!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Punctuation!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seems that young people (under 50) are easily thrilled -- !!! --and/or never learned correct use of punctuation. These are some of the same people who say "between you and I" (pronouns!!) or, worse, I think, "for he and I." Ask any of them to explain the difference between subjective and objective pronouns. They can't. Nor can they write in cursive ("connected" writing, in my day). They have a limited vocabulary when it comes to adjectives: I cringe at each use of "amazing" and "awesome." Most things aren't.

Face it: We aging Boomers are now old farts. Quality of public primary and secondary shool instruction has declined markedly in recent decades. By these and many other metrics, the U.S. among OECD nations is now an also-ran. (Ask any high-shool student what the OECD is.) And just look at the emoji below. For illiterates, basically.

Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore (I wish.) Going out to pull up some weeds.

Magmccomas, I am so glad to know that someone shares my irritation with this kind of stuff. I couldn't even finish reading the article...

magmccomas said:
Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore (I wish.) Going out to pull up some weeds.

So funny - I thought I was the only one!
When I speak with someone who responds to something I say with "awesome!" I generally reply "You must lead a very boring life if XYZ thing puts you in awe."

Or sometimes having an exchange like this is amusing:
Them) Hello, how are you?
Me) Well, thank you.
T) Awesome!
M) No, I don't think so.
T) Huh?
M) I am well, but I don't think anyone finds me awesome.
T) No, I meant it was awesome that you were good.
M) Oh, I see. No, I do try to behave and follow the rules and to treat people with respect and generally be good but I am imperfect, certainly not worthy of your awe.

Anyway...it can be fun.

"Connected writing" - what an odd coincidence. I had never heard that term until earlier this week when in a gardening podcast an old codger said that when he went to agricultural college he suffered because he wasn't good at "connected writing". It's a perfectly sensible and descriptive term; I've just only known it as cursive.

I agree with everything you said. Well, except I question the use of "pull up some weeds". It's redundant, isn't it?

magmccomas said:Seems that young people (under 50) are easily thrilled -- !!! --and/or never learned correct use of punctuation.

Yes, when I am using FaceBook, there are always grammar police who point out insignificant errors. I always tell them I am sorry. I forget that old people (over 50) aren't intelligent enough to understand what they read if there are any grammatical errors or misspellings. They fixate on mistakes and cannot grasp what is being communicated to them. It is a flaw in Boomers.

magmccomas said:Seems that young people (under 50) are easily thrilled -- !!! --and/or never learned correct use of punctuation. These are some of the same people who say "between you and I" (pronouns!!) or, worse, I think, "for he and I." Ask any of them to explain the difference between subjective and objective pronouns. They can't. Nor can they write in cursive ("connected" writing, in my day). They have a limited vocabulary when it comes to adjectives: I cringe at each use of "amazing" and "awesome." Most things aren't.

Face it: We aging Boomers are now old farts. Quality of public primary and secondary shool instruction has declined markedly in recent decades. By these and many other metrics, the U.S. among OECD nations is now an also-ran. (Ask any high-shool student what the OECD is.) And just look at the emoji below. For illiterates, basically.

Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore (I wish.) Going out to pull up some weeds.

How amazing this awesome post is! I'm literally at a loss..
You really showed us.. Didn't you?!

One of the worst !! offenders I have experienced of over enthusiastic!! writing!! was a woman of 79 years.

I find this all very amusing. Sorry, but it is. And I mean this in a non provoking way.

I will say that it's a little childish not to be able to finish an article just because someone's grammar/education is below your own. They could've had useful information you might have wanted to use. But to each his own.


By the way, I'm young and under the age of 50, yet I've been taught very well by my father and mother with grammar. And I write cursive.

O, Abigail! to borrow from Andrew Marvell : " Had we but World enough, and Time," we could read everything that comes our way,just in case there's some "useful information" is hidden within in it,lol.
But I have neither the time or desire to spend on plowing my way through articles that are poorly written,and there definitely IS such a thing as information overload. Heaven knows I waste too much time on Internet, in any case...
It's a shame that my thread has been deviated into comments about the age of people who post on Internet,and that a couple of posters have used insulting terms toward others in order to express themselves.

Knock it off & act your age. This is a gardening site not scholastic society. Who thought criticizing was a virtue after all. Give people a break.

bart2018 said: O, Abigail! to borrow from Andrew Marvell : " Had we but World enough, and Time," we could read everything that comes our way,just in case there's some "useful information" is hidden within in it,lol.
But I have neither the time or desire to spend on plowing my way through articles that are poorly written,and there definitely IS such a thing as information overload. Heaven knows I waste too much time on Internet, in any case...
It's a shame that my thread has been deviated into comments about the age of people who post on Internet,and that a couple of posters have used insulting terms toward others in order to express themselves.

First of all…I truly am sorry if it seems like I was insulting. As I said, I meant it in a non provoking manner. But I apologize if it came across that way.
Second of all…I agree with you in some way. Most of the time, I don't read articles or books, or really anything that is poorly written. But this IS a gardening site and I find I myself can learn a lot from reading the articles on here, poorly written or not. But maybe you're a great gardener and you don't really have to learn a lot of things any more.

I hope there is no strife between us or anyone on this thread.

This thread is a year old

Frillylily said: This thread is a year old

Yes, but poor grammar and punctuation is timeless.

I can't argue with that, JB. It's too true.

I wonder how cave men did it? Ooops! a piece accidentally flew off and he wrote "pardon waiter, can you poop on my head?" instead of what he intended to say which was "pardon waiter, can you bring me some gray poupon?", shucks, see now he has to find a new rock and start all over. Must have been frustrating.

This writing is user submissions with little to no content requirement applied. I can just pass it by if I don't like it. There are a million other sources of articles on the net. Do they all adhere to a certain set of standards? Hahaha

I like good writing too. I'm not criticizing this well meaning, creative person who took the time to write about, and add a picture of, a recycle idea.

The enthusiatic!enthusiastic!! Person I mentioned before was just a very energetic person who typed the way she spoke. Yeah it bugged me at times. I kept my thoughts to myself as they would only have hurt her feelings.