It was an innocent posting without any malice until the arrival of the grammar Nazis

Graphic By ANIS SHAMSUL

YESTERDAY’S Twitter feed: Our King and Queen in Tokyo, Thailand’s Royal Consort stripped off from all titles, what politicians are saying at the Parliament and Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s new Cabinet line-up.

What made me look twice, however, was something of lesser importance. Or is it of a profound societal misdemeanour? A girl posted pictures of herself on her graduation day with the caption: “Graduated dulu ye” followed by some adorable emojis. Where she graduated from was not known as the learning institution’s name and logo were, for some reason, censored out. She was glowing, having successfully completed one major stage in her life.

It was an innocent posting without any malice until the arrival of the grammar Nazis.

Someone retweeted this post, saying: “It baffles me that even after three to four years of education, you people can’t use graduate/ graduated correctly (sic)”. “It’s not astrophysics (sic),” he went on, replying to himself.

It is irksome for those who are proficient in the English language to read or hear sentences like that, especially from a newly graduated girl.

Other similar common cyber slangs are “that’s mean” and “congrates!” The list would soon match an Oxford dictionary.

However, the latter’s retweet had encouraged others to join onto the bandwagon and make fun of the girl’s grammatical mistake. “You can still graduate with a C in English, right?” said one, with laughing emojis.

Another chatter advised the girl that, even with Manglish (Malaysian English — the creole, not to be confused with the Malaysian standard English), one should use proper grammar.

One Twitter user discouraged the use of the English language altogether. “Just use the Malay language, there’s nothing wrong with that. Writing and speaking in Malay do not make us any less intelligent. Better than pretending to speak English.”

Another comment: “Beauty without brain,” a person simply said. Twitter detectives managed to find out based on the girl’s graduation gown the ceremony was, in fact, that of a secondary school.

For the “grammarians” such simple errors are unacceptable. But many fail to see how such comments can affect the young lady emotionally.

In the wake of South Korean singer and actress Sulli’s death, the public should take cognisance of the impact of cyberbullying.

Social media can be a platform to learn many things. But it has a dark side. Public shaming of a young girl who made an “innocent” mistake should not be a way of life. Studies have shown the emotional impact of cyberbullying victims. Sulli is a good example.

Level-minded netizens did come to the girl’s defence. “Let’s encourage people to learn. Instead of whining about grammatical errors, fix them immediately.”

Another said: “I let the error pass because it is a special day for her, I don’t want to spoil the vibe.” “Don’t be so harsh.” “Not cool bro, you didn’t have to rain on someone else’s parade to make this point.”

He defended himself, pointing to the countless resumes where the applicants say: “I am a graduated from…”

While we want to live in an ideal world, the reality is far from perfect.

The imperfections make the world different, and accepting differences makes it a beautiful place.

---

Farezza Hanum Rashid is the assistant news editor at The Malaysian Reserve.