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Privilege is bad grammar

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Re: Privilege is bad grammar

#111

Post by tamimio »

StevenWaterman wrote: post #4

This is almost textbook countersignalling. The same as: - Signalling: I dress more formally than everyone else to make up for the fact I'm less professional in other ways - No signalling: I dress like everyone else because I am like everyone else - Countersignalling: I wear ratty old clothes with holes in them, and nobody will dare to question it because I'm the important one here

This is an accurate analysis, as in “I’m the boss here and while you have to abide by whatever social norms or internal policies, I don’t because I’m better than all of you”.

Re: Privilege is bad grammar

#112

Post by nine_k »

coldtea wrote: post #86
crassus_ed wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Informal tone and mistakes actually signal that the message was written by a human and the imperfections increase my trust in the effort spent on the thing. Isn’t this a bit short sighted? So if someone has a wide vocabulary and uses proper grammar, you mistrust them by default?

> Isn’t this a bit short sighted? So if someone has a wide vocabulary and uses proper grammar, you mistrust them by default? Yes, people, in general, do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_gjWlW0kRs

I'd say, not "people in general" but people form other socioeconomic strata. This guy is not talking like us, suspicious. He talks in an elaborate and thought-through manner, not simply, so, he's not candid, double suspicious!

Re: Privilege is bad grammar

#113

Post by calmbonsai »

I don't think the author realizes the time*attention triage that happens when your sole corporate responsibility is to manage others. I've noticed a distinct personal trend in "email succinctness" the more people I need to manage.

That said, using good grammar is never a bad thing and depending on the subject matter and relationships between the respective communicators, short-hand can be both a deliberate obfuscation practice and social coding of the intimacy of the respective relationships.

Re: Privilege is bad grammar

#114

Post by zephen »

parpfish wrote: post #32

if i sent an email to my ceo and they replied with typos and bad grammar, i wouldn't think "wow, they are flexing their privilege to be able to do that". i would be excited that i'm being treated as a member of the inner circle and they can speak freely and casually with me.

Some people think texts are for quick one-off messages and emails are for longer more thoughtful missives.

But (a) most corporate communication isn't by text, and (b) the CEO is probably from a time when there weren't any texts, so emails themselves were often used casually, in lieu of sticky notes.

In any case, I'm with you. The trope of microaggressions is way overused, and applying it to someone who is usefully communicating with you is rubbish.

Re: Privilege is bad grammar

#115

Post by burntalmonds »

mikepurvis wrote: post #11
gleipnircode wrote: post #8

That fits witj my experiences. And i want to add an otjer layer. In ai times its somtimes even nice to see some typos. You Casn be pretty sure it was not written by ai.

"sent from my iphone"

There needs to be a new sig like "Written by Claude" or something. I'd rather somebody just openly admits it.

Re: Privilege is bad grammar

#116

Post by azangru »

> but grammar privilege? That's certainly a first.

Here is what I don't understand, and what is not addressed in the post.

After you get a response from your boss that reads, "K let circle back nxt week bout it . thnks", doesn't this free you up to relax your style to your comfort level? If you see that your addressee doesn't seem to care for meticulous style, is there much point in stressing over it (and thus, in continuing with the privilege narrative)?

Re: Privilege is bad grammar

#117

Post by nine_k »

stronglikedan wrote: post #69
StevenWaterman wrote: post #4

This is almost textbook countersignalling. The same as: - Signalling: I dress more formally than everyone else to make up for the fact I'm less professional in other ways - No signalling: I dress like everyone else because I am like everyone else - Countersignalling: I wear ratty old clothes with holes in them, and nobody will dare to question it because I'm the important one here

There's also: - No signalling: I dress more formally than everyone else because that's been my style since forever and I'm not going to change for a role that doesn't require it.

"No signaling" would be: "I dress like I always do since forever." Any reference to opinions of others would mean that the person cares for them, even in the form of "I don't care", and thus the dress is also a signal to them.

Re: Privilege is bad grammar

#118

Post by ivraatiems »

Informality and bad grammar but otherwise sound decision making is fine, I think everyone's arguments for it here make sense.

But let's not pretend that, at least in the US, that's what it's limited to. Our current and immediate past president are both elderly men with potentially compromised mental states who regularly say crazy nonsense stuff.

Try watching this (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=455169079910588) or this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZsdlULgqvA) and then watch the literal crowds of people who are saying "you just don't understand! You're not parsing it right! You're not paying enough attention to their genius!"

It's wild that we make excuses like this for people. One has to ask where the line is.

This almost certainly happens in business, too - it's just not as obvious because those folks don't have to constantly do it in public.

Re: Privilege is bad grammar

#120

Post by mh2266 »

StevenWaterman wrote: post #4

This is almost textbook countersignalling. The same as: - Signalling: I dress more formally than everyone else to make up for the fact I'm less professional in other ways - No signalling: I dress like everyone else because I am like everyone else - Countersignalling: I wear ratty old clothes with holes in them, and nobody will dare to question it because I'm the important one here

“Ratty old” and “formal” are not the only options. I dress mostly in techwear brands like Veilance, Outlier, and ACRNM, which is not ratty and old but is also very much not formal or uncomfortable.
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