Today we’re studying a video called Grammar Police by an American comedy duo called Smosh.
Have you heard of the grammar police? Of course there’s no such thing as the actual grammar police – but it’s an expression that people use when someone objects to having their grammar corrected - or someone else’s grammar corrected.
I think the situation they show at the start of that video is a pretty typical situation where that expression might be used.
So, in the video, some guys are writing stuff on a forum or something on the internet. And one guy writes, and says:Oh my god guys, have you heard the new Linkin Park CD yet? There sooo good now.
And then another guy says: You mean they’re so good now. You said the wrong there dumbass.
And then the first guy replies: Oh, no, why don’t you call the grammar police then, douche nozzle.
And what he means is: Who cares if I used the wrong word? And you’re a loser – or a douche nozzle – for pointing it out.
But in this video, there are some actual grammar police that appear. And you’ll have to watch the video to find out what happens.
A 32-year-old woman was taken to court for downloading 24 songs from the internet without paying for them.According to CNN the songs she downloaded included songs by No Doubt, Linkin Park, Gloria Estefan and Sheryl Crow and had a price tag of 99 cents each.A jury found the woman guilty and she was fined 1.9 million dollars. Her lawyer said she was shocked at the fine and planned to appeal.
And that was Stick News for Thursday the 25th of June. Kia ora.
A predicate is:the part of a sentence or clause containing a verb and stating something about the subject. For example: went home in John went home.
In the video (the) Grammar Police, one of the officers listens to his favourite song, which is called The Predicate Rapand it goes like this: A predicate is one of the two main parts of the sentence, the other being the subject, which the predicate modifies.
conversations withsarah What the hell do you want?
Timmy What the hell do you want? いったい何の用だ?
Sergeant Are you Timmy Blumpkin? Timmy Blumpkin か?
Timmy Yeah, so what? そうだけど?
Sergeant I’m Sergeant Anous with the grammar police. I need to have a word with you. Step outside. 私は文法警察の Anous 巡査だ。 文法のチェックをしたい。 外へ出ろ。
Timmy Is this some kind of joke? Screw off, douche nozzle. これは何の冗談だ? 消えろバカたれ。
Sergeant You think this is some kind of joke? Huh? これでも冗談だと思うか? オラ
Timmy You police don’t got nothin’ on me. 警察の世話になるようなことは何もしていない。
Sergeant Oh, I don’t have anything on you, do I? I have records showing that you said the wrong there – OK look at me – you said the wrong there in a forum. You should have used t-h-e-y-apostrophe-r-e. It’s a contraction for they are. Got it? オレが何も挙げられないと思うか? ネット掲示板でお前が間違った"there"を使った証拠がある。 本来はTHEY'RE だ。 THEY ARE の短縮だ。 分かったか?
Timmy I don’t have to deal with this. Mum! そんなこと、僕には関係ないよ〜、ママ!
Oh my god guys have you heard the new Linkin Park CD yet? There sooo good now. You mean they’re so good now. You said the wrong there dumb arse. Oh, no, why don’t you call the grammar police then, douche nozzle.
Yeah, I’ve been with the grammar police for about, ah, ten years now. Ah, before that I was in the, I was in the normal police and you know I, I left because I thought I could do more good to today’s youth by teaching them about good grammar, so, yeah.
Seargant Anous, we have a report of bad grammar use on a farm at 323 Birchwood Street.
All right. Roger that.
Yeah, you got to be really careful around these kind of people. They’re, ah, they’re very unpredictable.
What the hell do you want? Are you Timmy Blumpkin? Yeah, so what? I’m Sergeant Anous with the grammar police. I need to have a word with you. Step outside. Is this some kind of joke? Screw off, douche nozzle. You think this is some kind of joke? Huh? You police don’t got nothin’ on me. Oh, I don’t have anything on you, do I? I have records showing that you said the wrong there – OK look at me – you said the wrong there in a forum. You should have used t-h-e-y-apostrophe-r-e. It’s a contraction for they are. Got it? I don’t have to deal with this. Mum! There’s some creep arse …
With some taser, tasing you! Punk arse kid, better learn your grammar next time.
Timmy? Is there something wrong?
Guys, let’s get out of here.
The main reason why I joined the grammar police is cause when I was growing up, my friends used to always make fun of my superior knowledge of the English language and call me grammar nazi. So I was like, “Hey why not join the grammar police and make some money being a grammar nazi, you know. And, ah, I also get to use this cool little taser here.
This is what I said, “The cat hurt its paws”. I-t-apostrophe-s. No, no, you are wrong, Jerry. There is no apostrophe. It is i-t-s. Oh, oh, yeah, did you not pass the third grade.
She’s right. Did you not pass the third grade? It’s i-t-apostrophe-s, it’s possessive. For example, my wife’s brain is stupider than mine. True and correct sentence. If you guys don’t shut up … If you don’t shut up I’m going to punch you in the face. You are wrong! There is no apostrophe.
Oh my god, Jerry … That was completely excessive, I want your badge number you jerk. The only thing you’re going to see is my taser!
Sergeant Faraday to HQ. Domestic grammar dispute has been resolved.
Yeah, I just received word that somebody might be selling cheat sheets to this week’s grammar test in the back of the school. So I’m going to go and check that out right … Oh, oh, this is my favourite song, it’s called The Predicate Rap.
A predicate is one of the two main parts of a sentence, the other being the subject, which the predicate modifies. For the simple sentence, John Yellow …
Yes, hello, who are you? I’m the school principal, thank you for coming so quickly, Sergeant Anus, is it?
It’s Anous, but, ah, show me these …
The cheat sheet dealer is there, right under the tree. All right, let’s go get him guys.
Hey, you, freeze! Grammar police! Hey!
What’s in here? Huh? Nothing! Nothing? Are there cheat sheets in here perhaps? Somewhere in here? No? No! Nothing! What’s this? Huh? What is this? It’s a, it’s a grocery list. I’m buying hotdogs. Oh, is it? Is it? We’ll find out. It’s definitely a cheat sheet. So what? So what?! Do you have any idea what kind of damage this could do to a kid? He could go his whole life not knowing the difference between a demonstrative adjective and an attributive adjective. Do you want that on your hands? Do you? Do you? Dude, I don’t care. Do you want to be tased bro? You want to be tased? What the hell! It’s not working. You’re letting him get away Sergeant Anous, what are you going to do? I’ve got my back up. Right here. Come on guys. Stop right there, or I’ll shoot. What does it matter? Oh, what’s the matter? Does it hurt too much? It doesn’t hurt that bad. Watch, I’ll shoot myself. Waaaaa!
filming notes Today's ending was filmed on Thursday 25 June 2009 at 2:55pm from MSK JR Apartment, Kutchan, Japan.
サラのメモ: Have you heard of the grammar police? Having your grammar corrected is a good thing when you're learning a language, of course, but if you do it to a native speaker they might sarcastically tell you to call the grammar police.