Talk:1735: Fashion Police and Grammar Police - Revision history

DanielLC at 05:29, 21 May 2026

2026-05-21T05:29:36Z

82.132.244.242: ...missed one.

2025-12-30T14:24:56Z

...missed one.

82.132.244.242: Just bringing signatures to be run-ons of the indented text, for neatness. Also, interesting use of the funny "‐"s that shift the line-height... Deliberately self-demonstrating, along with the emphasis? ;)

2025-12-30T14:22:55Z

Just bringing signatures to be run-ons of the indented text, for neatness. Also, interesting use of the funny "‐"s that shift the line-height... Deliberately self-demonstrating, along with the *emphasis*? ;)

Heleatunda at 01:08, 30 December 2025

2025-12-30T01:08:21Z

Heleatunda: Added comments.

2025-12-30T01:07:13Z

Added comments.

ISaveXKCDpapers: added comment

2023-07-04T01:58:07Z

added comment

172.70.34.165 at 21:38, 15 September 2021

2021-09-15T21:38:16Z

108.162.241.214: Contradict the comment about "literally" being a joke.

2019-08-01T19:47:38Z

Contradict the comment about "literally" being a joke.

Davidy22 at 16:01, 28 September 2016

2016-09-28T16:01:05Z

108.162.237.169 at 15:16, 28 September 2016

2016-09-28T15:16:24Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:29, 21 May 2026
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	:💯 [[User:Heleatunda\|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda\|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)		:💯 [[User:Heleatunda\|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda\|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
		+
		+	:The problem is that a lot of grammar police will focus on things where people mess up the rules but the meaning is still clear, and not care about genuinely ambiguous language so long as it's grammatically correct. For example, if you say "Their at the pretty little girls' school", people will get mad at you for saying "their" instead of "they're" even though that part isn't the slightest bit confusing, and ignore that "pretty little girls' school" can be interpreted several different ways. It it the girls that are pretty little or the school? Or maybe it's a pretty school of little girls. Or the school or the girls are pretty and little. And people would even object to me putting the comma outside the quotes even though it makes it less ambiguous. It's clear that the comma isn't part of the quote. [[User:DanielLC\|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC\|talk]]) 05:29, 21 May 2026 (UTC)

	Rich white people being in high places is not really the point. Classism is the easiest to demonstrate: the grammar police frown on non-prestige dialects, and the fashion police consider poor people's clothing to be unfashionable. Racism is harder to demonstrate simply, but with language you have AAVE being treated as just "bad English" and, to a lesser extent, fashion popular in certain races being considered bad. (See, the literal fashion police of some French towns in reaction to burkinis. [[User:Trlkly\|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly\|talk]]) 03:24, 20 September 2016 (UTC)		Rich white people being in high places is not really the point. Classism is the easiest to demonstrate: the grammar police frown on non-prestige dialects, and the fashion police consider poor people's clothing to be unfashionable. Racism is harder to demonstrate simply, but with language you have AAVE being treated as just "bad English" and, to a lesser extent, fashion popular in certain races being considered bad. (See, the literal fashion police of some French towns in reaction to burkinis. [[User:Trlkly\|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly\|talk]]) 03:24, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 Por simpliĝi gramatikon, nur lernu Esperanton! Ĝi ne havas arbitrajn regularojn. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 22:17, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
-:Jes!
+:Jes! [[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
 In reality, I support the grammar police. Language is a set of shared rules allowing us to understand each other. Speaking in improper grammar produces misunderstandings and throws off listeners/readers, as well as making the speaker sound incompetent. Imagine if people started piping garbage down TCP connections! Servers wouldn't understand a thing! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.190|108.162.215.190]] 22:50, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 : 'judgment' v. 'judgement' - I was taught that the first is used as in "using one's judgment," while the latter is "the court issued a judgement."  [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 08:22, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
-:: First iʼve heard of that distinction. I grew up hearing that “judgement” was simply wrong, and later in life i heard that itʼs more popular in British.
+:: First iʼve heard of that distinction. I grew up hearing that “judgement” was simply wrong, and later in life i heard that itʼs more popular in British. [[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
 "Fashion Police and Grammar Police and ExplainXKCD Contributors" {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.69}}
@@ Line 50: / Line 49: @@
 In reality, I support the grammar police. Language is a set of shared rules allowing us to understand each other. Speaking in improper grammar produces misunderstandings and throws off listeners/readers, as well as making the speaker sound incompetent. Imagine if people started piping garbage down TCP connections! Servers wouldn't understand a thing! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.190|108.162.215.190]] 22:50, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
-:💯
+:💯 [[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
 Rich white people being in high places is not really the point. Classism is the easiest to demonstrate: the grammar police frown on non-prestige dialects, and the fashion police consider poor people's clothing to be unfashionable. Racism is harder to demonstrate simply, but with language you have AAVE being treated as just "bad English" and, to a lesser extent, fashion popular in certain races being considered bad. (See, the literal fashion police of some French towns in reaction to burkinis. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 03:24, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
 :Hostility to burkini in France has nothing to do with fashion police. This is not a reaction to alleged bad taste in clothing (attemps to make them more fashionable are even well received), but to other things that the French are not comfortable with: public display of rigorist religious behaviour in a strongly secular country, perceived provocation by muslims in a context of islamist terror attacks, considerations around women's liberties (burkini seen as an enslavement to men/husbands)... Or for some it's simply knee-jerk racism... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.14|141.101.98.14]] 11:57, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
-::I could be wrong, but you might be thinking of religionism/islamophobia, rather than racism. Islam isnʼt a race, so itʼs quite literally impossible to be racist against it.
+::I could be wrong, but you might be thinking of religionism/islamophobia, rather than racism. Islam isnʼt a race, so itʼs quite literally impossible to be racist against it. [[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
 Isn't this an example of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_typing Duck Typing]? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.21|141.101.104.21]] 10:17, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
@@ Line 65: / Line 62: @@
 I'm all for using words in a way that makes them more performant, regardless of the rules, or whether or not they are in the dictionary. [[User:Psu256|Psu256]] ([[User talk:Psu256|talk]]) 15:28, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
-:I am soooo going to use “performant” now. Thank you.
+:I am soooo going to use “performant” now. Thank you. [[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
 '''Why hasn't anybody pointed out the most obvious fact?!'''
@@ Line 72: / Line 68: @@
 : I have thought about that, but since this term doesn't show up neither in the comic nor in the title text I discarded the idea again. On the other hand, I've never heard of the term "Grammar Police" while "Grammar Nazi" is quite common to me and in Google the term "grammar nazi" has about twice as many results as "grammar police" - despite explainXKCD [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:49, 22 September 2016 (UTC)
-: Iʼm betting Randall eschewed the use of “Grammar Nazi” (1) to avoid using a potentially politically charged term—especially in the context of the bullet point about social class, etc.—and (2) to make it line up better with “Fashion Police”.
+: Iʼm betting Randall eschewed the use of “Grammar Nazi” (1) to avoid using a potentially politically charged term—especially in the context of the bullet point about social class, etc.—and (2) to make it line up better with “Fashion Police”. [[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
 Glamour and grammar ...
@@ Line 81: / Line 76: @@
 "...and attempts to do so send strong messages of their own" ....what? i dont understand this part. what did randall mean to say?? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.165|172.70.34.165]] 21:38, 15 September 2021 (UTC)Bumpf
-: I think this is at least partly covered in the explanation now, but my take is that if you avoid following the “rules”, the message you send is “Iʼm too lazy and/or ignorant to bother presenting myself in a self‐respectable manner.” Randall doesnʼt appear to leave room for creative bending of the rules by people who are well‐educated in them, but *i* do this quite often.
+: I think this is at least partly covered in the explanation now, but my take is that if you avoid following the “rules”, the message you send is “Iʼm too lazy and/or ignorant to bother presenting myself in a self‐respectable manner.” Randall doesnʼt appear to leave room for creative bending of the rules by people who are well‐educated in them, but *i* do this quite often. [[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 : 'judgment' v. 'judgement' - I was taught that the first is used as in "using one's judgment," while the latter is "the court issued a judgement."  [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 08:22, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
-:: First iʼve heard of that distinction. I grew up hearing that “judgemett” was simply wrong, and later in life i heard that itʼs more popular in British.
+:: First iʼve heard of that distinction. I grew up hearing that “judgement” was simply wrong, and later in life i heard that itʼs more popular in British.
 [[User:Heleatunda|Heleatunda]] ([[User talk:Heleatunda|talk]]) 01:07, 30 December 2025 (UTC)

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 : 'judgment' v. 'judgement' - I was taught that the first is used as in "using one's judgment," while the latter is "the court issued a judgement."  [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 08:22, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
 "Fashion Police and Grammar Police and ExplainXKCD Contributors" {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.69}}
@@ Line 41: / Line 44: @@
 Por simpliĝi gramatikon, nur lernu Esperanton! Ĝi ne havas arbitrajn regularojn. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.158|108.162.249.158]] 22:17, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
 In reality, I support the grammar police. Language is a set of shared rules allowing us to understand each other. Speaking in improper grammar produces misunderstandings and throws off listeners/readers, as well as making the speaker sound incompetent. Imagine if people started piping garbage down TCP connections! Servers wouldn't understand a thing! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.190|108.162.215.190]] 22:50, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
 Rich white people being in high places is not really the point. Classism is the easiest to demonstrate: the grammar police frown on non-prestige dialects, and the fashion police consider poor people's clothing to be unfashionable. Racism is harder to demonstrate simply, but with language you have AAVE being treated as just "bad English" and, to a lesser extent, fashion popular in certain races being considered bad. (See, the literal fashion police of some French towns in reaction to burkinis. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 03:24, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
 :Hostility to burkini in France has nothing to do with fashion police. This is not a reaction to alleged bad taste in clothing (attemps to make them more fashionable are even well received), but to other things that the French are not comfortable with: public display of rigorist religious behaviour in a strongly secular country, perceived provocation by muslims in a context of islamist terror attacks, considerations around women's liberties (burkini seen as an enslavement to men/husbands)... Or for some it's simply knee-jerk racism... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.14|141.101.98.14]] 11:57, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
 Isn't this an example of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_typing Duck Typing]? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.21|141.101.104.21]] 10:17, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
@@ Line 52: / Line 64: @@
 I'm all for using words in a way that makes them more performant, regardless of the rules, or whether or not they are in the dictionary. [[User:Psu256|Psu256]] ([[User talk:Psu256|talk]]) 15:28, 21 September 2016 (UTC)
 '''Why hasn't anybody pointed out the most obvious fact?!'''
 They are called 'Grammar Nazis'!!!! {{unsigned ip|198.41.243.240}}
 : I have thought about that, but since this term doesn't show up neither in the comic nor in the title text I discarded the idea again. On the other hand, I've never heard of the term "Grammar Police" while "Grammar Nazi" is quite common to me and in Google the term "grammar nazi" has about twice as many results as "grammar police" - despite explainXKCD [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:49, 22 September 2016 (UTC)
 Glamour and grammar ...
@@ Line 62: / Line 80: @@
 "...and attempts to do so send strong messages of their own" ....what? i dont understand this part. what did randall mean to say?? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.165|172.70.34.165]] 21:38, 15 September 2021 (UTC)Bumpf

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 "Fashion Police and Grammar Police and ExplainXKCD Contributors" {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.69}}
 :True ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:27, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
 Just dropping a couple links here re: the "uncomfortably transparent proxies for race and class" in language. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.227|162.158.214.227]] 21:20, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:38, 15 September 2021
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	Glamour and grammar ...		Glamour and grammar ...
	https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glamour {{unsigned ip\|108.162.237.169}}		https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glamour {{unsigned ip\|108.162.237.169}}
		+
		+
		+	"...and attempts to do so send strong messages of their own" ....what? i dont understand this part. what did randall mean to say?? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.165\|172.70.34.165]] 21:38, 15 September 2021 (UTC)Bumpf

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:47, 1 August 2019
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	It should be noted that he uses literally wrong, just to anger the grammar police he's mocking, it's a nice touch.[[User:Trives\|Trives]] ([[User talk:Trives\|talk]]) 14:59, 19 September 2016 (UTC)		It should be noted that he uses literally wrong, just to anger the grammar police he's mocking, it's a nice touch.[[User:Trives\|Trives]] ([[User talk:Trives\|talk]]) 14:59, 19 September 2016 (UTC)
		+	: What? He's using literally because it is literally "literally." He just listed 8 traits which both sides supposedly share. The joke/comment isn't that they are practically the same; it is that they are the identical same group of people.

	In my eyes the 2 groups are not standing together in this comic. --[[User:DaB.\|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.\|talk]]) 15:12, 19 September 2016 (UTC)		In my eyes the 2 groups are not standing together in this comic. --[[User:DaB.\|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.\|talk]]) 15:12, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:01, 28 September 2016
Line 55:		Line 55:

	Glamour and grammar ...		Glamour and grammar ...
−	https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glamour	+	https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glamour {{unsigned ip\|108.162.237.169}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:16, 28 September 2016
Line 53:		Line 53:
	They are called 'Grammar Nazis'!!!! {{unsigned ip\|198.41.243.240}}		They are called 'Grammar Nazis'!!!! {{unsigned ip\|198.41.243.240}}
	: I have thought about that, but since this term doesn't show up neither in the comic nor in the title text I discarded the idea again. On the other hand, I've never heard of the term "Grammar Police" while "Grammar Nazi" is quite common to me and in Google the term "grammar nazi" has about twice as many results as "grammar police" - despite explainXKCD [[User:Elektrizikekswerk\|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk\|talk]]) 06:49, 22 September 2016 (UTC)		: I have thought about that, but since this term doesn't show up neither in the comic nor in the title text I discarded the idea again. On the other hand, I've never heard of the term "Grammar Police" while "Grammar Nazi" is quite common to me and in Google the term "grammar nazi" has about twice as many results as "grammar police" - despite explainXKCD [[User:Elektrizikekswerk\|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk\|talk]]) 06:49, 22 September 2016 (UTC)
		+
		+	Glamour and grammar ...
		+	https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glamour