Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Grammar
Bunks
Australia Veteran
Hi @federica - saw this article this morning and thought of you 
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-29/why-your-wrong-to-care-about-grammar/8561860
0
Comments
*you're
runs away
The article is misleading.
It clearly states standards ARE necessary.
It just means that in some situations, perfunctory and pithy commentary is more favourable than long-winded and expansive essays.
Indeed.
Thanks for posting @Bunks
Language but more importantly communication and in dharma even more importantly transmission is ... tricky ...
If it were simple we would all be enlightened.
In Sufi Dharma, language is critical, often having up to seven levels of meaning. For example a poem or story may have an entertainment level, right through to a potential of insight dependent on the understanding of the listener. The kabbalistic interpretation of the Hebrew Old Testament is also dependent on the placement of vowels to change meaning/understanding. Ritual language used in for example Freemasonry can be seen as anything from formal body language through to reality representation/revelation.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics
English is a very subtle and ambiguous language. German is well suited to mathematics being precise. French gives everything gender, therefore it is ideal for sex maniacs and diplomats.
Language/linguistics is fascinating. For example in Tamil, the way one states an object is dependent on where it is in relation to the communication eg. the 'object-nearer-to-me-apple', 'the-same-apple-nearer-to-you-now-apple'. The word 'ma' in Tibetan can be horse or mother dependent on wether one is breathing in or out ...
We have not even begun on speaking animal languages, which also have dialects ... Ay caramba!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_of_the_birds
Enough gibbering
, back to grammar ...
-Brevity of wit is a topic I can really hold forth on :-)
I am almost always long-winded,
I'm always afraid I'll be misunderstood if I don't explain well (because it happens so often online and I'd rather address it all at once then in 15 other posts later, lol)
Anyhow, I find linguistics fascinating, including written rules and breaking them. Sometimes things that aren't grammatically correct just seem to make more sense, especially if you are specifically looking to be casual. Having a teenager, he's like an alien in his language, and it's fun to play with. I use his phrases just to get him to roll his eyes at me. Not grammatically correct in any way though, especially in text.
But I do think knowing when it's ok to casually stray from grammar rules versus using the right way is important. See, right there, that should be either "O.K." "OK" or "okay" and not "ok"
and if I were writing a professional letter I would make sure to do it correctly or just avoid the more causal word all together. If you want good grades, for example, you best do it right, 
Also, if you want results from a professionally written letter, or want someone to take you seriously at work doing it right does matter. My oldest son wrote a well-written legal letter to Delta airlines. Their policies were clearly written but his argument was good enough that he got all his money back from them. Another person likely wouldn't have had the same result with a poorly written letter. Perhaps it shouldn't be that way, but it makes a difference. Similar to how it shouldn't matter in an interview if you are the best dressed or not, but it does, despite what your skills might be. Refinement matters in our society if you choose to participate in those parts of it.
...Really?
Beautiful @lobster
I would have come forth, but I slipped on a banana peel and came fifth
Sorry, it was begging to be said.
Nice and informative post, @lobster.
Minor point, speaking of wethers and animals...
A 'wether' is a castrated ram.
Whether the ewe minds or not, is unknown....
Italian is (in my singular opinion) one of the most beautiful languages, but Italy is liberally peppered with many, many dialects, some of which are unintelligible, both to strangers and fellow Italians! The standard Italian that everyone knows and loves, is in fact Florentine.
Dante - perhaps the most famous Classical poet known from Italy - was a Florentine, and contrary to standard habit of writing poetry, prose and essays in Latin, he insisted on writing in Florentine, thereby making his writings accessible to 'the common man' and therefore making his work well-read and widespread.
With the Unification of Italy in 1911, it was decided that the common language which should be adopted and spoken throughout Italy, should be Florentine, and so it came to pass.
And it was adopted Precipitevolissimevolmente.
And here's the counter......
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-02/grammar-and-english-usage-pedants-should-be-celebrated/8583654
I'm officially a Grammardian-Angel...
You read it here first.