Orangutan said:
Skipping the self-righteous condescension.
No condescension intended, self-righteous or otherwise.
Orangutan said:
This is a false-dichotomy. Yes, at any point in time there are certain rules of "standard English," in each locale. For example, the expressions "knock up" has very different meanings in the U.S. vs. England, and could be considered standard in one, but not the other. The real issue is about context: employing the rules in the proper circumstances. In informal circumstances (e.g. blog posts) I find I'm not so concerned about spelling and grammar; however I would certainly take them into account in a formal document, such as a letter of application for a job. At the other end, it's equally unacceptable to assert the existence of a formal rule which has only informal acceptance (such as the current example)
OK, so it's not important to you. We get it. The point is, it's important to many people, about some of whose opinions you might care, or who might have influence over aspects of your life or career. But no one said you
have to care.
Orangutan said:
And now the heart of the problem: no one is wallowing in ignorance, but you appear to be wallowing in smugness. You see, I used to be a pedant, too: I frequently corrected people on failed diction and grammar. Then I noticed something about myself: any error of my own that came to my attention became forgivable...at least until I'd fully integrated the rule into my regular use. The problem with pedantry is that each pedant places himself (usually him) as the standard by which "well-known" is distinguished from "obscure" formal rules. Maybe you could test yourself, here are a few to play with: do you pronounce "fillet of sole" correctly? Is "fillet" of French or Anglo-Saxon origin? What about "forte," as in a personal strength? Do you use "decimate" correctly? Nauseous? Google for "pedant bait" if you want to find more examples.
Let's keep formality in the appropriate context.
Oh, but many
are wallowing in ignorance, and willfully so. You may call me a smug pendant if you wish, but I recognize that I make mistakes every day. And -- apparently contrary to some -- I'm grateful for correction and instruction, readily admit when I have erred or failed, and try to improve my skill sets on a daily basis. The only alternative would be to continue to make mistakes that I might find embarrassing later. YMMV.
Finally, what's most interesting to me about the entire off-topic series of posts about grammar in this thread, is that
neuroanatomist's original observation was in response to something written by the fine folks at Google -- not anyone in the CR forum membership -- and which he led off by confessing that he was "picking a nit." And yet, so many came crawling out of the woodwork to take shots at him, and at anyone who agreed with him. Hmmm.