According to www.urbandictionary.com, a Grammar Nazi is “a person who believes proper grammar (and spelling) should be used by everyone whenever possible … One who attempts to persuade or force others to use proper grammar and spelling … One who uses proper grammar and spelling to subtly mock and deride those who do not; an exhibitor of grammatical superiority.”
Yep, that’s me. It also describes many of my friends. And if some of the items below sound familiar to you, you may also be a Grammar Nazi:
- You don’t “do” texting because your can’t stand looking at abbreviations for words.
- You try to use proper grammar and spelling on Facebook, in email, on instant messaging.
- You cringe when you see ads, articles, billboards, etc. with grammatical and spelling errors.
- You drive your friends and family nuts pointing out errors.
- You might be known to clap and do a little dance when asked to proofread your niece’s 6th grade fiction story.
- You have a variety of red pens and love them more than shoes, chocolate, sports cars or The Hunger Games.
Us Grammar Nazis have to stick together, so when the folks at Grammarly asked me to check out their product, I was excited! Grammarly is grammar checker software that checks over 150 points of grammar, plagiarism, word choice and more. They say that "in 30 seconds or less, you will receive a detailed report on all mistakes and marked up text."
As a homeschooling mom, you bet your butt I try to teach my kids excellent grammar at all times. And when their friends come over, poor things, I'm correcting their grammar, too! I can't help myself. I want my blog posts to be fabulous, and lately it seems like I'm falling down on the job in the areas of grammar and spelling. So I popped this blog post as you are reading it now into Grammarly's easy grammar checker and got this report:
Grammarly found 28 critical writing issues and generated
10 vocabulary enhancement suggestions for your text.
Score: 47 of 100
 Plagiarism |
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 Contextual Spelling Check | 4issues |
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 Grammar | 8issues |
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 Punctuation | 2issues |
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 Style and Word Choice | 14issues |
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Say what? Weak? And here I thought I was perfect. What a shock to my entire being to learn that I need MUCHO help with my writing!
This product is also great for students and writers. I can toss an article into the grammar checker and it's like I just went through four years of college for an English degree, only Grammarly is much cheaper than college! Right now I'm dreaming of all my old articles I'm going to send through Grammarly and then send them out to magazines again (corrected this time!). I am going to be a writing rock star! Nobody can stop me now with the help of Grammarly!
Oh, and at my husband's work they are always writing reports for jobs. I shudder to think of all the errors that are most likely going on there ... and at companies and schools and in homes all over the world!
Grammar Nazis, we can fix the world one error at a time with the help of Grammarly! All you have to do is head to Grammarly's site and try out their software for FREE! Report back here, please. I'm off to contact Facebook about using Grammarly to fix all those bad status updates.
A couple of people this week told me they fret over their emails to me as they're worried I'll correct their grammar...Takes one to know one!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother, mother and father were/are grammar geeks, and instilled the geekdom in me. I cringe at grocery signs that state "12 items or less" and can't stand to listen to news reporters. But shouldn't your third paragraph start with "We" instead of "Us"?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the grammar checker--will try it out!
Leslie, YES ... I left my errors for your finding pleasure and to see if people could figure them out from the report. I never thought about 12 items or less! I hate when a possessive apostrophe is not used on signs ... would it kill you to put that in?
ReplyDeleteKelly, just another way we are kindred spirits!
ReplyDeleteWe'll admitting you have an problem is the first step in getting help. Its better than being in denial all of you're life to.
ReplyDelete