Words

[SarDragon]

Since someone mentioned it, and I haven't addressed it in a long while, here goes.

There is a difference between correcting the understanding and accusing someone of trying to "downplay or purposely mischaracterize the situation to humblebrag."

Sometimes, others it's a 2-fer.

Geez.  I thought this thread, by the title and OP, was going to be more casual in nature and just folks posting their stories of first promotion. I'm sorry I even mentioned mine. Some folks just have to get all serious with everything.  The same type of folks we see on Facebook that will sidetrack a thread in order to correct someone's grammar or spelling, as if it is part of the discussion.  LOL.

Yes, it IS part of the discussion.

Posts gain much more credibility and get better responses when they have good grammar, punctuation, and/or spelling in them. They are also much easier to read. Using the shift and apostrophe keys when needed is also a plus. Unlike texting and tweeting, we like to see real words, and complete sentences. "I'm posting from a phone" is not a good excuse.

While this is an informal forum, many posters try to make their posts look good to improve the credibility. Readers will treat posts more seriously if they see that the poster thinks they are important enough to use correct English.

Posts are a look at you, the author, and your attitude. If you don't care how your posts look, a lot of folks aren't going to care enough to help you out, or pay attention to what you write. There are also all kinds of people reading what you write on CT who could help decide your future, particularly in CAP. Senior Members should also be setting a proper example to the cadet readers.

Speaking to the cadets reading this, your languages skills will be important to you as you go through life, and it's never too soon to work on them. CS is a good place to practice them and get meaningful feedback. These language skills will be far more useful as an adult than most of the other stuff that gets discussed on here.

[Pace]

I've been waiting patiently for you to chime in, Dave.

I couldn't agree more. While this is a volunteer organization for which none of us are paid, major volunteer opportunities have been paved or ruined by individual behavior and reputation on here.

By the way Dave, I think you had a Freudian slip in that last paragraph. 

[SarDragon]

The more important a post, the greater the likelihood of introducing an embarrassing misteak.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[winterg]

Proper grammar saves lives.

[vorteks]

I've been waiting patiently for you to chime in, Dave.

I couldn't agree more. While this is a volunteer organization for which none of us are is paid, major volunteer opportunities have been paved or ruined by individual behavior and reputation on here.

By the way Dave, I think you had a Freudian slip in that last paragraph. 

FTFY 

[Spaceman3750]

I've been waiting patiently for you to chime in, Dave.

I couldn't agree more. While this is a volunteer organization for which none of us are is paid, major volunteer opportunities have been paved or ruined by individual behavior and reputation on here.

By the way Dave, I think you had a Freudian slip in that last paragraph. 

FTFY 

Recognizing that we're not in Australia, the below still applies:

http://www.onlinegrammar.com.au/top-10-grammar-myths-none-always-takes-a-singular-verb/

In this case, plural makes a lot more sense because in this case he means all CAP members, which is decidedly more than one person.

More from the APA: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2012/07/all-or-none.html - "us" is plural, therefore the verb must match.

[etodd]

The more important a post, the greater the likelihood of introducing an embarrassing misteak.

^^^ .... See Cadets, humor is ok here. Casual discussions are also ok.

[vorteks]

I've been waiting patiently for you to chime in, Dave.

I couldn't agree more. While this is a volunteer organization for which none of us are is paid, major volunteer opportunities have been paved or ruined by individual behavior and reputation on here.

By the way Dave, I think you had a Freudian slip in that last paragraph. 

FTFY 

Recognizing that we're not in Australia, the below still applies:

http://www.onlinegrammar.com.au/top-10-grammar-myths-none-always-takes-a-singular-verb/

In this case, plural makes a lot more sense because in this case he means all CAP members, which is decidedly more than one person.

More from the APA: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2012/07/all-or-none.html - "us" is plural, therefore the verb must match.

"None" means "not one." Not one of us are paid just doesn't sound right. Strunk and White would agree.

[Eclipse]

Filling it with someone who is not going to use the knowledge is waist of time money and instructors.

Now there's a Freudian slip if I've ever seen one...

[Ozzy]

Filling it with someone who is not going to use the knowledge is waist a waste of time money and instructors.

Now there's a Freudian slip if I've ever seen one...

And spelling... waste, not waist.

[Garibaldi]

Must...resist...temptation...to...jump...in...

[SarDragon]

I've been waiting patiently for you to chime in, Dave.

I couldn't agree more. While this is a volunteer organization for which none of us are paid, major volunteer opportunities have been paved or ruined by individual behavior and reputation on here.

By the way Dave, I think you had a Freudian slip in that last paragraph. 

Well, I showed it to My Sweetie, and she found two errors:

Senior Members should also be setting a proper example to the cadet readers.

Speaking to the cadets reading this cadets, your languages skills will be important to you as you go through life, ...

The none of us are thing is correct.

[SarDragon]

Must...resist...temptation...to...jump...in...

Go for it. That's what this is all about. 

[SarDragon]

Filling it with someone who is not going to use the knowledge is waist a waste of time, money, and instructors.

Now there's a Freudian slip if I've ever seen one...

And spelling... waste, not waist.

Oz, let's get 'em all! Needs those pesky commas.

[SarDragon]

"None" means "not one." Not one of us are paid just doesn't sound right. Strunk and White would agree.

none
    Not any (one) of a given number or group of things. With singular or plural concord.
    Not any person: no one, nobody (with singular concord); no people (with plural concord).

Although uncountable nouns require none to be conjugated with a singular verb, e.g., None of this meat tastes right, the pronoun can be either singular or plural in most other cases, e.g., Fifty people applied for the position, but none were accepted., and None was qualified.

However, where the given or implied context is clearly singular or plural, then a matching verb makes better sense:

    None of these men is my father.
    None of those options is the best one.
    None of these people are my parents.

[raivo]

It might just be the lack of tone that's inherent to non-verbal communications, but most of the time when I see English corrections online, I get the distinct impression of condescension rather than any kind of genuine desire to help people improve.

Even more so in CAP, which has a strange obsession with proving other people wrong.

[SarDragon]

I usually correct people via PM, and I get one of three responses - thanks, meh, or disdain for my having corrected them in the first place. I try to be friendly, but that even fails sometimes.

If you (generally speaking) are making posts that make you look bad, would you rather it be ignored, or have some reader tell you what you are doing to look bad?

[sardak]

This is from the abstract of a study on how readers responded to typos and grammos (grammar errors), conducted last year by professors at the University of Michigan.

Experimental participants read 'email responses' to an ad for a housemate that either contained no errors or had been altered to include either typos (e.g., teh) or homophonous grammar errors (grammos, e.g., to/too, it's/its). Participants completed a 10-item evaluation scale for each message, which measured their impressions of the writer [the 'Housemate Scale'] In addition participants completed a Big Five personality assessment and answered demographic and language attitude questions.

Both typos and grammos had a negative impact on the evaluation scale. This negative impact was not modulated by age, education, electronic communication frequency, or pleasure reading time. In contrast, personality traits did modulate assessments, and did so in distinct ways for grammos and typos. [underlining added, bold in original text]

From the discussion/summary section of the study:
The primary contribution of the current study is the finding that personality traits influence our reactions to written errors. Different sets of personality traits were relevant for the two types of errors.
More extraverted people were likely to overlook written errors that would cause introverted people to judge the person who makes such errors more negatively. Less agreeable people were more sensitive to grammos, while more conscientious and less open people were sensitive to typos.

Link to the study: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/metrics?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0149885

And an article with a catchy title that discusses the study, for those who don't like reading scientific studies: http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/introverts-jerks-are-more-likely-point-out-grammar-mistakes

Big Five personality traits - Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism

Mike