Grammar police.
Replies
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Yes, but a better graphic could have been used. The setting is a classroom where the expectation of grammatical correction is also a socially expected outcome.
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Still fun though.
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Correction should be allowable in the classroom.
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💪👍
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I insist on the correct usage of "can" and "may." Grammar is important. Spelling is important. Sentence structure is important.
I'm not ready to give in to colloquialisms.
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At least they got the borrow and lend correct🤪
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“Not while I’m the teacher, it’s not.”
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Sheldon Cooper validated my pedantry...
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Listen up punks. I got a perfect score on the SAT verbal component, type well over 100wpm, and have an estimated English vocabulary in the 99th percentile and I'm here to lay down the grammatical law;
If your audience understands you then you're speaking goodly, and that is the whole of the Law
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Can I rob a bank? Probably. May I rob a bank? In most jurisdictions, probably not.
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A better way to say that is with the imperative: "Let me borrow a pencil."
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I'm a programmer. Such distinctions can be significant in that context. Also, if you read Lewis Carroll you'll encounter a lot of that. 😉
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Although, if practiced enough, "may I" becomes second nature.
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No it's not.
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I‘m dismayed the teacher lost the support of one pupil. It got worse: We have allowed the #BBC to educate the nation with „… there’s examples of…“ for example!
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I grew up with one. She's dead. I split infinitives now.
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Not grammar. They are both grammatically correct. They simply differ dramatically in meaning.
Learn some English, or maybe sit this one out.
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I'm Spanish. I went to an English school in Madrid, Willougby. They taught me that English were polite people, and made differences between may, can, must and so on. Those Punk days of the 70-80s...
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The grammar police don't know how to write speech bubbles in comics. People read top to bottom, left to right, and this is also the order in which speech bubbles are read.
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Well, there are languages where there is only one expression for can and may. Like Italian. And this influences the mentality of the people. If you can, but you might not, and nobody sees, you may as well.
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Correct is correct and will never be anything but. If correct matters, be correct. Or, as my mother taught me, “just because everyone else jumps off a cliff doesn’t mean you have to.”
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🤣🤣
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Norman Rockwell meme: I believe language should be standardized at the federal level.
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Who is policing whom, here? Both have valid points, but it is the teacher's job to teach and reinforce proper language usage, whereas the girl is just making a snarky interjection
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Owning correct grammar is a beautiful thing, pedantic or not.
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AGPAB
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Nothing wrong with a bit of pedentary. To get the conversation started!!
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Grammarians are to linguists as astrologers are to astronomers
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This one’s a keeper.
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Love the GP!🥰
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I am awful 😖.
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A kid using the phrase “colloquial irregularities” can learn to substitute “may” for “can”
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I forcibly subdue my grammar policing, but still mentally edit poor writing. Progress?
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The Nuns would say; "yes you can, but no you MAY not"
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Can I slap you! May I slap you!
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It's really interesting that all those grammar rules fit around 40% of the time. There's always exceptions! I told my students that English is the hardest language to learn because of the ever changing language and rules... It's not a static language like Latin. I AM silently judging your grammar!
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😂
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Can and may are not interchangeable and should be used appropriately.
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4th grade Sr Anita made a game of it. If you raised your hand and said can I the entire class would say I don't know can you! She was fun.
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And just to add to the mix, it's Maths, not Math.
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Grammar Police here, you’re under arrest for the destruction of clear language understandings with your colloquial ways.
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Can I get a double eXpresso?
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Sorry. I still appreciate correct grammar.👍
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I like the very classy schoolteacher in the picture 🎨
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Good one. 👏 Welcome to America! The student is both argumentative and insolent, not to mention unprepared to learn. Bring your own pencil, etc. to class! 😒
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I know, but it's so much fun when deployed against the "learn to speak proper English your foreigner" crowd, who mostly do not speak (or write) proper English.
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Proper use of language is a strength. It expresses concrete well reasoned thought. It heralds education and discipline. #TACO is real proof of the opposite.
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Clearly this smartass did not have my fifth grade teacher who would have invited her to the Headmaster's office after this.
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I represent this.😂 This is a classroom. It’s where we learn to express an idea so clearly that it can’t be misunderstood. May is asking for permission; teacher wants to know if one is able.
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😂😂😂😂😉communication.
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Hello! We are The Unity Center Cincinnati, supporting families through peer support, education, and creating a friendly environment. Please help us spread positive energy by liking and following our account! 💙✨ #SupportFamilies #CommunityCare
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I remember being a kid, being asked "I don't know, can you?" And thinking it was a rhetorical question, proceeding with starting to do the thing because obviously, yes I can.
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Without the grammar police, we descend into Trumpian ignorance.
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I disagree
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Grammar police. Right There are 171,476 words in current use (and 47,156 obsolete words) All individually spelt Individually defined
Pray tell how many words are in the indecipherable garbage Americans spew on a daily basis?
Rest assured,no matter what you may think,Americans do not speak English
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I love grammar police.... of everything else we are losing, I don't want us to sound like the loser country that we are...
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I always thought that May I was the polite way to ask, not necessarily a grammar flaw.
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What's a "pencil? 😁
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Okay, but I will literally never use "literally" to mean figuratively.
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I agree, if one can understand the intended thought one should stfu about the damn grammar.
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The kid is still wrong. She should learn the difference and use it. She is not qualified to change the language until she better understands it. Also, “may” is more polite. Which is how a student should address a teacher. Her smartass response in my class would have sent her to the principal.
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Score one for the underdog!
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This is nonsense up with which I will not put!
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My mother and the sisters at school drilled grammar into my stupid skull until I could diagram sentences in my sleep. Mom would always correct can and may. I’m grateful. In every newsroom I ever worked in I was always the only staffer who knew it.
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I love this. I fantasise sometimes about having had the knowledge, presence of mind and temerity to stand up to my teachers in that way.
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It's just standard dad joke 101. Intentionally misunderstand something to throw off your (captive) audience. As long as I can laugh at my own jokes, I'm happy. 😆
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LMFAO
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I would like this post but if I did I would be a hypocrite because I often police people’s grammar even when it is not necessary
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Besides “ I don’t know. May you?” sounds really weird.
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You go, girl! Student, i mean. 'Can' the teacher.
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Next week, we'll learn how to act toward somebody from whom we want a favor.
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So many punks in the world.
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Very tired trope. For what purpose are you perpetuating this?
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Why didn’t I have the presence of mind to reply that way when I was growing up? Also had father who would answer yes to friends who called to ask if I was there, & then hang up phone. 🤡
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On the other hand…
https://bsky.app/profile/carebear620
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I am guilty. I may not voice my corrections but I absolutely do feel superior when mentally correcting the grammar errors of others.
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I still remember when a relative did this to me as kid asking if I could use the bathroom
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Teaching would be:
…”the correct phrase is “may I borrow a pencil ..and by all means here you go”
Using the moment to corner a kid until they “get it” (and in front of others) is just being an asshole.
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In that case, I know you are, but what am I?
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"Can I borrow a pencil" isn't even technically incorrect. If the person they are asking says no, then they are unable to borrow that pencil. The "can I see that" when you mean "can you give me that" is at least technically incorrect. Though just as pedantic to say when everyone knows what you mean.
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My opinion is that grammar policing only belongs in an English class and at work, if you’re creating (for example) a formal newsletter that will be distributed to customers. I don’t agree with attempting to grammar police friends, family, or those on social media.
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I was a programmer for decades and a friend's wife (also a friend) asked me an OR question to which I answered (correctly) "Yes" not in a futile attempt to appear clever, she knows me well enough, (there would have been no point,) but just because my brain snapped in that way.
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Pretty sure that kid is modeled off me.
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Well, I talk good enough, so I could care less about those things.
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I had a friend who used to correct people when they spoke. (We both studied and taught English literature.) One day, while he was correcting someone, I just said, "It's rude to correct someone trying to talk to you. We're not in class."
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My mum was one of those……it’s Tuesday not chewsday, children are not baby goats, were particular favourites.
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I‘m sorry but this is bs argumentation, not because it’s wrong but because the subtext is precise expression and wording is ‚pretentious‘. Thus dissing education We currently see where this leads…
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Nobody tops me on four topics:
- Epstein
- test driven development
- Palestine
- grammar
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Yes but it still drives me crazy when people misuse “may” example: “may you please hold” or “may you provide information” nope
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You can, but you may not. There is a difference!
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Get her!!
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In a classroom context it's neither purely pedantic nor pretentious.
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It's all fun and games until "have" becomes "of".
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😂
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From experience, this does not work on your 2nd grade teacher.
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Berating the teacher for being pompous in wanting the student to use proper English by being a pompous azz
isn't the win you think it is.
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While I respect the teacher's response and deplore the memee style comeback from the student it's a piddling trifle compared to the abuse of definitions present in modern day corruption of the English language. Don't get me started on acronyms...
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It was a teaching moment for the other kids on the class, but the little swot misunderstood.
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It’s my mother! It’s my father! It’s my little sister! Bwahaha!
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I wish I knew this back in 2nd grade.
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The kids grammar tirade is pretentious, the teachers joke is not.
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The SCOTUS uses crap like this to defend the Trump administration's creeping dictatorship.
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The bane of people who know their limitations.
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Yes, but..."less" and "fewer" mistakes still piss me off.
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Love this
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The most absurd grammatically correct sentence in English that I know is "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo"
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While trivial discrepancies from proper grammar should be overlooked, consistent grammatical errors indicate a disregard for the reader and reduce clarity. They are, thus, insulting. IMHO
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My fifth grade teacher would strongly disagree.
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I'm saving all my scorn for the use of "gift" as a verb when "give" still exists.
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I have a coworker who uses "seen" instead of "saw". She supposedly has a college degree. They failed her 😔
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Yeah! And starfish ARE fish, in the same sense as "lobster fishery." An amazing thing is how many usage books say "it's fine to split an infinitive, but don't do it because some people think it's wrong."
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If not downright cunty.
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📌
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Well, can she or not?? I’m not going to presume on her motor skills.
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0f @ll th3 gramm@r polic!ng +his i$ b0+h th3 OLDEST & DUMBEST 1 2 focu5 0N!
Get on learning real concerns!
The world has the potential to run you over or completely end so send that 1950’s BS back!
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Always heard, “can is for sardines”
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I can't decide if you are arguing for or against being literate.
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Well sure, but the very concept of colloquial speech implies the existence of a standard. Expecting somebody to understand and practice that standard in an educational context isn't weird or pedantic.
Doing this to a grown-ass native speaker is, however, a dick move.
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@kylethecarp.bsky.social I feel like this triggered every Mastodon user... 🤣
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Well, yes, but…
… in a classroom setting it makes sense to help young students understand the difference.
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Correcting spelling or grammar, whether when speaking or online, is ableist.
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Sad bastard that I am - I'm afraid I believe grammar counts a d the world is a poorer place without good grammar.
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👌👏
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Hey teacher, leave those kids alone!
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Most say can I for permission, so by dint of usage it's clear and correct. And most are happy to boldly split infinitives, start sentences with and or but, and use prepositions to end them with. But apostrophes are a mess in English, often marking possession, though not in ours, yours, its, theirs
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Truly, good people on both sides in this case.
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People who quite dramatically and pretentiously respond “I’m well” when asked how they are make me want to scream. I’m quite aware of the difference between an adverb and adjective, but we’re in a grocery store not a courtroom or grad school thank you very much.
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Now that is a teacher most definitely named Karen.
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Takes all the fun out of Mother, May I?
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More importantly, we need a visit from the word balloon placement police
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She's been watching Mr. Spock again
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Actually "can" is correct. Borrowing requires consent from the giver. Without that it is theft. Therefore the requester is unable to determine their capacity to borrow without knowing if they have consent.
May I take this? (I CAN take it but I want your approval) This is when "may" is correct.
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Seems like school would be the appropriate place to learn grammar.
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She was sent to the principal and expelled for thinking.
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Oh my spouse has been seen!
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Don't ask for a ruler!
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The only time I’ve ever said “I dunno, can you?” was explicitly to be an asshole. Barring evidence to the contrary, I accept that is true for all who say it.
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It is not grammar. Is is semantics from the teacher's perspective, and the student introduces an argument of pragmatics.
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I prefer a more Soviet flavor to my grammar secret police, so I can use this:
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Long ago, I took my stepson aside & told him that when you say Me & Fred went to the store you sound ignorant. 'Might hurt your employment prospects. His usage & grammar improved immediately. Over the years he's thanked me for that advice.
I was told that it wasn't cool to speak well in that town.
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Yeah, everbody have completely given up on conjugating a verb. Even the TV journalists.
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This is a valid argument. However, isn't there some benefit to the human condition in keeping the populace sharp minded?
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Also people at work say, "May you help me" because they think "can" is inappropriate.
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Took them a lot of words to say: "I'm illiterate and stubbornly committed to staying that way".
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slap Colloquial irregularities aren’t a thing, rather they’re an excuse for a lazy mind
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I when it should be ME; COME when it should be GO; BRING when it should be TAKE. AGH!!!!!
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Actually, I’m with the teacher on this one, though I do appreciate the student’s use of the pedantic example. One of my favorite words.
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Gonna use this. Thanks :>
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If you’re going to use words like ‘pedantic’ and ‘pretentious’, you should eschew laziness and employ the proper verb. Can=ability May=permission
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There's no argument. It is pretentious. It requires a good kick to the crotch.
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American Psychological Association formatting is an arrested development.
Defense or Defence?
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Absolutely no need for the teacher to be pointing like that
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There's nothing wrong in expecting our education system to teach the definitions of words and proper sentence structure. May I as opposed to can I is a pet peeve of many educated people. I wouldn't grammar slam anyone over it even if it does make me cringe a bit.
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It's like double negatives. If I say "no, no, no, no, no, no" then am I saying yes?
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I like that the teacher is trying to teach good grammar. I don’t like that the student is a little brat.
Team grammar police.
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M - orons A - re G - overning A - merica
It Ain't Gonna Go Away (~);}
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8AG...
IT AINT GONNA GO AWAY - ODE TO THE EPSTEIN FILES
YouTube video by Cathy Fink Marcy Marxer
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Your right
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That girl is the captain of the grammar police.
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Using proper grammar is a sign of respect and shows attention to detail.
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This is how civilizations collapse. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Manners.
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I had to retire from the grammar police once I understood that English is an evolving language and each generation adds and subtracts from it. 🤓
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In the context of the scene, though, the child is there for instruction. It's literally the teacher's job to correct their grammar so they can learn to speak accurately. Elsewhere it's pedantic, sure, but not here. 🤔
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Maybe better: the Semantics and Semiotics police. 😁
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Me as a child. 3rd grade teacher made us write lines for using "ain't" as it "was not a word". I asked "If it's in the dictionary, is it a word?" She said yes. I pushed one forth, showed "ain't" with note as slang, & said "even if it's slang, it's still a word". She stopped doing that to people.
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My gramma used to tell me, "Remember, you CAN tomatoes, you MAY have another cookie!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🥰😇🥰😇
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Maybe she should've remembered to bring her own pencil.
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It's a distinction that insists upon itself.
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I try to be very selective about my own words, because there are so many wonderful choices of precise meaning, following rules is polite, and breaking them is fun (need a "straight man" for the comedy to land by contrast).
…but I don't care AT ALL how other people talk/write. Screw that noise.
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“I can’t if you won’t let me.”
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The teacher represents doing things correctly, the student represents all the people that insist doing things wrong is okay because it has become acceptable.
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Had one teacher that always responded like that. Infuriating
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She’s a teacher. Her job is to be the grammar police. Why post this nonsense?
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- Have friends
- Correct people’s grammar
Choose one.
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Agree😄
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🤣My Father used to say that! I dunno Can you?!
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A teacher teaching grammar? The horror!
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It still bugs me. 😂
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Both wrong. The teacher should have answered "No!". And, the student should have brought a pencil, and then told no, STFU.
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I learned that lesson in the 2nd grade. I raised my hand and asked my teacher, “Mrs. Carr, can I go to the bathroom?” She answered,
“The question is not CAN you go to the bathroom, because obviously you can. The question is MAY you go to the bathroom, and NO, you may not.”
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I am all for it. Being grammatically clear makes it harder to lie or mislead.
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If a person is capable of drafting that kind of a response, I doubt they’d use poor grammar.
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trying to distinguish can and may means you dont know enough about grammar, lol confident idiocy is a very real thing, it's an illusion that you know everything just because you spent 5 minutes in academy on the topic and are technically "qualified" on it
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As a comic artist, I take more umbridge at the bad voice balloon placement, which in this example has the teacher responding first, then the student asking.
Overall I agree, though. Language is constantly evolving. Drawing the can/may distinction will seem archaic in a couple of generations.
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That kid will never make it as an editor. Writer maybe; editor no.
