I was, as I recall from when our own languagehat featured this, a GRAMMAR GOD. Anything less would have been deeply embarassing, given the amount of time and energy I've poured into such things.
You are a GRAMMAR GOD!
If your mission in life is not already to preserve the English tongue, it should be. Congratulations and thank you!
(I'm just thanking the Gods that this wasn't another MoFi Do-Po!)
I too am a grammar god. Ramix, I challenge you to a duel of pedantic proportions!
Woo hoo, I be a Grammar God! I winned!
Also a Grammar God. Is there anyone who isn't? Does it give any other result(s)?
beeswacky: A couple of languagehat's readers (see my link above) were what looks like the next level down, but even for Grammar God, some people discovered, there is significant leeway.
I am a master, so it does give other results.
I just went through it and put the second answer for every one and got master as well. Damn, I must suck. So where are the answers?
Also a Grammar God. ISTR that some of these things are hotly contentious for linguists, however (#7 in particular sticks out in my mind.).
Cellar floor, you're on! Light saber or plastic sword?
Geez. We're all Grammar Gods. Our own Monkey Pantheon :)
Boo, you're right, there were a couple which I had to think about, having received contradictory instructions from my English tutors in the past about them.
All right (alright? kidding!), I'll be the first to admit my grammatical mortality. I am merely a Student of the Language instead of a God.
Oh, the shame!
[As an aside, I would have loved it if the results had gone through each question and explained why I broke the rules.]
I agree, I got Grammar God, but I know I got some of them wrong. I'd like to know what the right answers are.
Well, that's it then. Monotheism is out.
Polytheists, rejoice!!!
-Gyan
I'm a Hindu by birth, so I accept my God status gladly.
Apparently I am a grammar god as well, which really scares me as most days I have to think hard (hardly think?) about how to spell the word grammar. Either I had many lucky guesses (would never have gotten the lay/lie/lye distinction otherwise), or this is easier than it looks.
#7 is a dialect division, I think - I was told that Chris' would be American, while Chris's is British. Maybe?
I also cheated and followed rules that I would never respect in my everyday speech, or even writing - I always say/write "snuck" because it sounds better (it sounds sneakier), and I would never butcher the powerful "to boldly go" by rendering it as "to go boldly" - that doesn't sound bold at all. I certainly would never sign up for a five year mission with any captain who said "to go boldly" - how could you trust him to negotiate with the Klingons if he can't even sound decisive?
All of the possible results can be seen from the link off your results page, but, unfortunately, there are no answers.
Pensword.
I, too, am a GRAMMAR GOD. All is as it should be.
I received further confirmation of my God status.
After due reflection, have decided to be a Grammar Gaud, that is, an Ornament of, rather than a Preserver of, the English tongue.
silly damn Sassenachs and their tests
I am a grammar god already, I need not these petty tests. Faugh!
So, anyway, I was reading through my copy of Fowler's Modern English Usage, and there was a bit about the split infitive. Fowler's states that not only are you allowed split an infinitive in English--it's one of the few languages where it's even possible--but to suggest otherwise is racist. After all, it says, the argument that you aren't allowed to (boldly or otherwise) split your infinitives comes from the fact that you can't do it in Latin, and that Latin is supposedly far superior to any other language.
I read dictionaries, too.
There should be a semicolon up there.
I looked at the quiz and didn't bother doing it - it's got too many competing uses that are both correct unless you're excessively prescriptive.
And jb, snuck is just as correct as sneaked - in fact, it has the diginity of age (being from Germanic tense forms, as opposed to more recently imported Latin-by-way-of-French formed, which sneaked is).
GRAMMAR GOD!
MonkeyFilter: Hanuman-like
English evolves. Faster and faster the world changes, and two maybe three hundred years from now these 'rules' will be as dead as the people who came up with 'em. Good riddance. You don't preserve the living. Latin, latin gets preserved. Would you kill English, you gods, freeze it in a 'perfect' moment so that you might always understand the rules? Will you force a battle between yourselves and the rebel gods, those who'd see the language change constantly to match the whims of the mob? If the battle is fought, the only winner will be Esperanto.
Pez, you didn't get the God status, did you?
Add another Grammar God to the Pantheon.
*claps hands* Minion! A pitcher of mai tais, please. And don't forget the little paper umbrellas.
You are a complete and utter BASTARDIZATION of the English tongue!
Unless this is your third language, there is absolutely no excuse for your ignorance. You shame us with your speech. Go back and finish your schooling, bastard.
Is this better than being a Grammer God?
Well of course I got Grammer God ;)
I'm surprised there weren't more questions about apotrophes there. So many people can't grasp at all where an apostrophe goes.
The only one I keep on forgetting is "its" and "it's". Since by the rule of possession or or cutting down the "is" both state to have an apostrophe, I know one of them is the exception. Anyone else forget this one a lot?
I am a Master...
You are a MASTER of the English language!
While your English is not exactly perfect, you are still more grammatically correct than just about every American. Still, there is always room for improvement...
rodgerd - I had heard that "to sneak" was one of the verbs that has been weak ("sneaked") for a long time, if not always, but "snuck" is coming around for people thinking the strong version is older and so more correct. Or maybe I'm wrong - I also heard the same thing about "dived" and "dove" (where again I would favour the strong on an aesthetic basis - is there any case where the weak sounds better?)
Another Grammar God takes his seat on the Pantheon.
Vyse--after messing up its and it's enough, that's one of the rules I've got nailed down. Commas still seem to mess me up though. I guess I'm just comma-happy.
*claps hands, too* Minion! While you're at it, bring me some cockpunch! Oh! And a banana or two.
jb, I've always thought that "waked" sounded better than "woke".
First I got master, then I saw the comment above and noticed that "snuck" is "wrong", so I went back and changed it. Then I noticed I read one of the other questions wrong, so I changed that. Then I googled the plural of "Mr.", but I got that one right, so I left it. Now I am a God.
But what kind of weenie bitches about "to boldly go"?
But what kind of weenie bitches about "to boldly go"?
People who hate Star Trek.
I am a MASTER of the English language!
Gee, I only speak it regularly since a couple of years.
(It's my third language actually)
That should be:
"It has only been a couple of years since I started speaking English regularly".
Can you hear the drums Fernando?
Since many years I haven't held a rifle in my hands.
jb: Many people claim the weak does sound better (advocates of sneaked and hanged, presumably). I challnge them to start using "runned" instead of "ran".
Oh - I also stop myself from saying "hung", but its still grudging. I don't know why but being sentanced to be "hung from the neck until dead" just sounds scarier.
How can I be a grammar god if I can't remember the difference between nominative and objective case?
Actually, I did manage to grab the God status. Not really sure how. I dunno, I think the language is quite capable of defending itself. That's why one doesn't hear words like 'prithee' much anymore.
I am a grammar god.
Now give me two Whoppers Deluxe.
/The Onion
You are a GRAMMAR GOD!
I'm gunna go ahead and take that with a grain of salt:
#7. __________ faced turned a bright shade of red.
Chris'
Chris's
Chrises
Chris
Chriss
Crisis!
...always thought that "waked" sounded better than "woke".
Caution: the two aren't always to be used interchangably, though.
Waked for many Gaels refers to the get-together of friends and family after a person dies, an occaision wherein the talk centers on the dead person's character and deeds, this usually being accompanied by food and strong drink. [In the old days a wake could be quite a lengthy business, and might involve turning the mirrors of the house face-to the walls and keeping a sharp look-out lest a small soul-stealing/malefic animal try to sneak in, etc.] So one might say, "We waked old Malcolm last Saturday' but would never say in this context, "We woke old Malcolm last Saturday'.
Wow, that's a good thing to know, beeswacky. The Chinese have the same practice of covering up mirrors when someone in the family dies.
"The only one I keep on forgetting is "its" and "it's". Since by the rule of possession or or cutting down the "is" both state to have an apostrophe, I know one of them is the exception. Anyone else forget this one a lot?"
"Its" is used for indication of possession, and "It's" is the contraction for "it is" (It's the possessive exception that makes the rule, and distinguishes "its" (possessive) from "it is" - a contraction)
Think:
"It's disturbing to think about appostrophes when an alien is pointing its phaser at you."
As in, "It is disturbing.."(Lousy example, but it was the best thing I could come up with on-the-fly.)
PS Did I make sense?
I too am god of all grammar. I took a good grammar quiz a few months ago via some newspaper, but I can't remember what it was. got 12/12 there, but it was great because it explained why correct answers were correct and what was wrong with the others.
Grammar God
Grammar God
Grammar God
Grammar God
Grammar God
a god am i. hey, frogs, joing the crowd... damn, if only being a god in this thread meant something...
I'm a grammer god, too - I ain't got no bad English whatever!!
Yeah, whoever came up with this quiz is clearly a polytheist...
For verily I, too, am a grammar god!
If your mission in life is not already to
preserve the English tongue, it should be.
Congratulations and thank you!
While your English is not exactly perfect,
you are still more grammatically correct than
just about every American. Still, there is
always room for improvement...