4 ms·

<pedantry> Your pedantry tag has no opening </pendantry>

• buckminster 6y ago
  <pedantry> It wasn't a pedantry tag. And yours is differently misspelled! </pedantry>
  • Hydraulix989 6y ago
    Don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
    • steve_g 6y ago
      But sometimes it's OK to break the rules.
      • kmonsen 6y ago
        Not with -pedantic enabled, that’s kind of the purpose.
      • Hydraulix989 6y ago
        Unless you're already calling someone else out for a spelling mistake.
    • ryankemper 6y ago
      I'll terminate this by being so pedantic that we cross over into non-pedanticism. Per descriptive linguistics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_description https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_description), the assertion that it's wrong to start a sentence with a conjunction is incorrect. Ditto for splitting infinitives, ending a sentence with a preposition, etc. (Descriptive linguists basically define the rules of language to be how humans actually use the damn language. It turns out such a philosophy saves you from falling into a lot of traps)
      • giantDinosaur 6y ago
        Unfortunately merely noting 'descriptivism' as if it solves the issue of linguistic prescription doesn't help that much. We prescribe all the time, like it or not, language isn't a free for all at the individual level. It's also _descriptively_ true that many people regard certain rules as inviolable, which certainly means that prescription is, in some sense, completely reasonable: comply, or we'll refuse to accept you. How does 'I'll do whatever I damn want' really handle that? It can be true that it's 'valid' on one level, while being wrong on another.
        • rendall 6y ago
          I immediately dismiss as gauche and lacking credibility anyone who even hints at a prescriptivist rule, so my acceptance goes against prescriptivism. These rules make writing unclear, stolid, dull and uninteresting for no real benefit. In my opinion, parroting prohibitions against split infinitives, ending with a preposition, "snuck is not a word", "'they' is only plural", etc etc not only shows a profound lack of education, this shows an inability to learn, since these so-called "rules" are widely and easily known to be made up whole cloth. To my mind, this is a person who absorbed Elements of Style (perhaps even second-hand from a misinformed high school teacher) and called it a day, believing they understand how English is properly written. Serious red flag for me.
          • asdffdsa 6y ago
            "I immediately dismiss as...lacking credibility anyone who even hints at a prescriptivist rule" Isn't this a prescriptivist rule? Imagine a highly skilled author who recognizes a younger one that misuses a semicolon or has poor grammar; the older says to the younger, "only write with perfect grammar". By doing so, the younger learns more precisely the elements of the English language and the purpose of each device (semicolon, period, comma, etc.). After, the younger becomes a much better writer, and integrates that new knowledge with his or her existing writing. In this way, prescriptivist rules help inexperienced writers hone in on their weaknesses and draw focus to some facet they lack. Any harsh prescription is kind of a red flag for me, because you have to judge yourself by that harshness (fall on your own sword, so to speak). Or, as what usually happens, hold some hypocritical double standard or semantic loophole which pardons yourself while incriminating others.