Well? What do you think?
I'll give you a hint. It is not the Best Use of Cheese, and I am not proposing that the one and only recipe I ever posted is worthy of a prize. No, it is the Grammar and Spelling Award in particular that I would like to win. Why? Simple. Because I am a huge nerd and therefore that sort of thing would actually be exciting to me.*
In reality, I am sort of disturbed that something like "Grammar and Spelling" is actually notable enough to be worthy of a category. I would like to think proper grammar and spelling should be a given, and as such, I'm sure most of you out there would be fine candidates for this award as well. All it takes is few clicks of that "Next Blog" button, however, to prove that we are not the majority we should be. It's a sad realization, really. Coca-Cola wanted to teach the world to sing; I want to teach the Internet the difference between its and it's.** (See? Huge nerd! I totally deserve this award.)
Anyway, I do not have any particular and specific post in mind that demonstrates my superb grammar and spelling skills and thereby qualifies me above all others for this award. The mere fact that I have written about spelling and punctuation on no fewer than ten occasions, however, ought to be worth something, don't you think?
Here is just a sampling... various bits of proof that I probably care way too much about this sort of thing. Check any of these out as your encore episode for today.
- Speaking Volumes - The one in which one of the nation's premier public library systems lets me down with the abomination of a simple typo.
- It's not you; it's me - The one in which I suggest that superfluous and unwarranted punctuation might actually be grounds for disqualification in the dating game.
- I am the keeper of the semicolon - The one in which I show I am such a nerd about punctuation that I actually wear it around my neck.
- Because I just never get sick of talking about punctuation (and plagiary) - The one that explains just when and how I realized the semicolon is my trademark. (This one is just as much about bad dates as it is about punctuation, so if you've come here for that sort of story, it's good for that, too.)
All right then. Have I proven my point? Then go
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* I am well aware, by the way, that typing three sentence fragments in a row does not do much to champion my claim on this award, but I would like to think there is a difference between breaking grammar rules on purpose for conversational effect and ignoring them willy-nilly simply because I'm unaware of any such rules. Agree? OK. (There, I did it again.)
** Its is possessive. It's means it is. Can we all please just learn this already? Thanks.
17 comments:
I obsess about grammar and punctuation every bit as much as you do!
I'm not sure I actually post about it, though...
You have now received at least one vote. I am going to give myself an award one of these days! Best Use of Guitar Hero, maybe?
I voted for you! You are truly the standard-bearer for all grammar geeks and word nerds! (And you know, of course, that I say "geek" and "nerd" with love, since I am also proudly geeky and nerdy.)
If I was to give myself an award, what would it be? Best Bad Date Post? Most feral cat stories? Hee.
Three votes. I think you've got it. I feel like we should be wearing "Vote for Pedro" shirts or something...Although, obviously they would actually say "Vote for Stefanie"...oh never mind. :)
You guys are awesome. Thank you for induging me in my nerdery.
R, I would give you the Snarkiest Use of Finger-Guns award. Liz, you totally get the Most Posts about Feral Cats one. Good call there. (3Cs, what award do you want??) :-)
You're dedicashon to grammer is, an becon of hope to myself. You may not no this; but my engish suks. Usually its checked by word were I tipe all my posts first. Unfortuanelty: their is no spell checkr in the coments box. I must will go vote 4 U now.
If one doesn't come to mind, then I probably am not worthy since you so readily had ones to suggest for -R- and Liz...
I guess I could be "Least likely to win an award", but that sounds like it belongs in a high school yearbook. ;)
I KNOW about it's and its. Drives me bonkers (next to your and you're). Also? DVD's. Uh...
Did you read Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss? I highly recommend it.
:)
(other thing that makes me cray-zay - I could care less. Well, if you could care less, then you care! You COULDN'T care less. *hrmph*)
Noelle--I think my head just exploded a little bit. Ouch. (Also, funny.) :-)
3Cs--Nonsense! I'm sorry the finger guns thing came to mind right away for R. (I'm sure it's just because she posted, what, two or three pics of her with the finger guns just in the past week?) And Liz came up with her own award. I just seconded it. Hence, my suggestion that you come up with your own. If you want to make me actually WORK a bit for you (heaven forbid...), how about Most Mysterious Blogger? (You know--because you're all anonymous and scared of us and all...) :-) Or best dog-namer... (Weren't you the one who said you once suggested "Ezra," because, well, "What's Better than Ezra"? That totally cracked me up. So, um, I hope it was you who said it!) ;-)
Paisley--I haven't read that, but I've heard good things about it. And I am WITH YOU on the could vs. couldn't care less thing. I think that pet peeve is in my 100 Things list. Actually, I think it's what Darren gave me my "Look at Me" award for last year. Let me check... Yep; it is!! Ha.
AUUUGH! I am such a spelling and grammar nerd as well! (Actually, so is metalia!) You'd never know it from my rambling sentence structure and use of ellipsis ad nauseum... but it's a blog, right? I purposefully use sentence fragments to deliver my point. Yeah, that's exactly it.
Have you ever listened to the Grammar Girl podcast? BIG thumbs up! I'm just jealous that I didn't think of it first!
Stef - There is no voting for the awards. There is nomination and there is begging (with and without bribes), but there is no voting. And, you'll just have to wait and see what you win. :P See you exactly at 12:00am Eastern this Saturday! :)
Everyone else - No worries, Stef is getting an award. Or two. :)
DCCM--A friend of mine actually sent me a link to Grammar Girl's podcast a while ago because she thought I would enjoy it, but I keep forgetting that's in my Inbox and I should check it out! Thanks for the reminder!
Poppy--Oh. Sorry. Consider that sentence above modified to read "NOMINATE me" instead! :-) And I am anxiously awaiting the results!
Actually, the Ezra thing was me telling a bad joke. The dog was named Ezra, and I said "Couldn't they come up with something better than Ezra?" The person didn't even smile. Sigh. I could be "Blogger least likely to roller skate with you" ("You" being the universal you, not you in particular). :)
I confess I don't misuse "it's/its" so much as I just get carried away with my typing. It's always embarrassing when I find that I've done it because I do know better. I usually give people who have written "it's" when they mean "its" the benefit of the doubt for this reason.
Now, eager versus anxious... That's another story. You are EAGER to go on vacation. You are ANXIOUS about seeing the doctor. This isn't hard.
3Cs--Well, apparently I like bad jokes, because it totally cracked me up. Also, you just brought up another good award for R: "Best blogger with whom I've gone roller skating"! :-)
Darren--Oh, I know. We all do that (start typing quickly and don't always go back to proof and end up making some horrible error). I'm not talking about the people who I know know the difference. My exasperation is directed at the ones who consistently use the wrong "it's." I really, really want to teach them the difference!
Also, I was thinking I have probably misused "anxious" and you have probably read it and been annoyed with me, so I looked it up. See definition #2. Sorry to break it to you, but Dictionary.com and Websters both agree it's an acceptable use! :-) (Whew.)
Hee - you totally deserve that award!
Acceptable, sure. Sensical? Not at all.
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