grammar manners

As a writer who covers the video game industry, I often find myself combing the forums and comment sections to get a feel for what the more enthusiastic gamer crowd is liking/disliking. While I do occasionally gather some valuable insight, either in the form of an interesting perspective or an eerie kind of mob-think that teaches me what not to do, there is one thing that always sticks out: the grammar errors.

Now, as an English major, people harbor some odd assumptions. For one, they assume I know every single word in the English language, and even though dictionary.com (which I use quite frequently) is just a few keystrokes and mouseclicks away, they'll inevitably turn to me and go, "Hey, English major, what does this word mean?"

This brings me back to grammar. In addition to the definition thing, people assume that I, having studied English in college, am a Grammar Nazi. Not so! I say. That's not to say I don't notice the errors, but just that I don't care enough to correct people on their mistakes. Hey, everybody slips up, whether it be occasional or consistent.

However, there are times, as I glance through the comments sections (and hell, even the actual posts themselves), where I come across that one little grammar error that trigger that twitch in my eye like all pet peeves do. I'm ok with spelling errors, omitted words, and misused words (such as 'affect' and 'effect'), but one grammar mistake that I consistently see consistently bugs the shit out of me: the use of 'there', 'their', and 'they're'.

Now, I still don't correct the errors, but damn, is it annoying. And for some odd reason, misuse of this particular set of homonyms annoys me so much more than when people confuse 'your' and 'you're' or 'two', 'to', and 'too' (although seriously, mixing up 'two' with anything else is pretty sad).

When I read these people's words, hidden behind the convenient mask of anonymity, I feel like screaming through the screen, "Damn it! 'Their' is the possessive one! 'They're' means 'they are'! Study your effin' contractions!"

Ultimately, though, I let it go. There are bigger things to worry about. And, should signs of some inner grammar ocd emerging, I take a look at my early Xanga posts. It's...all rather embarassing, and keeps me in check. Again, people slip up. After all, they're's no point in going their - there not worth it.