 'is'. 'Everyone is smarter than she is', or 'everyone is smarter than her'. I guess that's where the dissonance lies with me. 

[Efmaer]

English may technically be described as Germanic, however in reality its much more...piratic. It has no qualms about following another language down a dark alley and heartlessly molesting it for loose grammar, making the other language feel dirty and used.

[Former Member]

I got a five. I’m sure there are many authors I’ve PM’s who’d be shocked the number is so low! California English is much more relaxed than the version they speak in Chicagoland. We’ve had a bigger infusion of non-Indo-European languages here along the Pacific Rim.

[Backwoods Boy]

I consider myself to be very militant.  I got eight because, as with others above, it depends on usage.  I felt the scope of the questions was limited.  There were no punctuation questions, for example.

[Reader1810]

10 hours ago, Thorn Wilde said:

*hides* I only got a six.... But there are a lot of things not covered here that I'm really militant about. 

I’m a six, too. This test is rigged, I say! 🤨

[Brayon]

9... I'm surprised. 😯

[Thorn Wilde]

11 hours ago, Efmaer said:

English may technically be described as Germanic, however in reality its much more...piratic. It has no qualms about following another language down a dark alley and heartlessly molesting it for loose grammar, making the other language feel dirty and used.

 

That may be true, but sentence structure is Germanic. Most of the grammar is Germanic in nature. It's the vocabulary that's become so bastardised. Even there, most common loan words came from Norse, not from Romance languages. English is about 90% Germanic. I stand by my previous statement. (Though it's worth noting that in German you would use sie, not hir in this sentence, just like the supposedly 'correct' English sentence.)

[Thorn Wilde]

8 hours ago, droughtquake said:

I got a five. I’m sure there are many authors I’ve PM’s who’d be shocked the number is so low! California English is much more relaxed than the version they speak in Chicagoland. We’ve had a bigger infusion of non-Indo-European languages here along the Pacific Rim.

 

Chill as a surfer boy.