Internet slang appears and becomes fashionable among young people. It is characterized by such features as a special distortion of spelling (“preved”, “cho”, “malyffka”, etc.), as well as a tendency to abbreviate words (“norm”, “sps”, etc.). Internet users are divided into those who believe that one must be literate both online and in life (such people online are nicknamed “grammar Nazis” or grammar nazi) and those who do not consider it a matter of principle to follow the rules of the Russian language .
Common features
It is necessary to distinguish the concept of a literate person from the concept of a grammar nazi. As a rule, ordinary literate people do not boast about their literacy online and do not try to teach the surrounding participants in forums and chats about spelling. The opposite applies to representatives of this Internet trend. They try to point out to everyone their mistakes in spelling, punctuation and even style. Such people often succumb to provocations from other participants in forums and chats, which makes them angry, and communication descends into mutual insults.A related movement to the “Grammar Nazi” is called purism. Its participants oppose the presence in their native language of words borrowed from other languages.
The situation with the Ukrainian language
In Ukraine, more than half of the population speaks Russian. But it often leaves much to be desired. Due to the close integration of Russian and Internet sectors online, there are frequent disputes between the Russian-speaking population, for whom Russian is the main language, and the Ukrainians, for whom Russian is not. Therefore, “Grammar Nazis” can appear both from the Russian side and from the Russian side.A classic example of mixing languages is the so-called Surzhik, which is a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian language norms. It is typical for the eastern parts of Ukraine and the western regions of Russia.
Tendency to join the “Grammar Nazis”
As a rule, people aged 20 to 30 become “Grammar Nazis”, for whom the Internet plays a more business than entertainment role. They can create their own forums, groups on social networks and communities on blogs. There they communicate, argue about the rules of the Russian language, organize meetings of participants, etc. Particularly aggressive groups may agree on a coordinated attack on anyRecently I came across this several times Russian language reminder, prepared by Irina Belyaeva from the subtitle formation group
information programs. The document seemed extremely interesting to me, so I saved it and slightly adjusted it to suit myself. I will post my version here, and if someone needs the original, then look for it yourself - I have provided you with all the necessary information for the search.
Today I would like to touch on the topic of the Russian language. I want to warn you right away that I myself am not an ardent grammar Nazi, despite the title of the post. But I must admit that I love literate texts. Unfortunately, the trend is that literacy among young people is rapidly falling. I noticed this in all the companies where I worked. It is especially surprising for me to observe the total illiteracy of webmasters, marketers and other people whose work is related to text.
I don’t consider myself a very literate person, although I studied very well and have a certain degree of innate literacy. My self-esteem of my knowledge of the Russian language dropped sharply when I started writing my first book for a publishing house. You are probably aware that any text, even from the most famous writer, is checked by a proofreader and editor. So, when I sent the material I had prepared to the publishing house, I received my work back, completely corrected in red. Entire paragraphs, sentences, and words were underlined on almost every page. For each correction, the editor left his comments, which he greedily absorbed. A whole new world opened up for me. The following books were easier for me. Since then, I have been more strict with my tests, trying to keep the bar at a certain height.
Moreover, I always correct any mistakes I notice in old entries. It's no secret that sometimes recordings are made spontaneously and in a hurry. The browser's built-in spell checker doesn't always help. And re-reading old entries, sometimes you come across typos and errors. I am also always grateful to those who send comments on the texts. At the same time, other people often get offended when I point out mistakes to them. This happened to many work colleagues. Imagine, a person spent the whole day typing a large document, then it was approved by his superiors, converted to PDF and posted on the website. And here I declare that in the word robot error. Naturally, you don’t really want to correct a single error that most people won’t even notice when reading. But I always correct my mistakes, because I feel awkward in such a situation.
At the moment, there are not many truly literate sites and blogs with normal literary language. The Internet has given birth to a new culture where everyone can express their thoughts. But not everyone does it beautifully. When there are too many mistakes on the pages, it is unpleasant to be on such a site.
To keep the number of errors to a minimum, I am posting the revised memo here. In the original memo, at first it was about the long-suffering letter Yo. In principle, I understand people who avoid it - this letter is very difficult to type, it is located somewhere on the top side and is difficult to reach even with touch typing. I usually don't use this letter in letters or online communications. But recently I decided to use it in my notes as a sign of respect for the Russian language.
And here is the revised memo itself, so that it is always at hand.
PUNCTUATION MARKS
- At the beginning of a sentence HOWEVER The comma is not highlighted.
- A dash is placed before This, it is, this means, Here, if the predicate is attached to the subject through these words.
- In the names of routes like Simferopol - Yalta, a dash with spaces is required, quotes are not needed. The conventional names of the highways are enclosed in quotation marks: the Don highway.
- In complex conjunctions a comma is used ONE once: either in front of the whole union, or in the middle: in order to, especially since. At the beginning of a sentence, complex conjunctions are usually not divided: In order to obtain seedlings , you need to fill out the coupon and send it to the address.
- If the conjunction AS means “as a quality”, then before AS there is a comma not placed. For example: I speak as a writer (as a writer).
- A subordinate clause without a main clause is not used, so you cannot break a complex sentence with a period. For example, incorrectly: “They couldn’t put out the fire. Because there was no helicopter."
- A colon is placed in a complex sentence if the following words can be inserted in place of the colon: What; namely; because, And saw/heard/felt that. I ask you one thing (namely): shoot quickly. I also remember (that): she loved to dress well.
- A dash is placed in a complex sentence if it is possible to insert between the parts: conjunction And, But or A, That's why, as if, This. A dash is also placed if the following can be inserted before the first part: When, If. Ignat pulled the trigger - (and) the gun misfired. I am dying - (therefore) there is no need for me to lie. (When) I drove here, the rye began to turn yellow. (If) It rains, there will be fungi.
MISCELLANEOUS
- The pronouns you and your are capitalized as a form of polite address to one person. For example: I ask you..., We inform you... When addressing several persons, these pronouns are written with a small letter. For example: dear colleagues, your letter...
- “... in the amount of 50 rubles.” The preposition B is not needed!
- Correct: power lines
- Unions ALSO And SAME are written together if they can be replaced with each other. If such a replacement is impossible, then these are not conjunctions, but combinations of the demonstrative pronoun TO or SO with the particle ZHE, which are written separately. Particle SAME in this case, you can often simply omit it.
- Pretext DESPITE written together: We set off, despite the rain.
- It is not advisable to use collective numerals (two, three) with words denoting occupation, position or title. Those. It’s better to write two presidents, three academicians (rather than two presidents, three academicians).
- Correct: put on the agenda, but stay on the agenda.
NUMBERS, SIGNS, ABBREVIATIONS
1. Centuries are indicated by Roman numerals.
2. The sentence does not begin with numbers.
3. Signs No., % of the number are not separated by spaces.
4. Incremental (literal case ending) is used in writing ordinal numbers: 11th grade student; 1st car from the center; 5th difficulty level; take 2nd and 3rd places; in the early 90s. The extension must be one-letter if the last letter of the numeral is preceded by a vowel sound: 5th (fifth, fifth), 5th (fifth), and two-letter if the last letter of the numeral is preceded by a consonant: 5th, 5th.
5. The international standard for marking time, also adopted in Russia, is through a colon: 18:00.
6. To denote large numbers (thousands, millions, billions), combinations of numbers with the abbreviations thousand, million, billion are used, rather than numbers with a large number of zeros.
7. There is no dot after the abbreviations MILLION and BILLION, but after THOUSAND. – is put.
8. The word “university” is written in small letters.
9. Some abbreviations use both capital and small letters if they include a one-letter conjunction or preposition. For example: Labor Code - Labor Code; MiG - Mikoyan and Gurevich (aircraft brand).
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
1. Instead of “Chechnya”, write “Chechen Republic”.
2. The Constitution of the Russian Federation spells out the option “Republic of Tyva”.
3. The correct spelling is Sharm el-Sheikh.
4. Correctly spell Gaza Strip.
5. Used only “from/to Ukraine”.
6. It is preferable to use the options “Estonian authorities”, “European universities”, etc. instead of “Estonian authorities”, “European universities”.
7. Correct: in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, in the city of Moscow, in the city of St. Petersburg, in the city of Vladivostok, in Vidnoye, from Vidnoye, but: in the city of Vidnoye, from the city of Vidnoye; in Velikiye Luki, but: in the city of Velikiye Luki.
8. Place names of Slavic origin in -ov(o), -ev(o), -in(o), -yn(o) are traditionally inclined: in Ostankino, in Peredelkino, to Strogin, in Novokosin, from Lublin.
9. In a name like “Moscow River”, both parts are declined: Moskva River, Moskva River, Moskva River, Moskva River, about the Moscow River.
SMALL/CAPITAL LETTERS AND QUOTE QUOTES
1. The names of the highest elected institutions of foreign countries are usually written with a small letter. For example: Riksdag, Knesset, US Congress, Bundesrat, Sejm, etc.
2. The first word of elective institutions of a temporary or individual nature in historical literature is written with a capital letter. Eg: Provisional Government (1917 in Russia), Estates General, State Duma, III Duma.
3. Articles, prepositions, particles van, yes, das, de, del, der, di, dos, du, la, le, von, etc. in Western European surnames and names are written with a small letter and separately from other components . Eg: Ludwig van Beethoven, Leonardo da Vinci.
4. The components of Arabic, Turkic and other eastern personal names (aga, al, al, ar, as, ash, bey, ben, zade, ogly, shah, el, etc.) are written, as a rule, with a small letter and are added to a hyphenated name. For example: Zain al-Abi-din, al-Jahm, Harun ar-Rashid, Tursun-zade.
5. The names of countries of the world are written with a capital letter when they are used instead of geographies. titles. For example: the peoples of the East (i.e., eastern countries), the Far East, Western countries, the Far North.
6. In the names of the republics of the Russian Federation, all words are written with a capital letter. For example: Altai Republic, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, North Ossetia Republic.
7. In the names of territories, regions, districts, the generic or specific concept is written with a small letter, and the words denoting an individual name are written with a capital letter. For example: Primorsky Territory, Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug.
8. In the names of groups, unions and associations of states of a political nature, the first word, as well as proper names, are written with a capital letter. Eg: Asia-Pacific Council, European Economic Community (EEC), League of Arab States (LAS).
9. In the names of the most important international organizations, all words except official ones are written with a capital letter. Eg: Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, United Nations (UN), UN Security Council.
10. In the names of foreign news agencies, all words, except generic ones, are written with a capital letter, and the name is not enclosed in quotation marks. Eg: Agence France Presse, Associated Press.
11. In the proper names of academies, research institutions, educational institutions, only the first word is written with a capital letter (even if it is a generic name or a name indicating a specialty), as well as proper names included in a complex name. For example: Russian Academy of Sciences, Air Force Academy named after. Yu. A. Gagarina, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.
12. In the names of entertainment institutions (theatres, museums, parks, ensembles, choirs, etc.), only the first word, as well as proper names included in the name, are written with a capital letter. For example: State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Russia, Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army, Moscow State Conservatory. P.I. Tchaikovsky, State Armory Chamber.
13. The names of foreign firms, companies, concerns, banks, etc. are transcribed in Russian letters and enclosed in quotation marks. The first word in quotation marks and proper names are written with a capital letter in these names. For example: United States Steel, General Motors, Peugeot, Rolls-Royce, Coca-Cola, United Fruit Company. It is undesirable to print the names of foreign companies in their national language. or state accessories.
14. In the names of companies, joint stock companies, plants, factories, etc. with a conventional name in quotation marks, the first of the words placed in quotation marks is written with a capital letter, while the generic name and the name indicating specialization are written with a lowercase letter. For example: confectionery factory "Red October", research and production company "Russian Oil", joint-stock company "Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines".
15. Abbreviated names made up of parts of words are written with a capital letter if they denote individual institutions, and with a small letter if they serve as generic names. They are not enclosed in quotation marks. For example: Goznak, Vnesheconombank, but: special forces.
16. The names of firms, companies, banks, and enterprises that are complex abbreviated words and abbreviations are not placed in quotation marks, unless there is a generic word: LUKOIL, Gazprom, Russian Railways, NTV. If there is a generic word, the name written in Cyrillic is placed in quotation marks: LUKOIL company, Gazprom OJSC, Russian Railways OJSC, NTV channel.
17. The first word and proper names in the full official names of parties and movements are written with a capital letter. For example: All-Russian Confederation of Labor, Women's Union of Russia, Democratic Party of Russia, Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
18. Unofficial names are written with a small letter (including similar names of pre-revolutionary parties in Russia). For example: the Conservative Party (in Great Britain and other countries), the Menshevik Party, the Cadets Party.
19. The names of parties and movements of a symbolic nature are enclosed in quotation marks, the first word is written with a capital letter. For example: the People's Will party, the Democratic Choice of Russia, the Women of Russia movement, the Islamic movement Taliban, Al-Qaeda.
20. The names of the Fatah and Hamas movements are abbreviations, so they are written in capital letters and are not enclosed in quotation marks. These words are bowing!
21. The highest positions of the Russian Federation are written with a capital letter only in official documents (laws, decrees, diplomatic documents): President of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. In other cases - with a small one!!! For example: The meeting was attended by the President of the Russian Federation, the Chairman of the State Duma, and ministers.
22. The highest honorary titles of the Russian Federation are written with a capital letter: Hero of the Russian Federation, as well as honorary titles of the former USSR: Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor.
23. Other positions and titles are always written with a small letter: assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, governor, mayor, marshal, general, Nobel Prize laureate.
24. Names of higher and other state. positions are written with a small letter. For example: Emperor of Japan, Queen of the Netherlands, President of the French Republic.
25. The names of senior positions in the largest international organizations are written with a small letter. For example: Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Chairman of the UN Security Council.
26. In the names of historical eras and periods, revolutions, uprisings, congresses, congresses, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. Eg: Renaissance, High Renaissance (also: Early, Late Renaissance), Renaissance, Middle Ages, Paris Commune; Great October Socialist Revolution, Great French Revolution, Copper Riot; All-Russian Congress of Soviets, Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation.
27. Names of historical eras, events, etc., which are not proper names, are written with a small letter: the ancient world, civil war (but as a proper name: Civil War in Russia 1918-1921), feudalism.
28. Centuries, cultures, geological periods are written with a small letter. Eg: Bronze Age, Stone Age, Ice Age, Jurassic Period.
29. In the names of ancient states, principalities, empires, kingdoms, all words are written with a capital letter, except for the generic concepts of principality, empire, kingdom, etc. For example: Eastern Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt, Kievan Rus, Russian land.
30. In the names of significant dates, revolutionary holidays, large public events, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: May Day, World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day, Year of the Child (1979), Constitution Day of the Russian Federation, New Year, Victory Day, Happy Birthday.
31. In the names of some political, cultural, sports and other events of national or international significance, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. Eg: World Economic Forum, Peace March, World Festival of Youth and Students, Olympic Games, Football World Cup, Davis Cup.
32. In names with an initial ordinal number in digital form, the word following the number is written with a capital letter: May 1, March 8, XI International Tchaikovsky Competition. If the numeral is in verbal form, then only it is written with a capital letter: First of May, Eighth of March.
33. Correct: “blue chips”.
34. Correct: round table (without quotes).
NAMES RELATED TO RELIGION
1. The word God (in the meaning of a single supreme being) and the names of gods in all religions are written with a capital letter. For example: Jehovah, Sabaoth, Yahweh, Jesus Christ, Allah, Brahma, names of pagan gods, for example: Perun, Zeus. The proper names of the founders of religions are also written. For example: Buddha, Muhammad (Mohammed, Magomed), Zarathustra (Zarathustra); apostles, prophets, saints, for example: John the Baptist, John the Theologian, St. George the Victorious.
2. All the names of the persons of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit) and the word Theotokos, as well as all words used instead of the word God (for example: Lord, Savior, Creator, Almighty, Almighty) and the words Mother of God (for example: Queen of Heaven, the Most Pure Virgin, Mother of God), as well as adjectives formed from the words God, Lord, for example: the Lord's will, the will of God for everything, the temple of God, the Divine Trinity, the Divine Liturgy.
3. In stable combinations used in colloquial speech without direct connection with religion, God (and also Lord) should be written with a small letter. For example: (not) God knows; God (Lord) knows him.
4. Words denoting the most important concepts for the Orthodox tradition are written with a capital letter. For example: the Cross of the Lord, the Last Judgment, the Holy Gifts.
5. The first word in the names of various faiths is written with a capital letter. Eg: Russian Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Armenian Apostolic Church.
6. In the names of religious holidays, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: in Christianity: Easter, Christmas, Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, Baptism of the Lord; in other religions: Eid al-Adha, Ramadan, Hanukkah.
7. The names of fasts and weeks (weeks) are written with a capital letter: Great Lent, Peter's Fast, Bright Week, Holy Week, as well as the words Maslenitsa (Shrovetide Week), Christmastide.
8. In the names of church governing bodies, the first word is written with a capital letter. For example: Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, Council of Bishops, Moscow Patriarchate, Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia.
9. In the names of clergy titles and positions, all words are written with a capital letter, except for official ones and pronouns in the official names of senior religious officials. For example: Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Pope of Rome, but: During the conversation, the president and patriarch... The names of other clergy titles and positions are written with a small letter. For example: Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and Yuryev, archbishop, cardinal, abbot, priest, deacon.
10. In the names of churches, monasteries, icons, all words are written with a capital letter, except for generic terms (church, temple, cathedral, monastery, seminary, icon, image) and service words. For example: Kazan Cathedral, Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Church of the Conception of Righteous Anna, Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
11. The names of cult books are written with a capital letter. Eg: Bible, Holy Scripture, Gospel, Old Testament, Koran, Torah.
12. The names of church services and their parts are written with a small letter. For example: liturgy, vespers, mass, procession, all-night vigil.
MILITARY TITLES
1. In the most important military names of the Russian Federation, types of troops, the first word is written with a capital letter, as well as proper names. For example: General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Strategic Missile Forces, Ground Forces, Air Force.
2. In the names of departments and divisions of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the first word is written with a capital letter, as well as proper names. For example: Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Main Headquarters of the Ground Forces.
3. In the names of military districts and garrisons, the first word is written with a capital letter. For example: Moscow Military District, North Caucasus Military District, Saratov Garrison.
4. In proper names of wars, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. Eg: Balkan Wars, Patriotic War of 1812, World War I, but: Great Patriotic War (traditional spelling); Afghan war (1979-1989).
5. In the names of battles, battles, directions, the first word is written with a capital letter (with a hyphen - both parts of the name). For example: Berlin direction, Battle of Borodino, 1st Ukrainian Front, Southwestern Front.
6. In the names of military units and formations, proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: Vyatka Regiment, Red Banner Baltic Fleet, Siberian Cossack Army, 1st Cavalry Army.
7. In the names of orders that are not highlighted in quotation marks, the first word except the word order is written with a capital letter. For example: Order of Courage, Order of Friendship, Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, Order of St. George. In the names of orders and insignia of the former USSR, according to tradition, all words except the word order are written with a capital letter, for example: Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Order of the October Revolution.
8. In the names of orders, medals and insignia, highlighted in quotation marks, the first word of the name in quotation marks and proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, Medal “In Memory of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow”.
9. In the names of awards, the first word except the word prize is written with a capital letter. For example: Nobel Prize, International Peace Prize, Grand Prix, but: Golden Mask Award (with the name in quotation marks).
DOCUMENTS, PRINTED WORKS, MUSICAL WORKS, ART MONUMENTS
1. In the names of documents with a preceding generic word that is not included in the title, the generic word is written with a small letter, and the name is enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter. For example: the decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On measures to improve public finances”, the law “On freedom of conscience and religious associations”, the Partnership for Peace program.
2. It is customary not to enclose the names of documents without a preceding generic word outside the title (charter, instructions, etc.) in quotation marks and begin with a capital letter. For example: Treaty of Versailles, UN Declaration, Constitution of the Russian Federation, Treaty on Social Accord, Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Declaration of Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen. If an incomplete or inaccurate title of a document is given, then the spelling with a small letter is used, for example: At the next meeting, the law on pensions was not approved.
3. In the names of books, newspapers, magazines, etc., highlighted in quotation marks, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: the comedy “Woe from Wit”, the novel “War and Peace”, “The New World”. The same rule applies to foreign books, newspapers and magazines. Eg: Al-Ahram, New York Times.
4. The names of TV channels that are not abbreviations are enclosed in quotation marks: “Russia”, “Domashny”. The names of TV channels that are abbreviations are placed in quotation marks if there is a generic word: NTV channel. If there is no generic word, then the correct spelling without quotation marks is: NTV, TNT.
5. Foreign language names of organizations and institutions represented by abbreviations are not enclosed in quotation marks: BBC, CNN.
6. The names of organizations and institutions written in Latin are not enclosed in quotation marks: Russia Today.
CONDITIONAL NAMES OF PRODUCTS AND PLANT VARIETIES
1. Conventional names of grocery, perfume, etc. products are enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter. For example: “Russian” cheese, “Little Red Riding Hood” candies, “Inspiration” chocolate.
2. Conventional names of species and varieties of plants, vegetables, etc. are highlighted in quotation marks and written with a small letter. For example: Victoria strawberries, Lithuanian pepin apples, Golden Cockerel cucumbers.
3. Common plant names are written with a small letter without quotation marks. For example: aloe, Antonovka, white filling.
SHIPS, TRAINS, PLANES, CARS
1. Conventional individual names are enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter. For example: the cruiser “Aurora”, the airplane “Maxim Gorky”, the schooner “Running on the Waves”.
2. The names of production brands of technical products (including cars) are enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter: cars “Moskvich-412”, “Volga”, “Volvo”, airplanes “Boeing-707”, “Ruslan”. However, the names of these products themselves (except for names that coincide with proper names - personal and geographical) are written in quotation marks with a small letter, for example: “Cadillac”, “Moskvich”, “Toyota”, but: “Volga”, “Oka” ( coincide with proper names, therefore they are written with a capital letter). Exceptions: “Lada”, “Mercedes” (the same as proper names, but written with a small letter).
3. Serial designations of vehicles in the form of initial abbreviations combined with numbers, or without numbers, are written without quotation marks. For example: An-22, BelAZ, ZIL, GAZ-51, Il-18, KamAZ, Tu-104, Yak-9, Su-30.
4. Conventional names of means of space exploration are enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter. For example: artificial Earth satellite “Cosmos-1443”, spacecraft “Vostok-2”, shuttle “Endeavor”, orbital station “Mir”.
If we take the idea of “grammar Nazism” in an extremely generalized form, then everything looks good: we need to develop a culture of speech, love the Russian language, clean out mistakes from it and rejoice in the fact that we have something great, powerful, truthful and free with a rich history. In practice, it all comes down to details, namely to the liver of everyone who makes a mistake. The destructive beginning of any professional “linguistic arrogance” (in the words of Maxim Krongauz) is very great, because pointing out an error is as easy as shelling pears if you spot it. But, alas, there is practically nothing constructive.
On the other hand, what can be constructive in this area that one ordinary person can do? Create free educational courses? No one will attend them except those who are already quite skilled in the Russian language and want to either bring it to perfection, or once again stroke their pride in their own impeccable knowledge.
Good points include movements like "Secret Spelling Police" , who switched from castigating colleagues and pen pals to very specific and useful actions.
They look for and correct errors in public texts - on signs, monuments, tablets, thereby preventing even greater linguistic connivance from spreading.
The grass was greener before
Each generation is sure that the young people following them are much less literate and knowledgeable. They complained about this thousands of years ago, nothing has changed now. You can even feel like the hero of the pseudo-Nolan linguistic “Inception.” There is a good modern linguist Maxim Krongauz, who complains that the Russian language has now become shallow, and points to the brilliant work of Korney Chukovsky “Alive as Life.” In this work, Korney Chukovsky complains that in 1961 the language had become completely shallow and quotes the best linguists of the late 19th century.
What linguists wrote at that time is not at all difficult to guess: yes, the language has become completely shallow, if such disgrace continues, then Russian-speaking people will degrade and will explain themselves with gestures and blows with a club.
Indeed, language changes over time, but real progress in it is almost invisible to the lay eye. You can read about such tiny finds that we ourselves would never have thought of in Irina Levontina’s book “What are we talking about” (“Russian with a dictionary” is a little more interesting, but there is a slightly different topic). For example, we missed how new meanings of the words “effective” (now this can be said about a person) and “adequate” (a positive connotation appeared), how the word “ambitious” lost its negative meaning. Times change, the world changes - and language reflects this, but quietly and in halftones.
Grammar Nazis and other overly active advocates of purity of speech notice more and more bright things, what is in plain sight, that is, slang. At the same time, youth slang is the most short-lived thing that will quickly disappear from the language; only one word out of a hundred will remain in memory.
Try reading examples of how dudes or hippies spoke slang. If you insert this into a speech now, it will come out artificial and forced, like the jokes in Yeralash about old people getting younger.
In a couple of decades, no one will remember all these little things; they will remain in the archives, like tree rings, by which one can recognize the era.
As for the glaring mistakes that make even the most tolerant person bleed, there is little correction. It is necessary to learn correctly from the very beginning, to develop “innate literacy,” which is not innate, but always acquired. Most often by reading books. Nowadays, more and more copy-paste is read on the Internet, which is not always proofread, and therefore the general level of people with “innate literacy” is falling. Only reforms at the level of universal education will help here.
In addition, do not forget about optical illusions.
You go online and see that the country is inhabited by only illiterate teenagers and equally dubious, from a linguistic point of view, Odnoklassniki users of considerable age. But it is not the quality of education that has changed, but the mode of access to information resources.
Previously, all these categories of illiterate citizens could not be published to a wide audience; no one saw their writings, if they existed at all. In the best case, schoolchildren kept a diary in a common notebook, and then ten years later they re-read it with surprise - how, did I really write so poorly, like a literate person! Now on the Internet, which remembers everything, anyone can write, which is why it seems that there are more errors and the overall level of literacy is falling.
Three pillars of reliability
There are three sacred strongholds of the Grammar Nazis: Zaliznyak, Rosenthal and the Gramota.ru website. A simple test for those who consider themselves an expert in linguistics: 1) remember Zaliznyak’s name; 2) remember Rosenthal’s name and how to spell this patronymic name; 3) guess how experts from the most competent organization in terms of the Russian language speak about Grammar Nazis.
Correct answers: 1) Andrey Anatolyevich; 2) Ditmar Elyashevich; 3) “for grammar Nazis, language is divided into black and white, right and wrong. But that doesn't happen in language.
There are so many transitions, so many options: from less desirable to more desirable, this is preferable, this is acceptable, and this is also possible, and this is not very desirable, but in common parlance it doesn’t seem to be scary.
And so on. That is, there is nothing in the language that can be divided. And grammatical Nazism, like any Nazism, it divides into those who are with us and those who are against us” (from any interview, for example, given by Ksenia Turkova, who herself recently published the book “Russian Without Loading” with excellent advice and the unreadable first edition, from which the grammar-Nazis wheezed and beat their hoofs).
Language is a living organism that breathes and develops. What was the norm before gradually dissolves and goes away.
If you read the books of linguists of the 60s, for example Boris Golovin, you will notice two trends. First: half of the mistakes are eternal.
In the middle of the last century, there were still problems with the emphasis in the words “beautiful” and “ringing”; one and two “n” and the endings “-tsya” and “-tsya” were still confused. Second: exactly half of the mistakes will sink into oblivion.
For example, Golovin gets angry at the newfangled word “cinema” and menacingly asks why people didn’t like the beautiful word “movie picture” or “cinema”? Why spoil it with a reduction? As they say, what will you do with the amount of free time?
The weakest link
The Achilles heel of Grammar-Nazism as a phenomenon is the fragility of its foundations. Today you denounce losers in righteous anger, and tomorrow you accidentally put a comma in front of the wrong word and find yourself in the pillory. In addition, the most furious speeches can be heard from people who are far from professional knowledge. Proofreaders are silent and do not rub their professional suitability in anyone’s nose. But those who have memorized a couple of triggers and lash out at them cause a lot of irritation themselves.
The aggression of usually calm people is difficult to understand - fragile young maidens, who in life would never hurt a mosquito, suddenly demand to quarter those who simply do not remember some information about the spelling of words. Internet users constantly collect “hit lists” of words and expressions, which, in addition to really annoying mistakes, also include ordinary errors. Tell me, do you want to correct a person if he suddenly says “calling” in front of you with an emphasis on “o”? What if the word “drills” (hello, neighbor with a drill!) with an accent on “e” or “turns on” on “u”? Meanwhile, this is the same mistake; in both words the ending must be emphasized. It’s just that “calls” became the star of the hit list, and the rest of the verbs did not receive such an honor.
Internet etiquette
What should you do if you see a monstrous error somewhere in a blog, post, comment or other Internet space? First of all, congratulate yourself, you are great and attentive. This is really good quality. You can even point your finger at the screen and chuckle smugly if no one is nearby. Internet etiquette does not apply to your behavior in front of a screen. You can even read all the materials of “The Knife” in your underpants (or even without them!) - and no one from our editors will say a word to you until you start sending photos.
But there is no need to immediately expose fools in a sarcastic letter. If the blood has already rushed to your head and Ozhegov’s ashes are knocking in your heart, think about the following probabilities:
The author is not a fool, he just doesn't care about these rules because he doesn't consider them important. Some people don’t consider it important to iron their clothes or wash their hair three times less often than you think they should, while others draw caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
People came up with rules for themselves, and people tend to break them. Until these rules become laws, the effectiveness of fighting violators is similar to writing a philosophical treatise with your finger on the surface of a river.
The author is not as literate as you, but he understands other things better than you. Imagine: you wittily expressed your “fe” to him for systematically neglecting the rules of syntax, and he took and hacked your password, which consisted of the year of your birth and the name of your beloved girl. And who is the idiot now?
The co-authors of the text on your favorite niche site proofread it poorly because they don’t have the budget for a proofreader, and the editor’s choice was between “hire a proofreader” and “pay for hosting and give out royalties.” An armchair perfectionist consumer can babble with a complete sense of his own righteousness, and an editor, exhausted by the struggle for the survival of his beloved brainchild in at least some form, can go berserk and ban the insolent person. It won't make anyone feel better.
If a gross mistake disgraces a major publication or the website of your favorite brand, write about it in neutral colors to the contacts provided for communication. Most likely, you will be thanked, and in this case you will do a good deed. If you behave like the worst grammar Nazi and start publicly scourging the author with screenshots attached, be prepared for the fact that you may be asked to take the three fastest black horses and ride them to the bathhouse or something worse. Because aggression, according to the laws of society, almost always only gives rise to aggression, even when it is disguised by good intentions.
It is always useful to remember that everything passes - and this too shall pass. Previously, the word “sausage” meant “lounging around doing nothing,” but who remembers this meaning now? It is possible that in fifty years no one will remember the mistakes that now trigger the linguistic berserker mode. As well as about the exploits of nameless Grammar Nazis.
Translation of Grammar Nazi is carried out from two languages. In English the first word means "grammar", and the second in German is "Nazi". We are talking about both a well-known Internet meme and an ironic name (and self-name) of one of the communities on the Internet. More details about what Grammar Nazi means will be discussed in the article.
General concept
The Grammar Nazi online community is notable for its approach to literacy issues with extreme pedantry and intolerance. They judge a person only by the level of his language proficiency. And, in particular, about the ability to write correctly.
The Internet project "Urbanculture" speaks of Grammar Nazi as an online creature that cares with every fiber of its soul for the correct spelling of words, punctuation marks and for the purity of native speech in general. Many members of the Internet community perceive this “creature” as a fat troll who provokes controversy and abuse almost out of nowhere. It also generates “much noise about nothing.”
On the cynical and humorous website "Lurk" Grammar Nazi are defined as national linguists, grammatical Nazis, linguistic fascists, literate guardsmen. They are described as aggressive literates with innate literacy and a heightened sense of beauty. They get very annoyed when someone makes mistakes - spelling or grammatical. They immediately rush to the attack, waving dictionaries and referring to Gramota.ru.
GN Ruthlessness
The name of the community we are considering goes back to the word “Nazism,” which is an allusion to the ruthlessness of its members. Sometimes members of the Grammar Nazi use emblems that contain a large Latin letter “G”, stylized as the flag of the Third Reich. This emblem shows signs of imitation of Nazi symbols, to which law enforcement agencies have repeatedly shown their reaction.
Among the Wikipedians there is also Grammar Nazi. They spend a significant part of their time correcting errors in articles. The members of Grammar Nazi are called GN for short, or GN. If an associate of GN makes a mistake himself, especially when he denounces the ignorant, they speak of Grammmar Nazi fail (failure). It must be understood that when GBVs call for the extermination of the illiterate, they do not mean the literal embodiment of the action they call. They either make a stern reprimand or “turn on the ban.”
This is how linguist M.A. Krongauz writes about the most “severe” Grammar Nazis. According to him, the most radical of literacy activists are people who neglect communication interests. They are not engaged in discussing the stated topic, but are analyzing the mistakes the interlocutor made in written speech. Their characteristic feature is the desire to correct the interlocutor, rather than communicate with him.
Objective prerequisites
According to a certain part of Internet users, such a phenomenon as Grammar Nazi did not arise out of nowhere. Today, it is no secret to anyone that with the spread of the World Wide Web, a huge mass of people poured into it, much of whose literacy leaves much to be desired.
As a consequence, the level at which communication takes place, as they say, does not shine. Both in terms of ethics and literacy. Nevertheless, there is a circle of people who are well educated, highly intelligent, broad-minded, well-read and erudite.
In the most natural way, the manifestation of widespread ignorance, disrespect for the native language, and sometimes even flaunting such shortcomings, causes some of them to feel indignant. And it’s really “a shame for the state.”
Is there any benefit?
Is there any benefit from members of this community? According to a number of Internet users, it is obvious. By correcting other people's mistakes, they raise the level of Internet literacy. Other users express the opinion that there is nothing wrong with the fact that there are errors in the text. The main thing is that its essence is clear.
To this GN respond that rules in language exist not for the sake of beauty, but precisely so that people understand each other. And if everyone writes as they want, then the result will be not a conveyance of thoughts in writing to the interlocutor, but a “stream of consciousness.”
There is another argument against GBV. Language is not a frozen substance, it develops, so making certain vital adjustments to it, including in the direction of simplification, is quite acceptable. While the Grammar Nazis persist in their conservatism in vain.
In response to this, GN retort: the language within the life of one generation, as well as the rules existing in it, change very little so that this could cause any obvious discrepancies. And all reasoning of this kind is from the evil one.
A huge minus is in the methods
If we consider the idea of GN in a very generalized form, then at first glance everything does not seem to be so bad. The development of a culture of speech, love for the Russian language, cleaning up mistakes - all this can be called commendable.
However, despite the good intentions of the Grammar Nazis, the methods by which they achieve literacy are sometimes “beyond the bounds”. This is trolling (bullying), insulting other participants, threats against them.
According to M. A. Krongauz, in practice, everything often comes down to painful pokes at everyone who made a mistake. The “linguistic arrogance” exhibited by Grammar Nazi is very exaggerated and has a destructive beginning. Pointing out an error is quite easy, but with design it is much more difficult.
About some incidents
Let us give examples of the attention that was shown by authorities to the phenomenon we are describing.
- In Buryatia, in Ulan-Ude, activist of the Young Guard movement M. Burdukovskaya was fined by the court for publishing the Grammar Nazi emblem on the VKontakte page in 2014. According to the court decision, she violated the ban on Nazi symbols in Russia.
- In 2015, the head of the Total Dictation Foundation, A. Pavlovsky, was summoned to the Oktyabrsky District Prosecutor’s Office in Rostov-on-Don on the issue of possible financing of the Grammar Nazi Foundation. This was explained by the fact that the prosecutor's office decided that we were talking about a pro-Nazi movement.
In order to avoid misunderstandings, in conclusion I would like to note that the phrase Kazak Grammar Nazi is not related to the concept that was discussed in the article. This is the name of the program, within the framework of which in Kazakhstan, starting in 2017, there is a gradual transition to the Latinization of the Kazakh language.