If No Towel Turn Knob Analysis

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Critique of “If No Towel Turn Knob”
Have you ever heard of a grammar Nazi or known someone who might not spoke proper English all the time? Where you still able to understand them? The article “If No Turn Knob: The Monument of Proper English” is an article is written by Josh Lederman. The article was written and published in Winter of 2013 on the stratter.com. The article is not very long and is only thirteen pages in length. The article provides examples supporting the main idea that proper English is not necessary correct. The author goes on to provide good examples of different rules governing dialects and proper English. For example, he explains that different dialects are rule driven just like proper English. The author is very effective
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He uses the example of someone that might use they as a singular pronoun. He also uses the argument that these dialects are rule-governed, stable, and predictable. For example, a statement of “I ain’t go none” is just as rule driven as “I don’t have any”. The rules are different but both still rule driven. He uses the example from his title of the article” If No Towel Turn Knob. This is a violation of standard English but can still be understood. People from different areas of the country might have their own rules to their dialect and one could understand what they are saying. Someone who might say axe instead of ask is still understood. Someone who says “axe” will still spell it correctly if writing the word. It is just the way they pronounce the word that does not follow proper English guideline. This example used by the author shows that the person speaking knows the correct word but with their dialect it is how the word is pronounced. The author goes into the phenomenology of error, which is the study of what people consider as an error. A surface level error is an error that you can still understand. A deep level error is an error one cannot understand. So “If No Towel Turn Knob” is a surface level error. It is still understandable. So when you read “If No Towel Turn Knob” you still understand what it means even …show more content…
The author did a good job to use relatable material and common sayings used within the English language. Some of the common sayings used would be someone who says “Suppose to”, not what it should be, “Supposed to”. He explains and does a good job talking about people who critique others of what they think they know is not always correct. The author goes into detail of what people think they know of standard English and what they really know. He explains a linguist’s knowledge versus someone just learning English. Most people would not be able to explain all the rules in the English language. As what the rule is being broken with “If No Towel Turn Knob”? He shares memes that people can relate

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