Taut, Taught, & Taunt Pitches

While we're getting pissed off at people for their language, it really ticks me off when people say Sierras or Sierra's.

If I can't get the tense taught it makes me two tents.

Asking what kind of chord to use as guy line for their Cuban shelter.

> it really ticks me off when people say Sierras or Sierra's…

You got me on that one. What's correct usage?

"And, it's not just incorrect usage of apostrophes, either (its vs it's, there/their/they're),but sometimes an entirely other word has been substituted that changes the sense of the sentence! "
Yes, that second comma does change things a bit.

Youre right.

Lord have mercy!

So I'm a complete idiot, and a totally useless excuse for a human being. I shall slink off now and trouble you good people no more.

Delmar, your on you're own.

"While we're getting pissed off at people for their language, it really ticks me off when people say Sierras or Sierra's."

A man's man uses proper spelling and grammar. Would Mt Whitney be Sierra's Mountain.

"That is what I taut ."

Was taut.

"Delmar",

Yer avatar looks a sight! Are ya havin' a brain freeze just a-thinkin about them thar homonyms?

I gotta stop a-pondering it all becuz my brain's full.

"You got me on that one. What's correct usage?"

Sierras'

> Delmar, your on you're own.

No, I'm slinking off with you.

There is an English verb that describes the act of correcting someone's grammar and either getting it wrong or making a mistake doing so.
I came across that verb a few years ago but have not been able to find it again.
Anyone ?

"While we're getting pissed off at people for their language, it really ticks me off when people say Sierras or Sierra's."

Isn't "Sierras" just an example of Tautology?

"Tautology is a way to express something by repeating or saying it in a different way. This can be used for emphasis, to convey something important, or to add literary beauty to a text.However, many times its use is inadvertent and is just a needless repetition."

Sierra=mountains, Sierras=mountains, more than one.

Second thoughr no. but Sierra Mountains would be. Mountains mountains.

Would "taughtology" also be tautological?

IE to impart knowledge of knowledge?

Tautological overload.

We can avoid saying Sahara Desert (desert desert)and Lake Tahoe (lake lake) but East Timor (East East) is another matter.
Now, West Timor is a funny one (West East)

>Sierra=mountains, Sierras=mountains, more than one.

So, are you saying "I'm headed to the Sierra this weekend" is more correct? Direct translation, "I'm headed to the saw this weekend?" (sierra = saw). Confusing, because Dictionary.com has an entry "sierras" but defines "sierra" then asks the question "What are the Sierras?"

In Google Translate, "saw" translates to "sierra" but "saws" translates to "sierras."

So if you say, "I'm headed to the saws this weekend" a Spanish speaker laughs his culo off, thinking you are estúpido?

So what if you are heading to the Sawtooth range in the Sierra Nevada?

Their (sp) is a great travertine hot springs just at the edge of Bridgeport.

Now I no (sp) where the Sierra Saw got its name

> "The use of spellchecker programs and now auto-fill on cell phones has made people
> very lazy about their writing."
> Since you're using 'spellchecker programs AND now auto-fill phones,' have made would
> be correct, not has made.

Sorry Doug I, but you just failed English Grammar 101.
The noun in the first sentence is 'use', and it is singular.

Cheers

Caffin's good at this. Match the verb to the noun, not to the prepositional phrase. "Has" is correct. And it's one person in a hundred who would correctly spot 'use' as a noun.

I am still searching for the word that describes the situation.
One that is close to it is "hypercorrection"
This is how one linguist explains it :
"Hypercorrection is not simply being fussy or a nitpicker or a pedant. The 'hyper' part, from Greek, means 'too much.' It means working so hard to avoid one potential problem that you end up falling into another one."

Unsuccessfully tried to find what you were looking for Franco but found this entry in the Urban Dictionary was worth a chuckle:

Grammar Nazi

A captious individual who cannot resist the urge to correct a spelling and/or grammar mistake even in informal settings. After pointing out the linguistic shortcomings in others, a Grammar Nazi feels a strange sense of twisted and unconstructive intelligentsia delight.

In reality, they are making someone else feel bad for no reason and unintentionally implying that their "superior" grammar skills are all they have to show for a wasted liberal arts education.

While proper grammar usage is all well and good, a Grammar Nazi cavils even insignificant errors in English to somehow win an argument. Of course, rather than being genuinely persuasive in an argument, pointing out English errors is a weak attack only on the typist's credibility and never has any bearing on the underlying premises and assertions therein.

In other words, this is simply a disguised ad hominem argument which intelligent and logical people disregard.

Still, one should strive to spell and use words properly, but arrogant and unsolicited advice is not a very persuasive way to teach English.

Average High Schooler: So U R their in Britin, than?

Insecure English PhD (aka Grammar Nazi): I am in England studying here at Oxford, sir, and I prefer you talk to me only in Ye Olde Englishe like a good chap because language can never evolve.

Some High Schooler: LOL!!!!11 Hve fun nvr getting laid!1111!!!!

While I don't immediately recall a word for this situation, the presence of such errors are mandated by a variety of Internet laws, "Skitt's law" being one such example. Wikipedia maintains an entry under "Muphry's law" which lists other extant names.

Paradiorthosis may be closer to what you seek, but "karma" may serve better.

Thank you Ian and Jeremy.
I like that karma bit…
Not sure about Paradiorthosis, I remember finding the word and of course almost instantly forgetting it.
But I do remember writing about that term in a forum where some one did just that.