Im’ as shocked as you is:

Grammar God!
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!

How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

0 Comments +

  1. I have taken that quiz also. And I received the same “score.”
    I think it just shows that most people who recewived a decent education before the 80’s are still intelligent. I’d be curious to see if anyone under the age of 25, especially fans of hip-hop, could do as well.

  2. Or perhaps the quiz is faulty, the product of too many years of grade inflation. I haven’t heard of anyone who’s gotten a lower score yet. Of course one of the prime prerequisites for being my friend is having a firm grasp of grammar!

  3. I’ll consider myself lucky and live with the idea that the quiz is accurate. That way I won’t have to abandon all those years of being teacher’s pet and studying my ass off.

  4. Huh?

    I’d be curious to see if anyone under the age of 25, especially fans of hip-hop, could do as well.

    I’m 29, just a few years shy of your age cut-off but still well over the hump. Maybe I don’t count. But as a self-professed geek, a newly anointed “Grammar God” (see post below), and a fan of hip-hop, I take a little offense to this statement. Hip-hop music and its fans are such convenient scapegoats for ignorance in the eyes of people who don’t understand or just plain hate the genre. And believe me, much of it is truly ignorant. But I bristle at the implication that ALL of it is or that ALL of its fans are…ignorant that is. And we’re talking about music here. When has popular music of ANY genre been exalted for being grammatically sound?

  5. Uses of Usage

    I think we can pretty quickly agree that grammatical exactitude has often been the enemy of art in language, whether sung, spoken or written. In fact much of the pleasure of hip-hop derives from it’s syntactical play, which would be unimaginable without rules of grammar to push against and work with. More to the point is the “born after 1980” part. Being in contact with quite a few college students under 25, I can tell you that their understanding of grammar is often rickety at best. I’d actually blame things like IMing and spell and grammar checkers in software before I’d blame popular music.

    All of this still belies the question has anybody not gotten god status from this quiz, and more importantly are they willing to own up to it?

  6. Re: Huh?

    You are absolutely correct. Please accept my sincere apologies. I never intended to offend.

    In my “old age” I guess I am becoming more jaded and less aware. I’ll even throw a little prejudice in there, as well. [I also know that I haven’t been in the best mood today so that may have played a part in my statement.]

    It is wrong of me to have made such a generalization. I would agree that any music with lyrics is subject to some grammar-mashing. And I do know that some of the best hip-hop artists are extremely talented people, intimating that they have experienced a good education in their pasts.

    Thanks you for pointing out my mistake. Your fogiveness is appreciated.

  7. Re: Uses of Usage

    I totally agree with everything you said. You actually bring up a great point I thought of but neglected to make which is how mediums like email, IMing, and even lj have ruined the way we express ourselves. I’ve fallen victim to it for sure. I used to take great care in writing the marathon messages I sent to friends. Grammar had to be spot on as well as spelling and clarity of thought. It has gotten to the point now where I just spew words. However they fall on the computer screen is how they are sent, warts and all. Art is certainly a forum for “breaking the rules.” That’s where the fun starts. But I’ve always been of the mind that you have to know the rules before you break them.

  8. Re: Huh?

    Apology accepted and forgiveness is yours. Thank you for being open to criticism and willing to see a different point of view. Truth be told, I can relate to how your perceptions are colored by “old age.” At the ripe old age of 29, I find myself crowing about the music that the kids are listening to these days. And while I’m being honest here, I have to profess to being a bit of a music snob. I’ve been known to get hoity-toity and “opinionated” about various forms of popular music. So maybe I’m a pot to your kettle. Whadevs…no harm, no foul.

    Wanna be friends?

  9. Running at top speed, I felt my wig fall off.

    It’s easy enough to go back and pick the stupid answers. It’s actually pretty funny, too. You get this in response.

    Bastard!
    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.

    How grammatically sound are you?
    brought to you by Quizilla

    That done, I wanted to hear a hip-hop artist use the word “whom” properly, which was easily done by Googling “rap lyrics whom”. I got this by E-40, among many others:

    Shit, if the shoe fit, wear it, fuck it BEOTCH!
    To whom this may concern
    All you rappers with all that fetti to burn
    The industry is finicky so let me make this clear
    THEY’LL HAVE A NEW NIGGA NEXT YEAR!!

    Now I’m off to roll me a blunt using pages torn out of copies of Strunk & White in public school libraries. Verb!

  10. Or perhaps the quiz is faulty, the product of too many years of grade inflation. I haven’t heard of anyone who’s gotten a lower score yet. Of course one of the prime prerequisites for being my friend is having a firm grasp of grammar!

  11. Uses of Usage

    I think we can pretty quickly agree that grammatical exactitude has often been the enemy of art in language, whether sung, spoken or written. In fact much of the pleasure of hip-hop derives from it’s syntactical play, which would be unimaginable without rules of grammar to push against and work with. More to the point is the “born after 1980” part. Being in contact with quite a few college students under 25, I can tell you that their understanding of grammar is often rickety at best. I’d actually blame things like IMing and spell and grammar checkers in software before I’d blame popular music.

    All of this still belies the question has anybody not gotten god status from this quiz, and more importantly are they willing to own up to it?

Leave a Reply to naylandblakeCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.