No, I don't think I'll post my result on the grammar aptitude quiz.

[ridicully]

While I accept the fact that calling someone a grammar-nazi doesn't irritate everyone like it does me, I draw the line at posting a picture of Adolf Hitler in my LJ for fun.

Note that my indignation didn't stop me from taking the quiz.
Yes, I can also spell hypocrite (if I try really hard).
But any quiz that attests me any sort of grammatical understanding has to be taken with a grain of salt anyway.

Comments

[arthenadent.livejournal.com]

I'm bothered by it too; people shouldn't use such things so lightly. But you have to remember that Americans aren't taught from birth to be incredibly sensitive about it like you guys are. The "nie wieder Krieg" and the years of trying to erase the "Jew-killer" stigma have dumped massive amounts of residual guilt on you guys. But we were the "glorious heroes who liberated the Jews" (never mind what we did to the Japanese both in Japan and in the US), so we don't have that guilt to deal with. No, we save our guilt for black people, an area where Germans seem incredibly callous by comparison. The phrase "Black music," so commonly used in German pop culture, would get your ass sued off in the US in about thirty seconds. But we have the slavery thing to deal with (which is every bit as bad as the Nazi thing, even though it doesn't get as much attention), so we're taught to be sensitive there. "Black music" is a normal thing over there, just like "Nazi" has come to mean "overly picky/strict/perfectionist person" over here. It's still not cool to deny the past its power like that quiz author did, but you have to remember which parts of the past have power in different cultures.

[ridicully]

Oh, I'm trying to remember that.

My compromise is that I try not to react if someone refers to grammar-nazis, but I rant about it every now and then.

On the whole I think an oversensibility to the word 'Nazi' is still easier to live with than to 'Black' - it simply doesn't turn up quite so often in everyday conversation.

But I still have problems understanding where the connection "Nazi" <->"overly picky/strict/perfectionist person" came from. It's just not an association I'd thought of.