Guest myonlyvice Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'm not a language maven or some intolerable pedant but I'm curious about this since my academic background is in linguistics. I'm confident that, if pressed, everyone who posts here would know the difference between these two words and thus when to use one or the other. Few here bother to make the distinction however. So my question is has it become acceptable to use "your" for either one in internet contexts? It requires two fewer strokes of the keyboard which is obviously an advantage. Perhaps I'm just not with it. Would somebody please shed some light? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators timm525 Posted July 21, 2011 Administrators Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 As long as it is not something like:u r my bff.I hate that crap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philippe Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'm not a language maven or some intolerable pedant but I'm curious about this since my academic background is in linguistics. I'm confident that' date=' if pressed, everyone who posts here would know the difference between these two words and thus when to use one or the other. Few here bother to make the distinction however. So my question is has it become acceptable to use "your" for either one in internet contexts? It requires two fewer strokes of the keyboard which is obviously an advantage. Perhaps I'm just not with it. Would somebody please shed some light?[/quote']My guess is that not everybody has English as their native language, so when conjuring the translation form their initial primary thinking language into the translated English text they are typing - some errors may occur that may not be as obvious as to somebody that masters the language from childhood.So that doesn't mean these people are an-alphabetic retarded peasants who can't write sh**, look at it like textual accents.Or, maybe some are just a little dyslectic...:)The worse is yet to come, if someday English get overthrown by Chinese with its 6000 characters - then we'll be looking into way more typos than ever before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest myonlyvice Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 Or, maybe some are just a little dyslectic...:)The worse is yet to come, if someday English get overthrown by Chinese with its 6000 characters - then we'll be looking into way more typos than ever before... I didn't have non-native users of English in mind here. I'm well aware of the effort required to communicate in a language that isn't your own and I do notice where people are from when reading their posts. Take yourself for example. I didn't even have you in mind when asking my question but still I've noticed for quite a while that you're from Belgium. Based strictly on your location and assuming you were born there I'm guessing you're either a native speaker of French or Flemish, or perhaps both. If this is the case, and English cannot be included among your native languages, your posts are very well composed. For that matter they're well composed for a native speaker even! I really just want to know what is motivating native English speakers who know better to use "your" instead of "you're" when the latter is the one they should be using. I recognize it's a petty issue and I'm certainly not chastising anybody. (Not that anybody would give a rat's behind about my opinion anyway. ) I more than anybody think we've all got badder fish to fry than to lose sleep over how our e-pals use English. Like I said before language fascinates me. As I think of it, I was probably just looking for an excuse to post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cageyJG Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 This is my pet peave:Get a brain, morans!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cageyJG Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 China, take over?! They already bought us, why would they need to take over? Your wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Glide Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 China' date=' take over?! They already bought us, why would they need to take over? Your wrong.[/quote'] hahahaha your the funnest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philippe Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 well aware of the effort required to communicate in a language that isn't your own and I do notice where people are from when reading their" data-date=" or perhaps both. If this is the case, and English cannot be included among your native languages, your posts are very well composed. For that matter they">who know better to use "your" instead of "you're" when the latter is the one they should be using. I recognize it's a petty issue and I'm certainly not chastising anybody. (Not that anybody would give a rat's behind about my opinion anyway. ) I more than anybody think we've all got badder fish to fry than to loose sleep over how our e-pals use English. Like I said before language fascinates me. As I think of it, I was probably just looking for an excuse to post. Well, that clarifies it. I wasn't really defending myself but I know some great people here on the forum who make those mistakes for the reason I explained - I didn't want them to feel bad and stop posting because their English isn't perfect. Welcome to the Tower of Babel.:)Indeed language is very fascinating, take Flemish who happens to be my second language - is grammatically the same as Dutch, but the difference lies in the way it is pronounced.:rolleyes:It's a Anglo-Germanic language, French is a descendant of Latin from the Roman Empire.No need for an excuse to post, we're all pals here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest myonlyvice Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Well' date=' that clarifies it. I wasn't really defending myself but I know some great people here on the forum who make those mistakes for the reason I explained - I didn't want them to feel bad and stop posting because their English isn't perfect. Welcome to the Tower of Babel.:)Indeed language is very fascinating, take Flemish who happens to be my second language - is grammatically the same as Dutch, but the difference lies in the way it is pronounced.:rolleyes:It's a Anglo-Germanic language, French is a descendant of Latin from the Roman Empire.No need for an excuse to post, we're all pals here.[/quote'] Language is fascinating and often difficult. I even already a noticed a booboo I made above. I used "loose" when I should have used "lose". (I already edited it.) This is a mistake I tend to make all the time. Nobody is perfect, especially me. But seriously, your written English rocks. Does it take you a long time to compose your posts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juscat Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 I've noticed a decline over the years in the schooling system with written language, epecially with spelling words....less value is placed on English curriculum. :thumbsdown:Modern technology also plays a part in this. :cry:Your all good, mvnyc! C u la8er! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viceman Cometh Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Did anyone actually define "your" and "you're"?Your is a possessive. "It's your thermos."You're is a contraction for "you are": "Man, you're crazy."They most definitely are not interchangeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest myonlyvice Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 not interchangeable. Word. But it seems they are becoming that way. It's now the context that determines which meaning applies. So is this now an accepted form of internet shorthand with no stigma attached? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viceman Cometh Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 If we allow the internet to erode our use of the written word, the terrorists will have won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philippe Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 But seriously' date=' your written English rocks. Does it take you a long time to compose your posts?[/quote']Thanks, that depends on what I want to write - I would say a littler longer than the average person since I like to ponder about what I'm going to write. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Ferrariman Posted July 23, 2011 Administrators Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Granted your & you're both sound identicle when spoken, hence, some of the confusion. If it's some type of internet shorthand I'll choose to stick with proper grammar thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frey Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Granted your & you're both sound identicle when spoken' date=' hence, some of the confusion. If it's some type of internet shorthand I'll choose to stick with proper grammar thank you.[/quote'] Ditto. It's also possible when people start typing, they forget to put the apostrophe in. I know there have been times I've put quotation marks at the beginning of a quote, but forget to at the end of the quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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