-He is a Studio Art major, hoping to one day teach art.
-He studies Russian language.
-He lives in America, but he writes using British spelling conventions.
This is because...
1) American spellings have an arguable overuse of the letter Z.
(British spellings use the -ise suffix rather than the American -ize.)
2) American spellings use the -er suffix to serve the function of both -er and -re, while the two actually mean different things.
- The -er suffix can be applied to a verb or an adjective to modify it's meaning.
a) On a verb, it will make it a noun, representing one who performs said verb.
(i.e. A farmer is one who farms)
b) On an adjective, it gives the word a comparative function.
("Large" is absolute, while "larger" is a comparative term.)
- The -re suffix goes on the end of several unmodified nouns and adjectives, leaving their definitions unmodified.
(Sabre, centre, theatre, metre, sombre, etc.)
3) He just likes words with "ou" rather than just "o."
(He doesn't have a well reasoned argument for that part though.)
-He has often been called a Grammar Nazi.
To avoid enraging him, do the following:
1) Offset direct addresses properly with commas.
2) Never end a sentence with an extraneous "at."
(i.e. "where is your car at?")
3) Understand basic subject/verb agreement.
4) Know the correct pluralisation of "octopus."
- The word "octopus" is Greek, and is properly pluralised as "octopodes."
- The word "octopi" is based on the way things are pluralised in Latin. This is incorrect, as it is not a Latin word.
- The word "octopuses" is based on the standard method of pluralising words in English. While this is arguably more correct than applying Latin rules, simply because we're speaking English, it is still technically incorrect.
(The same goes for "platypus" for the exact same reasons. The proper Greek plural form is "platypodes.")
5) Understand how to parse a parenthetical clause.
6) Never say "lol" unless it is some manner of joke mocking such usage. Never.
7) Understand that "who" is subjective and "whom" is objective.
8) Understand that many sentences can be ended with prepositions. The idea that they can't stems from Latin rules that do not apply to modern English.
