Stephen Fry on Grammar Nazis

I'm a freelance editor and proofreader, so most people think I'm going to be a grammar nazi, trolling the internet to find sentences ending in prepositions. I don't. If you're a troll and you annoy me, I'll correct your spelling and grammar to make you look stupid. Otherwise, I will only put the smack-down on your grammar if you're a paying customer. Which is why I consider myself a grammar dominatrix, not a grammar nazi.

Stephen blurs the line between people making mistakes and writers being artful with language.

In my opinion, you have to know the rules for your bending (or breaking) of them to be worthwhile. Just like Matisse had to paint a bowl of fruit before The Dance.

That's what I said a few months ago but people argued, "No, you must learn the rules before you can break them." I agree with Mr. Fry.

Vernacular. Plaguing moral scolds and grammar obsessives since language was invented.

Words are personal as well as shared. When you read the word "memory" each one of you had a different, unique mental association. Definitions are born when some people get together and agree on a sort of common denominator association. Language is a relative handle to an objective, shared reality.

>implying he isn't just as pretentious.

Maybe it's just the snobby accent, but this video just oozes pure pretentiousness.

*Do you

Grammar nazis are the sort of thing up with which Stephen Fry will not put.

i don't understand why adults feel the need to correct other adults. well, unless the first comment applies to you or, if you're doing it as a favor for someone to save them embarrassment in the event that they're writing something that others will see. beyond that, i don't see why anyone else cares. if those who do it think that it makes them appear smart - it doesn't. it really, really doesn't. everyone knows you're not doing it to educate - you're doing it to show that you know the proper way to do what 'the other guy' didn't. hooray for you! go write a book or give a lecture or something - somewhere where people will appreciate you. as long as i can understand what the person is saying/writing, that's good enough for me.

Brilliant video! I've always loved Stephen Fry's humour - way back in the 'A Bit Of Fry and Laurie' days, where they played hell with language. Know the rules in order to break them? Horse puckey - we learn the rules from the moment we learn to talk. Girlalive - hey, hound people all you want - guess what happens? They keep writing and talking the way they want. Often at work, too. Look at rap - aint no way if grammar nazis had their way, that that woulda happened. Fry's simply arguing the joy and love of language, of creativity, of art. Write on!

uncorrected, language can devolve into something incomprehensible to others (completely defeating it's purpose). as proof, one needs to look no further than Sarah Palin.

way too long video...

Hey themonkey.

I do agree with you for the most part, but wanted to expand a bit on the 'embarrassment' thing. I do speak up to my close friends sometimes (very gently, I like to think?) in order to save them possible FUTURE embarrassment. Only when I'm quite certain about something, of course, and only when I'm with a friend who I know cares about such things. For instance, one of my close friends used the (to me, non-)word 'irregardless' the other day, and I think I said something along the lines of, "funny how that word has crept into use...". I didn't scold or sneer, I just sort of shook my head, because it really does fascinate me how that sort of devolution/evolution works. Anyway, we had a brief conversation about it and both ended up laughing. Bottom line, he was mildly resentful of having used it for so long. It was almost like telling someone they have a smear of mustard on their face; it's pretty much harmless to leave it, but I'm not sure it's such a bad thing to point it out, either. I would never want to hurt anyone's feelings, but in certain instances isn't it just a natural reaction to defend certain rules/words that one holds dear? Even if one isn't sure, isn't it good to talk about language? I consider it sharing as opposed to one-upping somebody.

You have freedom, but you will be judge by how you use it.

hey 1101,

good post, i competely agree with EVERYTHING you said. i also accept those 'gentle corrections' from friends in the spirit in which they were intended. you sound like you would do the same.

when i wrote my first post, i guess i was only thinking about people correcting the written word/grammar. what you -1101- wrote was exactly how i feel about "sharing" (that sounds SO much better than 'correcting')my thoughts about the spoken word. btw, for me, it would only be about a word - not syntax. english is a living language - let it breathe and grow y'all. expressions and 'word arrangements' fall in and out of favor through the generations and even just different regions. so just relax and it'll all work out...like it always has.

So is this okay?

"Well work until 4 instead of 2 witch was good an had 2mar off but got dem to let me work an im glad cuz i love work its a great way to get away from eveything an keep my mind off of all da bad crap in my life!!!!!"

It isn't hard to understand this, and since English is constantly changing "mistakes" like these are okay?

I was enjoying the video until, as already mentioned- it just got too long.
Some grammar/language stuff bothers me, some doesn't. I agree with the comment that you have to know the rules before you can effectively and artfully break them.

If you can't write properly, you cannot expect to be understood.