Grammar Nazi wank-off thread

[Hehulk]

One of these days I'll learn greek, I will!

[eion]

The start of the line below the addressee greeting should be capitalised.

This, as far as I was always taught. I'll check with Strunk & White when I get home.


I'm not sure I'd put too much stock in the advice on that page, though. Some other gems:

Avoid Jargon whenever possible.

"Jargon" is not a proper noun. It comes from Old French, and originally referred to the chattering noises made by birds. Sometimes one may want to use jargon, typically because it is a term of art with very specific meaning.

Avoid using the passive. For example write, ‘We sent you that letter by mistake’, rather than the more pompous, ‘Our letter was sent in error’.

This is bad advice. It's not a matter of pomposity, it's a matter of emphasis. In the example given, where the writer presumably wishes to soften the statement they're making, the passive voice is absolutely appropriate. To give another example from a legal advocacy context:
"On March 22, 2007, two men robbed the Natwest branch on the High Street."
as opposed to:
"On March 22, 2007, the Natwest branch on the High Street was robbed by two men."
It should be pretty clear which one sounds better if you were prosecuting such a case, as opposed to defending it.

Don’t let your feelings get the better of you.

Well, yes. Who would have thought that a business letter should be... businesslike?

Don’t try to be too clever.

Pfffft.

[spoodie]

How many other people have been taught letter writing I wonder. I learnt it in YTS "college", for the obvious reason that they wanted us to go out and get a job and this skill was essential, which was the point of the organisation. But is it taught it schools? Even these days it's got to be useful.

[Lateralus]

I don't remember ever being specifically taught letter writing, except perhaps by my parents. They both put a lot of emphasis on the correct use of English, in part due to their jobs (Ma was an editor for a publication at one point, and Pa still publishes a lot of reports) which has clearly rubbed off on me.

I think letter writing is still important, but it should be combined with writing emails too. In my experience, emails have a tendency to make people write much more informally than they would in a letter, so times inappropriately so.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

sometimes inappropriately so.

[eion]

I don't remember ever being specifically taught letter writing, except perhaps by my parents. They both put a lot of emphasis on the correct use of English, in part due to their jobs (Ma was an editor for a publication at one point, and Pa still publishes a lot of reports) which has clearly rubbed off on me.

I think letter writing is still important, but it should be combined with writing emails too. In my experience, emails have a tendency to make people write much more informally than they would in a letter, some times inappropriately so.

Fix'd.

I was taught to write letters in prep school (to the extent that you learn something like that when you're eleven or twelve years old), again for GCSEs (I think it was even on the syllabus), and then in law school too.

I don't see e-mail writing as being an especially different skill from letter writing, except that e-mail can be used for everything from business communications to Post-It note-type subject matter. For anything much more formal than a business letter, I use dead trees and handwriting (with a fountain pen, of course ).

[Lateralus]

Cheers for that, my skittery fingers at fault again. I keep pressing shift to capitalise the first letter of a sentence, but releasing it before I've actually typed the letter.

[Anhamgrimmar]

Ye Gods, i'm getting flashbacks to having to write a Gen App, for my posting down to benson......


Sir,
I have the honour to request that..................................
$enter request here

Your servant,
$Number $Rank $Name

I had such a headache after finishing it, because i had no guidance, but a whole lot of "Well i wouldnt write that, what you wanna do is...."

[spoodie]

They both put a lot of emphasis on the correct use of English

Well, that explains things then.

I agree emails should be treated as letters when used in a formal situation like applying for a job and the same rules applied with a few modifications. For instance postal address and date needn't be added in the usually place as they're superfluous on an email. Unless the recipient needs your postal address, but then it would probably be in the body of the email rather than part of the header.

[amblin]

.

[eion]

Tries to resist...

Fails...

For instance postal address and date needn't be added in the usually place as they're superfluous on an email.

[spoodie]

For that I demand you invite a working grammar checking addon for Firefox.

[Lateralus]

i fink dis thread shud be deleted b4 it gets stoopid.

[eion]

For that I demand you invite a working grammar checking addon for Firefox.

Firefox? I use Internet Explorer and the "Preview" button.

(also, you seriously don't want to use any software I've ever written.)

edit: I'm getting tired of correcting your mistakes

[spoodie]

For that I demand you invite a working grammar checking addon for Firefox.

OK, I've seen my mistake but I'm not correcting it. INVITE me one dammit!

[amblin]

.

[spoodie]

I use Internet Explorer

[eion]

Pfffft.

[FatherJack]

I was taught letter writing in junior school, then again in the punctuationy bits of early secondary school. With a quill.

I far more enjoyed essay writing, once I cottoned on that any given assigned could be twisted into story writing*, and was graded more on clarity and entertainment factor than precise use of syntax.

* The "What did you do on your holiday?" one where I described a series of out-of-body experiences and memories of past lives was a particular favourite of my teacher's.

[Lateralus]

With a quill.

Pfffffffft.

While we're in the mood, assignment?