Time for a mini-rant on the English language. I’m somewhat of a grammar nazi. It doesn’t mean that I always get it right, but I pride myself in being pretty close most of the time. I was browsing my blog list and hit Daily Blog Tips. My intention here is not to single them out, as this is a mistake that lots of people make. (This is actually a two for one, which I’ve only realized after copy/pasting the entire sentence.)
How much do you care?
On this post, under number 1, the first sentence is:
“People could care less about your cat, your aunt or your school adventures; and serious bloggers do know it. “
A very common phrase in the English language is “(i/he/she/they/we/your neighbor’s retarded antelope) could care less.” Read that and think for a second. Saying that you could care less means that you care. It means your caring level may be here:
Don’t care (anniversary) |—*———————–| Care a lot (Superbowl)
You may care very little (though the actual amount of caring is not implied), but you still care. The proper phrase that is bastardized on a regular basis is “I couldn’t care less.” This implies that you care so little that you are physically unable to care any less, which is how the phrase is used.
Semicolon <> Comma
I just happened to notice this mistake was in the same sentence. A semicolon is used to combine two very related sentences, but the statements on either side are still complete sentences. “And serious bloggers do know it” is not a complete sentence, so it shouldn’t be used on either side of a semicolon.
Straight from Wikipedia:
- It binds two sentences more closely than they would be if separated by a full stop/period. It often replaces a conjunction such as and or but. Writers might consider this appropriate where they are trying to indicate a close relationship between two sentences, or a ‘run-on’ in meaning from one to the next; they do not want the connection to be broken by the abrupt use of a full stop.
The semicolon should replace ‘and’, not precede it, that’s what commas are for.
Briefly, proper usage of a semicolon: Bad grammar lights a fire in my soul; it burns with rage.
Improper usage of a semicolon: This sentence makes my heart hurt; and I think I might cry.
I feel much better now. To further your knowledge of basic need-to-know grammar rules, check out CopyBlogger’s list of Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb.
Update: The errors were corrected thanks to my belligerence. Someone noticed my quaint little blog; my heart’s aflutter.
14 responses so far ↓
1 Daniel // May 9, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Thanks for pointing it out, just fixed the sentence.
2 fergs // May 9, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Haha, no problem. I’m surprised that I actually got your attention.
3 Gustav S // May 9, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Why would you be surprised
. I will take my time over your explanation to check my posts.
Thanks for having this kind of info out
4 Leroy Brown // May 9, 2007 at 3:19 pm
That stuff bugs me too, especially the semicolon. At the same time, I catch myself doing it too, so I have trouble pointing out the errors of others.
5 fergs // May 9, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Yea, I know what you mean Leroy. It’s inevitable that someone will find me making the same mistake somewhere, but I have a bit of a superiority complex.
6 Shawn Knight // May 31, 2007 at 1:47 pm
LOL good call! I’ve never really thought about “could care less” and its literal meaning. I will have to remember that for the future
Oh, and thanks for the beer! hah
7 Adam // May 31, 2007 at 2:00 pm
My pleasure. It was worth it to spread the word.
8 MonaVie // Nov 4, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Neat that they fixed it because of your article. Grammar has always been one of my pet peeves with websites. Its disturbing to see how much people pay for SEO, SEM, and web design and development, but they can’t do a simple FREE spell check.
9 Diabetes Education and Care // Jul 27, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Generally, I’m really particular about grammar. I’m glad you were able to educate someone about the proper use of grammar.
10 Lisa // Oct 8, 2009 at 3:40 am
Hello
Thanks for the post, its really helpful for those who want to improve their grammar…I m particular about my grammar but somewhat do silly mistakes..
Thanks
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11 tom // Jul 23, 2010 at 7:04 am
writing it in this manner would not give it the due attention. you can provide tutorials.. it would really help.. very useful for those who are particularly careful about grammer and stuff.!!
12 Imbecilic Repellent // Oct 19, 2010 at 7:16 am
I always find grammar rants to be somewhat amusing… Ha-ha! Nice blog, by the way!
13 Perpendicularity // Feb 15, 2011 at 3:14 am
Ahh… A nice little rant concerning the English language. Yeah, many people often forget that it is “couldn’t care less,” not “could care less.” Oh, and about the semicolon thing: There are people out there that really have no clue how to use them; they just slap semicolons down all over the place, with no sense of reason. I’ve wondered before, if some folks think that a semicolon is just some “cool-looking comma.” LOL! Anyway, keep up the good writing……
14 license course real estate // Jan 17, 2012 at 8:31 am
English is a strange language and you will have to read it properly so that you can learn about it
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