A lesson in archaic pronouns
If you want to use the old forms of words, you should learn how to do it correctly.
More literal sayings and other things
Well, hello! I hope everyone had a great week!
After my previous post on portraying the literal meanings of words turned out quite popular, I thought I might as well draw a few more. This time it is…
Taking Sayings Literally.
Enjoy!
And that’s it for drawings today! But I still have a few more things up my sleeve! Or rather, up my computer fingers!
Seeing that it is (almost) the last day of March, I wanted to make a graphic representation of what my month looked like. Let me introduce…
Really, that 23rd truly was a nightmare day. And the 27th was not much better. Now I just want to go to sleep, but I can’t. I’ve got a few more assignments and stacks of homework waiting for me. Blargh!
However, I should hope that I was still able to laugh as I struggled through the 3rd week of March. This is what made me laugh:
Yes, those are sticky notes all round my laptop screen. It’s my references for said HUGE assignment. I stuck them there because I kept forgetting which author wrote what article and in what year. And then I had to page through everything again when I wanted to quote. That got annoying.
Lastly, I recently saw some bloggers making typography images with all the fonts that they regularly use and I thought it was a very good idea. I try to use only a handful of signature fonts in my cartoons, but if you’ve been around for a while you’d know I have a slight font obsession. So… this is mostly only for my own benefit to remember which fonts when/how/what, but maybe someone could find it useful. So I’m sharing it!
All these fonts are available as free downloads (obviously). Actually I don’t use Elven Common Speak or Lime Glory Caps in my cartoons as they are too hard to read, but I only included them because I use them in my blog signature.
Have a great weekend!
The Idiocy of the English Language
If you are at all acquainted with the English language, you may have noticed some common sayings and words in there that are really silly, once you come to think of it. For example, why is it called a boxing ring when it is actually a square? Why is the load of the ship referred to as cargo, but when a truck carries a load on land, that is referred to as shipping? Actors recite a play for an audience, but then they play at a recital. See? It doesn’t make sense! But that is English, unfortunately. That is also one of the reasons why English is such a hard language to speak fluently – incorporating all its nuances. Ask me – I’ve been there. There are so many things you simply have to know.
If you want to read more about the silliness of English, there is this poem. It is unfortunately not the original one that inspired this post – that one was printed in my English handbook and I can’t find it – but most of the cartoons of this post are also illustrations from it.
Now, without further ado (cliché!), let’s have a giggle!
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You would not believe how many “desert peaches” I’ve seen at the grocer. I always wonder if they are all sandy and dry. And I’ve also had several people ask me if I would live in a dessert. “No, I don’t think so. It would probably be very sticky. And sickly.” Then they look at me as if I’ve gone mad.
What the hell just happened there? Please excuse the language: I just felt that was the only suitable comment to use. 
Yes. And if fire fighters fight fires, what then do freedom fighters fight?
Why do we drive on parkways…
… and park on driveways?
Oh. Well, I just asked the dictionary, and apparently the word “pineapple” is derived from the Middle English word for “pinecone”. The fruit seems to have reminded whoever named it of a pinecone. If you say so. I can’t say I really see the resemblance. Except maybe in the shape.
So sometimes the connections do make sense. A lot of the time they do not, however. But no-one can deny that English is a creative language!
I hope you all have a great week!
I izz Grammar Nazzzi!! Arr!!!
This may be a tad rant-y. Sorry. But I hope it’s maybe slightly funny as well.
How can you not like this little swashbuckling fella? So, you like him, yes? Well then, can you tell me why Grammar Nazis get so much hate? We’re just as swashbuckling as that little guy! Seriously, however…
Things that bug me about bad grammar is neither the occasional slip-up nor an honest mistake by someone communicating in an acquired language. No, it is when a native English speaker communicates in English, but is too lazy to either learn correct grammar, or to use correct grammar. When you try to argue with me using the old clichéd argument “Ugh, grammar is silly and unnecessary!”, you are only strengthening my low opinion of you. When a person with all the advantages in the world tells me that “I can’t be bothered to learn correct grammar”, it grinds across my raw nerves. Why? Because grammar is neither silly nor unnecessary. If there were no language rules – grammar – any attempts at communication would be mutually incomprehensible. If your grammar is incorrect, you will not be taken seriously within any mature circles.
But actually I cannot care whether you will wonder for the rest of your life why nobody takes you seriously. Why I actually get angry about people who cannot be bothered to get even the basics of English grammar correct is because… GUESS WHAT?! I am not a native English speaker!!! So if I can go to such an amount of trouble with my grammar in my acquired language that I have reached the point where am I bothered by the mistakes native speakers make in their language, why can’t you? Yes, you, you advantaged native English speaker who could have learnt English grammar with far less trouble than I had to through, if only you could be bothered.
Of course, I am human too, and I too make occasional mistakes in my grammar. But following below are a few basic grammar/spelling pointers, and I can guarantee you that I never make mistakes with these anymore. So, if you want to do me a favour, and you haven’t yet thrown your hands up into the air screaming “Oh, get a life! Why do you make it your business to be nit-picky over my grammar?”, learn the differences between these words. There is plenty of help for that on the internet – if your computer is too precious to leave and happens to be the reason why your language is suffering.
But there is not one English grammar mistake in this world that bothers me as much as… *drum roll here please*
The titanic battle between:
Yes, there is a difference. A big one:
“your” = possessive. It is used as an indicator that something belongs to you or someone else.
“you’re” = a contraction for “you are”. If you are not sure, try fitting “you are” in its full version into the sentence. If it fits 
! If it doesn’t, you know you’re wrong, and because you are not stupid you will then think whether your sentence has something possessive in it, and turn to “your” if so.
If all else fails, get a good grammar checker. Purr-lease? 
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