Who are the "Grammar Nazis"? Sprache und Boden

Translation of Grammar Nazi is carried out from two languages. In English the first word means "grammar", and the second in German is "Nazi". We are talking about both a well-known Internet meme and an ironic name (and self-name) of one of the communities on the Internet. More details about what Grammar Nazi means will be discussed in the article.

General concept

The Grammar Nazi online community is notable for its approach to literacy issues with extreme pedantry and intolerance. They judge a person only by the level of his language proficiency. And, in particular, about the ability to write correctly.

The Internet project "Urbanculture" speaks of Grammar Nazi as an online creature that cares with every fiber of its soul for the correct spelling of words, punctuation marks and for the purity of native speech in general. Many members of the Internet community perceive this “creature” as a fat troll who provokes controversy and abuse almost out of nowhere. It also generates “much noise about nothing.”

On the cynical and humorous website "Lurk" Grammar Nazi are defined as national linguists, grammatical Nazis, linguistic fascists, literate guardsmen. They are described as aggressive literates with innate literacy and a heightened sense of beauty. They get very annoyed when someone makes mistakes - spelling or grammatical. They immediately rush to the attack, waving dictionaries and referring to Gramota.ru.

GN Ruthlessness

The name of the community we are considering goes back to the word “Nazism,” which is an allusion to the ruthlessness of its members. Sometimes members of the Grammar Nazi use emblems that contain a large Latin letter “G”, stylized as the flag of the Third Reich. This emblem shows signs of imitation of Nazi symbols, to which law enforcement agencies have repeatedly shown their reaction.

Among the Wikipedians there is also Grammar Nazi. They spend a significant part of their time correcting errors in articles. The members of Grammar Nazi are called GN for short, or GN. If an associate of GN makes a mistake himself, especially when he denounces the ignorant, they speak of Grammmar Nazi fail (failure). It must be understood that when GBVs call for the extermination of the illiterate, they do not mean the literal embodiment of the action they call. They either make a stern reprimand or “turn on the ban.”

This is how linguist M.A. Krongauz writes about the most “severe” Grammar Nazis. According to him, the most radical of literacy activists are people who neglect communication interests. They are not engaged in discussing the stated topic, but are analyzing the mistakes the interlocutor made in written speech. Their characteristic feature is the desire to correct the interlocutor, rather than communicate with him.

Objective prerequisites

According to a certain part of Internet users, such a phenomenon as Grammar Nazi did not arise out of nowhere. Today, it is no secret to anyone that with the spread of the World Wide Web, a huge mass of people poured into it, much of whose literacy leaves much to be desired.

As a consequence, the level at which communication takes place, as they say, does not shine. Both in terms of ethics and literacy. Nevertheless, there is a circle of people who are well educated, highly intelligent, broad-minded, well-read and erudite.

In the most natural way, the manifestation of widespread ignorance, disrespect for the native language, and sometimes even flaunting such shortcomings, causes some of them to feel indignant. And it’s really “a shame for the state.”

Is there any benefit?

Is there any benefit from members of this community? According to a number of Internet users, it is obvious. By correcting other people's mistakes, they raise the level of Internet literacy. Other users express the opinion that there is nothing wrong with the fact that there are errors in the text. The main thing is that its essence is clear.

To this GN respond that rules in language exist not for the sake of beauty, but precisely so that people understand each other. And if everyone writes as they want, then the result will be not a conveyance of thoughts in writing to the interlocutor, but a “stream of consciousness.”

There is another argument against GBV. Language is not a frozen substance, it develops, so making certain vital adjustments to it, including in the direction of simplification, is quite acceptable. While the Grammar Nazis persist in their conservatism in vain.

In response to this, GN retort: ​​the language within the life of one generation, as well as the rules existing in it, change very little so that this could cause any obvious discrepancies. And all reasoning of this kind is from the evil one.

A huge minus is in the methods

If we consider the idea of ​​GN in a very generalized form, then at first glance everything does not seem to be so bad. The development of a culture of speech, love for the Russian language, cleaning up mistakes - all this can be called commendable.

However, despite the good intentions of the Grammar Nazis, the methods by which they achieve literacy are sometimes “beyond the bounds”. This is trolling (bullying), insulting other participants, threats against them.

According to M. A. Krongauz, in practice, everything often comes down to painful pokes at everyone who made a mistake. The “linguistic arrogance” exhibited by Grammar Nazi is very exaggerated and has a destructive beginning. Pointing out an error is quite easy, but with design it is much more difficult.

About some incidents

Let us give examples of the attention that was shown by authorities to the phenomenon we are describing.

• In Buryatia, in Ulan-Ude, activist of the Young Guard movement M. Burdukovskaya was fined by the court for publishing the Grammar Nazi emblem on the VKontakte page in 2014. According to the court decision, she violated the ban on Nazi symbols in Russia.
• In 2015, the head of the Total Dictation Foundation, A. Pavlovsky, was summoned to the Oktyabrsky District Prosecutor’s Office in Rostov-on-Don on the issue of possible financing of the Grammar Nazi Foundation. This was explained by the fact that the prosecutor's office decided that we were talking about a pro-Nazi movement.

In order to avoid misunderstandings, in conclusion I would like to note that the phrase Kazak Grammar Nazi is not related to the concept that was discussed in the article. This is the name of the program, within the framework of which in Kazakhstan, starting in 2017, there is a gradual transition to the Latinization of the Kazakh language.

This is the unsightly title I decided to choose for my next material. Our time moves forward, and with its passage many things change. The language we all speak is also changing, and discussions around it continue. Not only here, but also abroad. Moreover, in the West these discussions are often Russophobic in nature.
In Ukraine (this is the correct way to say it from the point of view of the linguistic norm), there has been a war going on for a long time, including over the language. Deputies of the Verkhovna Zrada (there is no other name for the Ukrainian parliament) are already declaring from the stands that the Russian language is a northern dialect of Ukrainian. In the Baltic states (namely, in Latvia), a referendum was recently held to give Russian the status of a second state language. Once the results showed that the majority had voted "yes", the counting of votes stopped long before the last ballot had been examined and its results were simply annulled.

Yes, and our "g"ramathes" are also not averse to plopping down with a crowbar into the shit and picking up neoliberashist tendencies and chants, coupled with libertinist spirits. One or two - and tomorrow you are already a monkey like Obama the Untermensch and his masters. Hitler also said that "The Slavs must be reduced to sign language." No matter how contradictory this may sound, it is not the Slavs who are most suitable for the role of victim, but the Americans. That is, the concepts of "American/Pindos/Yankee" today would be more logical to be considered synonymous with the concept of "Untermensch" /unmensch”, because the USA is a “society” of subhumans/non-humans, regardless of what position they occupy in their “society”, be it a homeless person, an average person, an Illuminati globalist, the president of the country, personnel and heads of the special services, the Pentagon , police, courts, the State Department, transoceanic corporations - in general, the list can be continued further, but we won’t. And all because English, as the official language of the United States, has no legal force. In America, they even once tried to hold a referendum for giving the language legal force, but this issue was never resolved due to heated contradictions. As a result, it is still in the air, and the so-called. The “US state” continues to pursue its policy of global genocide (including linguistic).

When a society begins to realize that its language may disappear, groups of activists appear in its strata, which can be called “language soil activists” or grammar Nazis, whose goal is to fight for the spelling of their native language. They are also called linguistic extremists/fascists/Nazis because of the symbols used on the Internet. Today I consider it necessary to tell you about this phenomenon, which today has become an integral part of our lives and which has been gaining momentum for a long time. Of course, this material may cause a violent reaction from the liberal Bandera prosecutors, of whom we can count on one hand in Russia - in fact, the entire judicial system of the Russian Federation is literally swarming with these Justinderites in uniform. What, brothers, didn’t you like the stigmas I came up with regarding you? That’s right, you will know how to turn fighters for justice, including linguistic justice, into milk cows on whom you can open cases with impunity and collect fines for the sole purpose of your own profit. You will not die of hunger, and if you do die, then this is your problem, not that of unrelated third parties, and there is no point in throwing a barrel at those who defend their (and our common) native language. This material is equivalent in its way to several information “yellowstones” (that’s what I decided to call the new unit of information (Ylst) by analogy with the name of the largest supervolcano on our planet) and aims not only to protect those who are today called grammar-nazis , but more than that, it is an independent investigation and criminal case against our judges and prosecutors. There is a proverb: “don’t judge, and you won’t be judged,” but there is also a worthy answer to it, which I will paraphrase: “when justice becomes criminal, the right to be a judge belongs to every citizen.” I am sure that most of you fully agree with this formulation and will express your solidarity and understanding with me.

Why did I decide to take this on and personally act as a language judge? Remembering my student years, I remember what my thesis was devoted to. It was called "Language Policy of Austria". In general, I was lucky in that before my time in Foreign Language at the university (I won’t name it), where I studied, no papers on Austria were written at all. The faculty will be 75 years old next year, and yet I am grateful to fate for giving me such a chance to become an Austrian pioneer (here I am, of course, being ironic). It was then that I began to develop the extreme right-wing conservative beliefs that I adhere to today. Because of this, many classmates (as you know, the majority of foreign language students are girls) even turned their backs on me, but in principle I don’t regret it at all to this day, fortunately there were those from the same philological department who supported me.

Okay, looks like I went too long with the introduction. Well, then I’ll move on to the topic of the material.

Grammar Nazis: who are they and how did they appear?

As we know from history, after the end of World War II, Europe lay in ruins and was restored mainly with US money. There was a so-called "Marshall Plan", named after the American military leader J.C. Marshall, which provided funds for the restoration of war-torn Europe. America practically did not suffer from the war, because it conducted military operations on foreign territory and in the Pacific Ocean. The Eastern European part of the then USSR suffered greatly, but the leaders of the Soviet Union decided not to join in the enslavement and began to restore the destroyed regions of the country on their own without external help. And if the Dawes Plan, adopted after the First World War, was just a warm-up, the Marshall Plan provided for the emergence on the map of new economic and political blocs and bodies, known today as the European Union, the European Economic Community, the OSCE, PACE and NATO under the auspices of USA. Later, the USSR will create its own blocs - ATS and CMEA. It is worth noting that CMEA was founded before NATO, but this will be discussed in the following materials.
Taking advantage of the fact that Europe is recovering with their money, the United States decided to take it “under guardianship.” And this meant that American realities began to penetrate into the life and everyday life of the average European. This also affected the language. For example, in the same German there appeared their English-language analogues, for example. r Computer=r Rechner, r Mobiletelefon=s Handy, s Radio=r Rundfunk, joggen=dauerlaufen, etc. The French language also suffered, although let’s not forget that the English language also has many borrowings from French. The Americanization of the titular language began.

Many will ask: where do French borrowings come from in English? Yes, it’s simple: long before the appearance of the United States on the world map, the main dispute for supremacy in Europe was between England (Great Britain), the mistress of the seas in Europe, and France, the largest geopolitical European unit. Sometimes it was even necessary to involve Germany. There was a time when the dominant language in Europe was French, which was used in the speech of the British, but from the beginning of the 15th century. English began to supplant French and became the dominant language of the world. As they say, the Britons returned the favor to the French. Since then, it has become a tradition that in foreign languages ​​at universities these three languages ​​(English, German and French) have become the main ones for studying. Today, learning Chinese is gaining popularity (almost 1.5 billion native speakers); Spanish is also in fashion (and this is not only Spain, but almost all of Latin America with the exception of Brazil; the official language there is Portuguese), which is studied in the USA as a second foreign language.

All this led to the fact that the linguistic norm of the native language began to suffer; in particular, the expression “author zhzhot” gained particular popularity. It was no longer a laughing matter, and that’s when they appeared - the Grammar Nazis.

Of course, in reality they are not the same as shown in the photo and they do not carry machine guns in their hands with bandages on the elbows. The symbol of modern “linguofascists” is the Latin letter G stylized as a swastika on a white circle against a red frame. All of you have certainly seen the flag of the Third Reich, and as for the letter itself, it is somewhat reminiscent of the logo of the famous Greek party “Golden Dawn” (self-name “Chrysi Avgi”), which adheres not only to extreme right-wing and fascist views, but also to radical Euroscepticism . And SYRIZA (the extreme left; the National Bolsheviks, as we would say) are rather like flowers in comparison with them. Recently, the leader of the Golden Dawn, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, came to Russia for a rally in support of our country in Ukraine. The party, by the way, opposed Ukropov’s Right Sector and harshly criticized his actions in the Donbass.

"Chrysi Avgi" logo

But let's return to the subject of our conversation. The term "grammar Nazi" arose in the early 1990s in English among such entities as feminazi, gym Nazi, stroller Nazi, breastfeeding Nazi. breastfeeding), etc.; became an international Internet meme and entered the Russian language at the end of the 20th century.

Here is what the Sevastopol newspaper writes about this in its material “Battle for Grammar” (http://sevastopol.press/2013/09/08/bitva-za-grammatiku/):
“Grammar Nazis (linguofascists, Grammar Nazi) are in no way connected with the Third Reich, they are just people who write correctly and correct the mistakes of others on the Internet. Some consider them people who, out of nothing to do, find fault with errors in the texts and speech of their interlocutors. In fact In fact, representatives of the Grammar Nazis are fighting for literacy and purity of the language. They do not need to specifically look for errors, because they themselves hurt the eye and act on the Grammar Nazis like a red rag on a bull. And illiteracy on the Internet is at every step, because it is flooded school slobs and half-educated students who know nothing about respect for their native language.

Prince Peter Vyazemsky is credited with a quote that “Pushkin took an insult to the Russian language as an insult inflicted on him personally.” By the same principle, grammar Nazis are deeply touched by the illiteracy of those around them.

Stylization under the banner of the Serbian Chetniks. Those had "With faith in God. Sloboda or death"

Grammar Nazis cannot calmly pass by if they come across “I like”, “I want”, “slipped”, “lay down”, “put on a coat” and similar illiterate expressions. Having heard the word “ringing” in a conversation with the emphasis on the first syllable, he will not miss the opportunity to correct his interlocutor. Linguistic fascists correct mistakes and make comments competently, in a strict but aggressive form, with secret hatred or at least a feeling of superiority over their opponent. For example, calling him an illiterate cattle. This behavior is called “Grammar Nazis are indignant.”

Conflicts often arise on this basis in online communities and social networks. An illiterate person, in response to ridicule, usually tries to justify himself. Like, “what difference does it make as it’s written, the main thing is that it was clear.” In response to such a remark, grammar Nazis may wish their interlocutor to burn in hellfire or communicate their desire to commit violent acts against an individual who does not respect the Russian language using a spelling dictionary.

The grammar Nazis have their own hierarchy, parodically organized on the model of the ranks of the SS troops. From the youngest student, an excellent student of the Grammar Jugend, to the Grammar Fuhrer, who is Dietmar Elyashevich Rosenthal - professor, Soviet and Russian linguist, author of numerous works on the Russian language. The Grammar Nazis repeat that he will punish everyone who distorted and disrespected the Russian language.

There is a topic on the Sevastopol forum that is loved by grammar Nazis and simply literate people - in it the illiterate statements of forum members are collected and ridiculed. In addition to the errors typical of illiterate Russian-speaking people, regardless of place of residence, here are the toponyms of Sevastopol that are often used with gross errors. For example, you can often find the streets “Rudnevo”, “Yumashevo”, “Steponyan”, “Tolstova”, “Kalipischenko”, “Vakalyunchik” and also the mysterious “Ostryakovo”. A list of such toponyms is collected on the Sevastopol portal.

Grammar Nazis are well-read, literate, intelligent people with a good outlook; many of them graduated from the Faculty of Philology.

Some consider grammaticalism to be abnormal behavior and even a mental disorder due to complexes and childhood grievances, since its supporters are ready to hate a person because of a mistake. Others are sure that correcting mistakes in other people’s texts is just a way to assert themselves. But such a zealous position in upholding language norms and rules can be explained by extreme intolerance towards illiteracy and nothing more. And the creation of a community of grammar-nazis is a kind of humor and the desire to belong to a community of literate people."

Here are some of the most common mistakes:
1. Feel free to kill conductors who say “PAY YOUR FARE”! You can either “pay the fare” or “pay the fare”!
2. The word “LIE” DOES NOT EXIST in the Russian language! With attachments - please: PUT, PAY, TRASH.
3. Are you still “calling”? Then we go to you! Educated people say: “Vasya is calling you,” “Call your mother.”

4. As you know, there are two troubles in Russia: “-TSYA” and “-TSYA”. So why not correct them in fifth grade? Ask a question to the verb: “What does it do?” or “What should I do?” If there is a “b” in the question, then there is a “b” in the verb, if not, there is NO in the verb either!

5. There are no words “in general” and “in general”! There are the words “IN GENERAL” and “IN GENERAL”. And period.

6. It’s time to introduce monetary fines for writing “Sorry” instead of “Sorry”.

7. How can you put the letter “U” into the word “future” to make “future”? For those suffering from the mania of cramming in extra letters, hit them with a spelling dictionary and repeat: “I will” - “future”, “follow” - “next”.

8. How long can you doubt: “Come” or “Come”? Remember once and for all, correctly - “COME”. BUT in the future: WILL COME, WILL COME, WILL COME.

9. Have you ordered espresso? To cook it faster? The coffee is called "ESPRESSO"! And there is also “lAtte” (emphasis on “A”, two “Ts”) and “capuChino” (one “H”).

10. Happy (what?) birthday! I’m going (where?) to my (what?) birthday! I was at a birthday party. No “I’m going to your birthday party”, “Congratulations, happy birthday” and similar heresy!
11. Girls, if a guy writes “pretty girl” and “looks good,” put a bold cross on him! Why do you need to be so literate?!
12. Keep in mind that “KEEP IN VIEW” is written separately!
13. Everyone who still says “IHNY” will burn in hell!

Recently, the famous linguist Maxim Krongauz published the book “Albanian Self-Teacher”. Later he gave 2 interviews about this

Maxim Krongauz

“A huge mass of girls came to the Internet”(Interview to Gazeta.ru)
Maxim Krongauz told Gazeta.Ru about his book “Albanian Self-Teacher”, nyashechka, mi-mi-mi and pichalka, which is happening to the Russian language thanks to blogs, social networks and the network in general.

“Albanian Self-Teacher” has been released - a new book by the famous linguist Maxim Krongauz, dedicated to the adventures of the modern Russian language on the Internet. The author told Gazeta.Ru about how to spot a bureaucrat online, how politics influences language, and why writing illiterately is not a shame today.

— By “Albanian language” you mean the language spoken on the RuNet. Are linguistic and communication trends moving from the Internet into everyday Russian?

— The language spoken on the Internet has ceased to be jargon, it has become a style. Of course, it continues to be a kind of club for initiates, but these boundaries are now very blurred. Therefore, I believe that the “Albanian language” is not the language of one culture, as was the case with the “language of the bastards”, it is the language in which we all write when we enter the Internet. Moreover, this language has begun to influence the way we write and speak offline. For example, I heard students pronounce the word “preved”, emphasizing the fact that this is an Internet greeting. Today I see how the media actively use techniques and signs born on the Internet: emoticons, words such as “pichalka” and others.

— In your book, you draw attention to the fact that today there is no shame in writing illiterately. Why?

— With the advent of the Internet, gigantic masses of people who had never written before were attracted to writing. Journalists and writers used to write, they were checked by editors and proofreaders. An ordinary person did not need to write anything other than a work report and a memo. Today, not only are huge masses attracted to writing, but the result of their activity immediately becomes public. The Soviet school developed in all of us, literate and illiterate, the shame of making mistakes - it was possible to make mistakes only on the fence. It is impossible to maintain this psychological barrier and fully communicate. Internet communication is live communication, fast and intense. The question was: either be ashamed and not communicate, or communicate and not be ashamed. Moreover, the “bastards” helped overcome this shame in a simple way - they turned illiteracy into a game. This blurriness made releasing shame even easier.

— You present the “language of bastards” and the fashion for literacy, represented by the “Grammar Nazi” subculture, as two opposite phenomena. Can we say that the “Grammar Nazis” simply replaced the “bastards”? And now it’s fashionable to be literate and not anti-literate?

— Anti-literacy denies the rules and pointedly neglects them. The Grammar Nazi is the opposite trend, which is at the other pole. These are people who struggle with both anti-literacy and illiteracy. Moreover, they fight so fiercely that they received this not very pleasant name, which some of them are now quite proud of. It cannot be said that the “grammar Nazis” replaced the “bastards”. The fashion for the “language of bastards” has passed, but other violations arise, which the “grammar Nazis” attack.
- Which ones, for example?

— One of the important cultural paradigms that replaced the “bastards” is the “new sentimentality.” These little girls, “vanillas”, “cutes”, who pushed aside the “bastards” with their weak shoulders. Today we often hear words such as “nyashka”, “mimimi”, “pichalka”. People who are not part of this girlish culture repeat them with pleasure. First with irony, as if quoting. However, now everyone uses these words, even the media.

— Where do you think this craving for lisp on the Internet came from?

— Mass girl culture plays a huge role not only in our society. There are special languages, for example the Fakatsa language - the language of the diaries of Israeli girls. The girls came to the Internet quite late. First the intellectuals came, then the “hooligans” came, and then a huge mass of girls came. Different social and cultural groups are joining the Internet gradually. For example, quite recently officials came to the Internet. By the way, it’s quite awkward: they are constantly mocked because the official’s language gives away even on the Internet.

— You write that a huge number of new words and phrases have appeared in the blogosphere as cliché comments. How relevant is this genre in the era of likes?

— Like is also a cliché, only mechanical. If earlier I could choose from 5-10 positive ratings and two dozen negative ones - write “atstoy” or “aptar zhzhot”, today we see that even in the blogosphere itself quite mechanical things have appeared. If I have absolutely nothing to say, I choose a cliché. For example, "+1". Google successfully used this cliché from the blogosphere and turned it into a button (meaning the Google Plus social network button), which is quite reasonable, because it means support for the statement itself. Facebook invented likes, and they have really become very important in our lives. In the Russian language, in addition to the word “like” itself, its derivatives also appeared - “like”, “like”, “like”. Like has become a measure of social success; people are measured by likes. We see that people need to have a certain cliché to participate in dialogue, because many people have nothing to say, but want to say it. Modern communication constantly engages us. If we remain silent, then we behave incorrectly, the correct thing is to react all the time, enter into dialogue. Stable phrases help us here, and even easier - likes.

— Can we say that communication is being simplified?

— This is not a simplification, but an immediate communication aid. Previously, a person could read the text and not say anything; he was not required to make comments. Today, commenting and reacting to text is one of the most important communicative phenomena. A lazy reader can simply add likes and be satisfied. Clichés help us fill voids, and we must fill them, because we are all involved in communication.

— In your book, you proceed from the fact that text has become the core of communication, since even oral communication has moved into written format. How does this relate to the opinion that pictures have become the main component of communication in modern culture?

— I agree with this opinion, however, as a linguist, it was more interesting for me to study the textual component of communication. Now we see complex art that includes text, pictures, and audio. Modern text is not only verbal, it is diverse and consists of many components. Demotivators and similar things are gradually going out of fashion, but they are being replaced by something else. For example, “atcards” are pictures with small text. There is a constant search for something new, including in the field of combining image and text.

— You draw parallels, albeit conditional, between historical events and shifts in language: the emergence of “zaumi” with the revolution; the emergence of a new Internet subculture, such as “bastards,” with the collapse of the USSR. To what extent do political events in recent years, such as the protest movement, influence language?

— If we are talking about a protest movement, then we can talk about the extraordinary creative power of language. New phrases and words are being invented all the time. In this regard, we can recall the period of the February Revolution of 1917: then the language also realized its creative potential. I quoted an example from the book by Sergei Osipovich Kartsevsky - the name of the party is KVD, which stands for “where the wind blows.” This is very similar to what is happening on the Internet today. Although in fact such abbreviations are not very characteristic of the Russian language. The Russian language during World War I was greatly influenced by the use of telegraph communication. Abbreviations appeared that were imposed by the conditions of communication. Roughly the same thing is happening today, but restrictions are imposed on us by Twitter and SMS.

— Computers and all kinds of gadgets force us to type text, hence the dominance of written speech over oral speech. What will happen to the existing written culture if in the future all these gadgets will be more convenient to control by voice? What if spoken language tries to reclaim its format?

“Just recently, it was impossible to imagine that the written form would become so important for us. After all, in fact, over the last ten years, the written form has been displacing the oral form from many areas. The sphere of dialogue is the sphere of oral speech, but today it is more convenient for people to exchange SMS than to talk to each other. Therefore, I think that written speech is no longer so easy to push back, we have become accustomed to it. After all, even the main device for ordinary oral communication, the telephone, today is more often used for written communication. The world has turned upside down. I don't think he'll be back on his feet anytime soon.

— In your book you pay attention to “intimate publicity.” Every day we see news about someone getting fired because of a controversial post or indecent photo on Facebook. How quickly do you think people will learn to distinguish between private and public spaces on the Internet?

— I gave a completely anecdotal example in the book: gangsters describe their crimes in detail on the Internet, for some reason believing that the police will not read them. However, this happens regularly. The craving for communication, for chatter, is stronger than the feeling of danger. A person is simply unable to resist saying something nasty about his boss. Over time, people will learn to distinguish between private and public spaces, but this will still not stop them from chatting.

"Afftara to the wall"(Interview with RG)
A new term has appeared in the language of linguists describing the Russian language of the Internet - “grammar-nazi”.

This is the name given to a very aggressive community of admirers of the “great and mighty” with innate literacy. Who are linguistic extremists and from whom do they defend their native language? The director of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian State University for the Humanities, Maxim Krongauz, who has just published a new book, “Albanian Self-Teacher,” answers these questions for RG.

— If we talk about a fresh slice of Internet speech, then it’s probably too late to learn “Albanian.” All these “Preved, bear!”, you see, are in the past...

Maxim Krongauz: It is important for you to catch the phenomenon at the peak of its popularity. And for me - when it’s already clear what it means. Today we understand much more than in 2006-2007, when “aptar zhot” was in vogue. Secondly, by “Albanian” I did not mean the “language of bastards”, not the language of some subculture, but the specific features of the Russian language on the Internet. They are alive and will continue to exist, because there are linguistic mechanisms that give rise to these phenomena.

—Where did this strange word “Albanian” come from?

Maxim Krongauz: It first appeared in 2004 in the usual spelling - "Albanian" and meant only "a rare, unknown language." When a certain English-speaking blogger Scottishtiger arrogantly inquired about the language in which the Russian-language captions for the photographs he liked were written, he was answered: “Albanian.” The American's self-righteousness caused fury in the blogosphere. A flash mob “Albanian Russian Lessons” was immediately organized. Comments were written on the Scottishtiger blog with the suggestion to “learn Albanian”. Now this indicates the incompetence and snobbery of the interlocutor. By the way, when, before the release of her new album, Madonna posted on her blog an appeal to her Russian fans, made using an automatic translation program, Russian bloggers announced the campaign “Let's teach Madonna to write in Albanian!”

- What terrible thing did she write?

Maxim Krongauz: Well, here’s a short excerpt: “For my Russian fans (fans). I want to personally welcome you to my blog... Don’t forget to buy my new dance confessions album...” (For those who didn’t understand, the singer addressed her fans , reminds those not to forget to buy her new album “Confession on the Dance Floor”.

— If “bastards” are not in fashion, then who is now at the forefront of style?

Maxim Krongauz: You are right, if someone continues these games of "hell's soton", it means that he is hopelessly outdated. Outdated not in the sense of age - very often new phenomena on the Internet are carried out by people who are not at all young. The question here is what is called creativity today, creative ability. Those who still communicate in the language of “bastards” look provincial, located on the periphery of linguistic fashion. And in the center there is another culture. I would call it a new sentimentality. Girlish lisp is characteristic not only of RuNet, it is a global trend. A lot of girls have come to the Internet who talk “like girls”: hence these cute little words like “sadness”, “vanilla”, endless diminutive suffixes, some interjections like “mimimi” - a reaction to something cute, fluffy, the highest degree of tenderness. The apotheosis of slang - the word "nyashka" or "nyashechka" - is simply something that makes you feel this very tenderness. It comes from the subculture of Japanese cartoon fans. But at the same time it looks great in Russian. It seems that it consists only of endearing Russian suffixes - the quintessence of sentimentality.

— The semantic field of “sadness” is clear: “Summer is coming to an end. Sadness!” and a sad smiley. What does "vanilla" mean?

Maxim Krongauz: Vanillas are a subculture. Girls are romantic, they love clothes in soft vanilla tones, smoking, sitting on the windowsill, and drinking coffee. They have thin waists and necks, and they often feel “sad.”

— Is the rise of a new sentimentality related to glamor?

Maxim Krongauz: If the “bastards,” to express the times, rebelled against everything in the world: politics, economic processes in the country, culture, even against the rules of spelling, no matter how funny it sounds, then today’s fashionistas are absolutely glamorous. They do not rebel, but, imitating movie and cartoon characters, create their own ideal world in which to hide.

— If we draw linguistic and social parallels, then the appearance of the Grammar Nazis looks quite natural...

Maxim Krongauz: There have always been literacy activists. The strange thing is that the current ones have accepted this unflattering title: “Grammar Nazi.” Judging by the social networks where linguistic extremists can be found (VKontakte and Twitter), they unite according to the rule: it is more important to correct the interlocutor, to point out a mistake, than to listen to what he says. Grammar Nazis do not care about everyone speaking and writing without errors, but, first of all, they simply want to rise to a higher level on a certain social ladder, which is established with the help of language. The main complaint against them is that they destroy communication. By the way, the Grammar Nazis themselves make a lot of mistakes, but they find fault with some standard irregularities, for example, the presence or absence of a soft sign in the verbs na-tsya, -tsya. They are not interested in the essence of the dispute. Humorous notes about grammar Nazis have already appeared on the Internet. One of them tells how they beat up a Russian nationalist for ignorantly writing on the wall of the Evropeisky shopping center: “Russia for Russians.” “Then three healthy guys ran up to me, started beating me and yelling: “Why is Russia with a lowercase, where is the dash, an imbecile?” said the 20-year-old victim. The attackers turned out to be graduates of the philology department. “He couldn’t iambic from trochee, no matter how we beat, distinguish,” they joked philologically.

- And yet a decent person can be illiterate?

Maxim Krongauz: In different periods of modern Russian history, this question was answered differently. Let's say, in the 90s in society (I'm not talking about the circle of university teachers) it was considered indecent to earn little. But writing or speaking illiterately is everyone’s personal matter. If someone corrected someone, he could be reprimanded for being impolite. They say that a person has a lot of other qualities besides literacy. Now a good Russian has again entered the “gentleman's set”. Trainings for company employees have become popular, although the results are sometimes anecdotal. One day I call an online store. I'm going to pay for groceries using my wife's card. First question: "What is the name of the card owner?" I say my wife's name. Next question: “Maria, what do you want to order?” My voice is far from feminine... The young man on the other end of the line was taught an algorithm of actions: first find out the name of the card owner, then address him by name... However, the very fact that such trainings are held suggests that good speech becomes in certain areas of mandatory

Nevertheless, it is worth recognizing that GN live and reproduce among us. Vladimir Pakhomov stated this in an interview. I bring to your attention his opinion:

"The Grammar Nazis live, prosper and multiply"
- What questions did Gramota.ru users ask in the past year? What were you interested in?

It often happens that questions are related to what is happening around. And this year, of course, too. Yes, there were a lot of standard, ordinary questions about commas, about the inflection of surnames, about the origin of words. But many questions reflected what was happening outside of language. Again there was a peak of questions “to Ukraine or to Ukraine?” This year they added the questions “in the Donbass or in the Donbass?”

Or, for example, how to write the combination “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Lugansk People’s Republic”? What is the rule for registering them? What are the official names of the states? What are the names of the organizations? Which letters are uppercase and lowercase, are quotation marks needed?

It seems to me that this question is quite difficult to answer, given that even Russia itself has not officially recognized these entities as states.

Yes, it is indeed very difficult to answer. It would seem that there is a similar example - the Polish People's Republic. But this is the official name of a state that existed during a certain historical period. And all three capital letters are needed there - no one argues with that.

And here, firstly, there is no dictionary fixation. Secondly, it is also unclear from a legal point of view. In addition, it is clear that the choice of spelling will necessarily reflect the native speaker’s attitude towards these phenomena.

One will write every word in capitals, thereby emphasizing that this is an independent state. The other will put it in quotation marks. And he will not use any capital letters, and thereby also express his attitude.

How did you answer this question?

You mentioned the sacramental question “in Ukraine or in Ukraine.” I noticed that no matter how much you answer, everyone still continues to swear and argue. Is there any way to answer this so that this debate can come to an end?

I think it's impossible. We have been constantly answering this question throughout the 15 years of the portal’s existence. And they still keep asking it! We answer that “in Ukraine” is correct, this corresponds to the norms of the Russian language. At the same time, we know very well that on the territory of Ukraine itself the “in Ukraine” option is used in order not to offend anyone.

At one time it seemed to me that the “in Ukraine” option would win in Russia too...

There was such a period, but now I noticed the opposite. The media began to emphasize the use of the preposition “on.” It has gained popularity even among those who used to say “in.”

What else did you ask about that was relevant? Were you interested in Ebola?

Yes, sure. And there were also a lot of questions about “Ebola-ebOlu”, they asked how to pronounce it. This name is not included in standard dictionaries (it is listed only in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medical Terms), so we can only give a recommendation. We advise you to choose the stress on the second syllable - EbOla.

Even at the beginning of the year, there were questions related to sports topics, the names of Olympic disciplines, and the emphasis in the names of athletes.

We ourselves tried to prevent some questions, tried to talk about sports, made such a small project “Olympic Dictionary”, in which we talked about what they are called, where the names come from, how to call an athlete, how to form an adjective. And there, very interesting things were revealed. We saw how the emphasis in the words “bobsled” and “skeleton”, for example, changed. These words were borrowed with the emphasis on the first syllable. And then it moved to the last one.

Are you collecting a collection of funny questions?

We collect questions and requests. Do you know how people call us at the help desk when they ask a question? They don't call us anything! And “dear guardians of letters”, and “respected experts”, “defenders of the great and mighty”, and “our dear saviors”. These are the appeals.

I also really remember a warm question from one of the users, he began unexpectedly: “Hello! How are you doing?" It was touching.

We wrote: “We are doing well, we hope you are too.”

As for pressing questions: are they asked more by journalists, or are there also ordinary people for whom this is important?

These are also journalists (which is not surprising, because the “Certificate” was, in fact, addressed primarily to journalists when it was created). And ordinary people, those who listen and read journalists, and want to check whether the journalist said the right thing here, whether he wrote correctly, whether he made a mistake.

Recently there was an idea that we need a special portal for journalists in the Russian language. Is it needed or not? Or does “Gramota” meet these requirements?

Here I would like to recall a joke from the Soviet era: “Why do we need two general secretaries?” Why do we need two portals? “Certificate” was originally created as a reference database specifically for media workers. Then the materials began to expand, and it turned out that the portal’s recipients were all native speakers.

But this initial task continues to be relevant, no one has removed it. And I think that we can simply think about how to make “Literacy” even more attractive to journalists. Maybe the information desk should have a separate desk that will be focused exclusively on the media and will work more quickly, maybe even around the clock. But, of course, this requires separate costs and support from the state.

Journalists are now completely illiterate, as everyone likes to say? Do you faint when you turn on the radio or TV?

I'm not falling. And I, for example, have never said that about journalists, and I don’t intend to.

So you can live?

Of course, you can live. In general, it seems to me that literacy is being monitored more now, because there are a lot of people who like to prey on illiteracy. The Grammar Nazis live, thrive and multiply. And such phenomena as the secret spelling police (which appeared this year) are only gaining popularity. I don’t remember any very gross blunders recently.

Well, of course! Recently, a picture was circulating on Facebook: “Hello, school!” This is a picture from a television broadcast.

It seems to me that it was rather a technical defect. Someone was probably just in a hurry and overlooked it.

And as for the Grammar Nazis who live and reproduce. Still, their activities are useful or not?

It seems to me that their activities contain little usefulness. Firstly, grammar Nazis are people who are intolerant of the slightest deviations from the linguistic norm. And any intolerance, it seems to me, is bad. Secondly, for grammar Nazis, language is divided into black and white, right and wrong. But that doesn't happen in language.

There are so many transitions, so many options: from less desirable to more desirable, this is preferable, this is acceptable, and this is also possible, and this is not very desirable, but in common parlance it doesn’t seem to be scary. And so on.

That is, there is nothing in the language that can be divided. And grammatical Nazism, like any Nazism, it divides into those who are with us and those who are against us.

Besides, what else do Grammar Nazis suffer from? They know some acute cases and have learned several of the most important rules. Well, we learned that “coffee” is masculine. We learned some more tricky accents. But sooner or later they may still find themselves in the place of those whom they are accustomed to denouncing.

But people just don’t like this instability in the language, the presence of options. I want stability and a strong hand.

It's true. And any answer we give evokes accusations: “If you answer like that, it means you don’t know anything!”

Actually, this has always been the case. I really like the book by Kirill Sergeevich Gorbachevich, our outstanding linguist. The book is called “Word Variation and Language Norms”, it was published in the late 70s. In it, Gorbachevich talks in great detail about why there are variants in a language: stress variants, morphological variants, even spelling variants exist, why this is not an evil of the language, but a blessing. And he writes there that very often linguists are called upon to standardize the language by decree from above, that is, to eliminate any variation.

These calls to linguists have always been and probably always will be. But this simply cannot happen in language, because language is alive, it is always developing. And in order for it to develop, there must be both old and new at some stage of its development. The old has not yet gone away, the new has not yet fully established itself. And this ensures a painless change. This should be in the language, this is the benefit of the language, and not at all evil.

Are there any norms that you feel offended by because no one really knows about them? That is, everyone focuses on standard errors and completely forgets about some other accents, which everyone also does incorrectly.

Yes, sure. We had a discussion with a presenter at one of the radio stations, and we were talking about the unfortunate verb “to call.” And I asked him: “What do you say – “drills” or “drills”?” He said, “Well, of course, I say “drill!” How can I do it differently? To which I told him that “drills” is exactly the same mistake as “rings”. And that if he says “drills,” then, in general, he has no moral right to scold those who say “calls.” From a linguistic point of view, these are the same thing.

More about verbs. My favorite verb is “to differ.” What to do? Vary. Everyone says: “These phenomena vary, these options vary.” Although we should say “diversify”. But almost no one knows about this.

And I think that a lot of grammar Nazis would fall for this if you asked them.

Are a Grammar Nazi and a Linguistic Freak the same thing?

Still no. Linguists are predominantly focused on searching for some secret roots of the Russian language, the secret meanings of Russian words and the desire to trace all this to DNA codes and so on.

We periodically receive letters from language freaks in which they share their recently made discoveries and achievements. “You didn’t know, but it turns out that the entire Russian alphabet is a model of DNA!” And then there are calculations, formulas, very serious calculations. I, with my philological mindset, cannot understand this. So I just click on the “Delete this email” button. But the next one won’t take long to arrive - it’s certainly perfect.

We had another citizen who wrote a long question about the need to return to writing the prefix “without-” in all cases, because we allowed demons into the Russian language, and this is the cause of all our troubles.

Do people even believe this?

I don't know. When Zadornov began his speeches, I thought for a very long time that this was all a joke, a prank, and that everyone understood that this was a joke. But then Russian language teachers started writing to us that children were starting to say in schools that the word “love” is an abbreviation for “people know God.” That is, someone believes in it and someone agrees with it, and this is probably what should be sad.

How can you tell if you are a linguist?

The main sign is his discussions about the history of language, about sacred codes and secret meanings. I cannot help but quote academician Andrei Anatolyevich Zaliznyak, who devoted many lectures and articles to the fight against amateur linguists. “Where the criterion of serious scientific analysis of a problem is discarded, motives of a tasteful, emotional and especially ideological order will certainly come to the fore - with all the ensuing social dangers.”

Linguistic freaks, who so love to talk about the Russian language and its history, are distinguished by this very thing - a pointed disregard for scientific data, increased emotionality (sometimes going beyond the bounds of decency), an appeal to the addressee who shares a certain ideology.

And these people are also characterized by aggressiveness. I once received a call from a very elderly woman who told me that the Russian language was destroyed by representatives of a certain nationality. She spoke very emotionally and belligerently. These are the distinctive features.

Here the question arises: why is language, which should unite and reconcile everyone, capable of causing such aggression, capable of causing everyone to quarrel?

This is what worries me most now. It’s not at all like “coffee” will become a neuter noun. I’m not even worried that the emphasis on the verb “rings” will sooner or later shift. What worries me is that our society is now split, disconnected on all, probably, grounds: socially, economically, politically. The only thing we have left in common is language. And what should unite us is increasingly being used precisely for dismemberment, for separation, in order to sow hostility and confusion. The events of this year have once again shown how high the level of verbal aggression is in general. You need to think about this, and not about the type of coffee.

In general, do words of hatred stay in the language for a long time? Or do they go away quite quickly, and now this wave may subside?

Some live a very long time. For example, we know derogatory names for nationalities that have been around for many centuries, although the same word “Jew,” for example, used to be quite literary.

But still, they don’t have a very long life. By the way, it’s amazing how some word, which was previously quite normal and neutral, suddenly changes color.

I really like the example that my colleague Yulia Safonova likes to give. She draws attention to a quote from the film “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath,” which we will all be reviewing now.

There, Ippolit, washing himself in the shower, talks about Zhenya, and says: “They put him on a plane like a chump and sent him to Leningrad instead of Pavlik.”

“They imprisoned me like a lump of wood” - then it sounded completely normal. Chock, dunce, blockhead, loaded like a log. And now the word “chock” has a very specific connotation.

I know that you are collecting a collection of myths about the Russian language. Has it added any myths this year?

This year it was replenished not with the myths themselves, but with evidence that these myths exist. I think that we will soon have an article about verbs starting with “-sya”. There is a common myth that you can’t say “get out” because it means “clean up yourself.”

And you can’t say “I’m sorry,” because that means “I’m excusing myself.” In fact, neither the verb “get out” nor the verb “apologize” have such meanings. The verb “get out” is simply colloquial, but it is quite acceptable in colloquial speech and does not violate the norm.

And “I’m sorry” is a separate long story. And there will be an article about this on Gramota soon.

Some myths about language from the collection of Vladimir Pakhomov
The Russian language is a million years old, all languages ​​originate from Russian;
The title of the position of President of Russia should always be written with a capital letter;
Linguists set the norm;
Literacy is the ability to write correctly and knowledge of accents;
We pay for bread, and we pay for rent;
The word “eat” is spoken only by uncultured people;
Russian is the most difficult language to learn (only Chinese is more difficult);
Lying down is already the norm;
A person's nationality can be determined by his last name;
Spelling reform 1917-18 conceived by the Bolsheviks;
Cyril and Methodius invented the Russian alphabet (Russian language);

Do you think people are capable of going to a rally for the Russian language?

I think yes. I think if it is announced that some odious option will enter the dictionary and from tomorrow it will only be correct to “ring”, I think that the rally will take place. At the very least, collecting signatures on the Internet will definitely be addressed to the top officials of the state with a demand to cancel this emphasis.

Our traditional question. How to reassure people who think the language is dying?

I usually reassure people not with general words, but with specific examples. My favorite example is the plural of "train". Now we won’t use any other option other than “train”. And in a reference book at the beginning of the 20th century one could read: “The illiterate emphasis on “train” instead of the normative and correct “train” is now in general use, but it is completely incorrect, it is not clear on what grounds it is used.” And the subtext was: “Where are we going and what will we end up with if we say “trains”?” But now we say “train”, and the Russian language has not collapsed because of this. And it won’t fall apart from other options, which many now don’t like so much. How not to fall apart from the “trains”.

That is, we are not rolling somewhere into the abyss, but we are simply rolling along the road and making our way?

Yes, we are walking along the road and passing this path. But what worries me is that along the way there have become a lot of hateful words. We need to get rid of this. This is now the biggest problem of the Russian language.

Let us all wish that there are fewer such words in the new year and that the situations in which they appear become fewer.

Unfortunately, due to the unscrupulousness of the authorities and the courts, young people suffer from this most often. Let me post one smart meme on this occasion so that no associations arise that say linguistic extremists have something in common with Hitler or the language policy of the Third Reich (P.S. Sorry for the obscenity of the meme)

Here are the events that were associated with this phenomenon:
Buryat activist fined for Grammar Nazi emblem(Lenta.ru)
In Buryatia, a court fined Young Guard activist Maria Burdukovskaya one thousand rubles for publishing the emblem of the Grammar Nazi movement. The Ulan-Ude Railway Court found propaganda of Nazi symbols in the image, UlanMedia reports.

“According to the district police officer who prepared the article, the article is quite formal, that is, if he posted it, he received a fine,” Burdukovskaya noted.

On June 5, 2014, Burdukovskaya posted on her VKontakte page images of a Nazi eagle with the caption Grammatik Macht Frei (“Grammar sets you free”).

On the Internet, grammar nazis are people who frantically struggle with grammatical and spelling errors.

On March 2, a court fined Smolensk journalist Polina Petruseva one thousand rubles for propaganda and public display of Nazi symbols after she posted a photo on social media from the time of the Nazi occupation, in which the flag of the Third Reich is visible.

And such cases are not isolated. Yes, my dear friends and supporters, I am already completely convinced that liberalism/liberachism is a misanthropic ideology and it should be prohibited at the highest legislative level. Whatever Putin says that “we want to make the state more liberal,” I have my own counter-argument to this effect. To paraphrase Jörg Haider:
“The fundamental role of language should become one of the binding foundations. I oppose liberalization and Americanization. And it is spreading more and more widely throughout our society and country. This is alarming. Remember once again Putin’s direct statement: “we want to make the state more liberal” (oligarchic) . This forces one to come to the conclusion that such a message has nothing to do with the peaceful intentions of our government and is a psycho-perverted vision of reality. I am sure that we need a law that protects against total liberal dictatorship, so I openly say: no more liberalization, oligarchization and "Americanizations. Hands off your tongue - go to your West!"

Now let’s take a look at what the news agencies write.

“How peaceful Albania was destroyed by Nazi Grammar” (RIA)

Anna Kurskaya, RIA Novosti columnist.

Now it is fashionable to fight for the purity of written speech: A popular community of “Grammar Nazis” has even emerged on the RuNet. But were Russians really that literate before the advent of the Internet? International Literacy Day, which is celebrated on Saturday, has brought this issue to light.

Any more or less enlightened society strives to teach all its members to read and write, and Russia is no exception. Today, it seems, absolutely all of our compatriots are literate. However, we often hear complaints that today’s school graduates have begun to read less and understand what they read worse than their peers 30-40 years ago.

Is this true or not? No one knows.

The assertion that the level of reading literacy in the country has declined over recent decades sounds quite plausible. School reforms, videos and computer games could do the trick. But the truth is that until the end of the 1990s, no one measured the literacy of Russians, Galina Kovaleva, head of the Education Quality Assessment Department at the Institute for the Content of Teaching Methods of the Russian Academy of Education, told RIA Novosti.

Since 1997, schoolchildren's literacy has not decreased significantly, although, unfortunately, it remains below the world average. This is evidenced by the results of international PISA studies, which are conducted every three years. The latest tests from three years ago showed that Russian teenagers rank only 41-43 in reading comprehension ability among their peers from 65 countries.

“In recent years there has been some deterioration, but today we are emerging from the decline to the level of 2000, and there has even been some growth,” said Galina Kovaleva.

However, she suggests caution regarding the statement that the older generation was more educated, and the youth became illiterate.

“Yes, perhaps thirty or forty years ago school was a little different: the amount of knowledge was a little less, but this knowledge was better developed. At the same time, those who say that previously all young people were encyclopedically prepared usually only mean people from prosperous families who received a good education,” the expert noted.

The smiley that changed written language
As for competent writing skills, not everything is so simple here either. It is difficult to understand whether our compatriots were more literate half a century ago. It is possible that this is an illusion; There was no Internet then, and there was simply nowhere to demonstrate my skills to people not related to writing and journalism.

However, it is generally accepted that the popularity of the Internet has deprived Russians of the last ability to write correctly. Indeed, if our compatriot living, for example, in 1970, had the fantastic opportunity to look into today’s Facebook or Live Journal, he would not understand much.

It is already difficult for us to realize how much written speech has changed due to the use of emoticons and brackets, online slang and jargon, abbreviations, words like “mimimi”. The Internet has indeed noticeably changed the appearance of communications; the infrastructure of conversation itself has become fundamentally new.

“Some Internet users say that they stop reading a person who puts emoticons. But not everyone can write like Ilf and Petrov, and for many, an emoticon is the only accessible way to express emotions,” German Klimenko, director and owner of Liveinternet, told RIA Novosti .

However, there are also a lot of errors, and Internet users copy them from each other. Naturally, this phenomenon gave rise to a counter-movement for a return to literate speech. Thus, the Internet company Yandex just recently launched a new Internet service to combat illiteracy, in which the most common spelling errors are collected and clearly corrected.

"Learn Albanian!"

As a defensive reaction to numerous errors in online speech, the “Albanian” language or “padoncuff jargon” arose on the Internet several years ago. It has become a kind of argot, an identifying sign for the Internet crowd. “Rzhunimagu”, “kamenty”, “Afftar, drink yada”, “hellish sotona”, “preved” immediately gained enormous popularity in the Runet.

"Albansky" phonetically preserved Russian words almost unchanged, but deliberately distorted their spelling. True, bloggers regularly had problems with the interpretation of some expressions, such as “afftar zhzhot” (the author lights up).

It is interesting that for the “Albanian” spelling, Russian words were not distorted haphazardly, but according to very specific rules. Those who used the jargon had to be well aware of the rules of the Russian language. In fact, the “padonkaff language” was the language of literate people who wanted to “play” with the norm, but were ready to return to it at any moment.

But several years passed, and something happened to the “Albanian”. Either fashion has passed, or the Internet has gone far beyond the most educated part of society, and the new audience was unable to understand and accept the game with language...

Today, “krosavchegov” and “bears” are no longer visible, and there is no new network jargon on the RuNet yet.

Grammar Nazis on the march

But the language continues to live its bizarre life on the Internet. Over the past year, such a phenomenon that came from the West as “grammar Nazis”, “grammar Nazis”, has become fashionable in the Russian-speaking part of the network.

Behind this name are intolerant grammar lovers who are ready to wedge themselves into any discussion with not always appropriate comments about grammatical or spelling errors.

New fashion has given a modern form to a timeless phenomenon. Many years ago, back in the pre-Internet era, one acquaintance said to the author of these lines on the subway: “Do you see the inscription on the girl’s T-shirt? There’s one word missing. I can hardly resist going up and crossing it out with a felt-tip pen.”

The former know-it-alls, upstarts and bores, who in recent years have spontaneously poisoned the lives of bloggers, are today perceived as a relevant countercultural phenomenon. Almost 44 thousand social network users have subscribed to the Grammar Nazi VKontakte page.

The main product of self-expression of “grammar Nazis” are demotivators, pictures with caustic and moralizing inscriptions glorifying the purity of language. In fact, the “grammar Nazis” became a response to the creeping modification of the Russian language on the Internet. Perhaps their appearance hastened the demise of the “Albanian”.

“Peaceful Albania is under attack by Nazi Grammar,” someone wrote on a blog.

It is worth noting that another group enjoys considerable popularity on the Runet - the “Philological Maiden” community has brought together highly educated literature lovers among Vkontakte users.

“Anapest, anapest, anapest... This is what amphibrach sounds like.”

"Wearing a fur coat? Now undress it."

“In the basement of a club for tautology lovers, the corpse of a deceased dead man was discovered, murdered to death.”

Fans of the “Philological Maiden” express themselves more gracefully than the brutal adherents of “grammatical Nazism,” but, in essence, they also advocate correct speech and knowledge of Russian literature.

The march of the literate people to the masses
Many people remember the popular movie Sideburns in the early 1990s, which showed what a subculture of word-loving intellectuals could look like when it spilled onto the streets. At the end of the film, the “Pushkinists”, walking around with sideburns and canes, were swept away by shaved heads by people in yellow jackets reciting Mayakovsky.

Will the grammar Nazis hand in hand with the languid philological maidens bring the culture of speech to the people? Hardly, says German Klimenko.

“I think that a widespread fashion for grammar-Nazism will not arise; it will remain popular among a narrow stratum of Internet users,” he said.

Indeed, it is very difficult to become a member of this subculture: you need to study for a long time and be slightly preoccupied with philology. For many Internet users, expressing their thoughts clearly in ordinary Russian is no longer an easy task.

“Linguistic minorities will certainly be able to create a fashionable trend. But they will not be able to defeat us, the illiterate!” - exclaims German Klimenko.

Secret war for the purity of the Russian language (RIA)
On International Mother Language Day, Dmitry Vinogradov met bug hunters.
RIA News.
MOSCOW, February 21 - RIA Novosti, Dmitry Vinogradov.

A RIA Novosti correspondent met with philological virgins, who are most concerned about Russian grammar and punctuation, asked why they were better than “grammar Nazis” and even completed their task.

Grammar Nazis and spelling police
Polina Ivanova, a 3rd year student at the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University and one of the creators of the Secret Spelling Police, is difficult to talk to. While we are talking in a cafe, she turns her head, finds two typos in the ad at once and takes a photograph of it (this is an ad about the ban on “photo and video shooting”). “I’ll send it to the administration. Coffee shops and restaurants quickly correct mistakes,” says Polina.

Correction, not just collection of errors, is the main goal of spelling cops. In this they see their difference from the “grammar Nazis”. This is a trend in social networks, to which many communities include themselves, where users post photographs and scans with errors. Comments addressed to the authors of errors, however, are far from the norms of language etiquette. It feels like people are asserting themselves more.

On the page of one of the “Grammar-Nazi” communities, their mission is formulated as follows: “The Grammar-Nazi (national linguist, linguofascist, literate oprichnik) is an aggressive literate person with innate literacy and a heightened sense of beauty. He gets irritated when someone makes grammatical or spelling mistake, and instantly rushes to the attack, waving dictionaries and links to Gramota.ru."

The Grammar Nazis, however, are actively fighting for the “purity of the language” outside communities. Here is one of the typical dialogues - a grammar Nazi copied it and published it in the community, receiving the warm approval of his friends. One girl shares her impressions of the changes in the design of VKontakte: “I like it. It’s all done for everyone who is on VKontakte, they just need to take the best approach to it.” The young man cannot resist: “Girl, please leave the Internet. So that I, like other literate people, do not cry blood looking at such messages.” The girl reacts with obscenities. By the way, also with errors.

The Grammar Nazis have already become the butt of many jokes. For example, the site of made-up funny news Smixer recently reported that “Grammar Nazis beat up a Russian nationalist in Moscow for violating the rules of spelling and punctuation in the phrase “Russia is for Russians.”

The authors of errors do not like to correct them
“Our goal is not to laugh at illiterate people,” says Polina Ivanova from the Secret Spelling Police. “In addition, we only correct mistakes made in the public space. In private correspondence, a person, roughly speaking, has the right to be illiterate.”

Polina Ivanova, student of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University and one of the creators of the "Secret Spelling Police"

Members of the Secret Spelling Police also post reports on their small spelling victories to their VKontakte community.

However, not all authors of errors respond to “policemen.” “The Moscow government reacts promptly,” says Polina. Crime police noticed banners on the streets with calls to complain to a special website if “the elevator is not working properly.” The mayor's office redesigned the banners and thanked the activists.

The Moscow City Hall reacts quite quickly to complaints from “police officers”

Manufacturers of all kinds of products that make mistakes in packaging react quickly. They promise to reissue the packaging and often actually do so.
But a beauty salon from Samara refused to correct the “current” in its gift certificate, answering that “the beauty of the entire offer will suffer.” Although much more often the authors of errors simply ignore the letters from the “policemen”.

"How do you sign your appeals? Is that how you write them - Secret Spelling Police?" - asks a RIA Novosti correspondent. “We usually explain that we are a community of caring volunteers,” Polina replies.

Language got lost
The “policemen” movement, whose community already includes more than 2 thousand people from the CIS countries, appeared in the fall of 2013. It was created by several students of philological and historical faculties, and one of the founders of the “police” was a schoolboy.

“We were walking along Poklonnaya Hill and noticed a mistake on the monument: “To missing soldiers without graves.” At first we giggled, then we thought about how to fix it. Correcting it manually would ruin the monument. We wrote to the mayor’s office, and then it turned out that it was not entirely clear who was behind what the monument answers and to whom it “belongs,” says Polina.

The philologists did not calm down until they got an answer: an assistant to one of the State Duma deputies, who was approached by the “secret police,” assured the guys that there was no mistake, and “obscurity” is an adverb. “With references to dictionaries, we proved that, despite the stability of the expression, “missing” is not an adverb, but a noun with a preposition,” recalls Polina. The Department of Cultural Heritage of the Moscow City Hall delighted the “policemen” by announcing that replacing the sign “is included in the work plan for 2015.”

The problem with monuments in general, says Polina Ivanova, is that sometimes it seems that they don’t have literary editors, and altering bronze tablets is expensive. There is a monument in St. Petersburg where the inscription “Military doctors who died in wars” is written without a comma. And last year, the blogosphere laughed at the restored Romanov stele in the Alexander Garden - the word “memory” was written with yate instead of b.

It is even harder for sculptors to make an inscription if it is not in Russian. At VDNKh, the “police” discovered a globe with constellations labeled in Latin. The constellations Hare and Wolf are signed the same way, "lupus". Although lupus is a wolf, and a hare is lepus.

Experts find it difficult to determine which version of Old Church Slavonic the inscriptions on the monument to Cyril and Methodius were made in

There is also a more complex example: the monument to the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles First Teachers Cyril and Methodius in Moscow. The inscriptions are made in Church Slavonic, but it is not very clear to what era this version of its spelling belongs. For example, says Ivanova, the inscriptions contain the letters “yus big” and “yus small”, which were actually in the most ancient version of the orthography of the Church Slavonic language, the same one that Cyril and Methodius developed. But then it turns out that the letters b and b are used incorrectly - for example, according to the norms of that time there should be “equal” and “pirvo”, but on the monument “equal” and “pervo”. “Most of all, this version of Church Slavonic is similar to the one that was in the 15th-16th centuries,” says Polina. Why it was chosen for the monument to the saints who lived in the 9th century is unknown.

With a marker - to protect the tongue
Searching for bugs in the urban environment has turned into an exciting hunt, in which more and more new volunteers are constantly joining. On a community forum, schoolgirl Dasha Panteleeva asks: “Can I become a member of the secret police? I am 13 years old, studying in the 7th grade. I confirm my status as an excellent student. But there is a problem: I live in a microscopic town. Do we need such a police force?”

“There are mistakes in every city,” her older comrades encourage her. “We want all members of our community to write not to our headquarters, but to look for the owners of the “erroneous” advertisements and signs themselves,” says Polina.

If the error is not replicated in the packaging, but is made in a single copy, on a sign, then you can correct it yourself - with a marker. “The owner of the “damaged” sign may want to change it so as not to embarrass himself,” explains Polina. Next to the correction, the guys paste a sticker: “Secret Spelling Police.”

Sometimes the "secret police" even have to conflict with the authors of errors. Employees of one of the embassies, on the fence of which the guys were correcting a mistake in an official announcement, threatened to call the police. And the mayor’s office of the city of Vladimir sent a notice that independently correcting errors on memorial plaques and posters is an administrative offense.
First task

Finally, Polina gives the RIA Novosti correspondent stickers and a task: in the underground passage of the city near Moscow where the journalist lives, an error was made in the advertisement. The address of the sports bar is "Lermontovo Street". I can correct this mistake myself, using a marker: the sign hangs low.

I find the second error myself. A clothing store in the very center of the city is decorated with an ornate slogan that is missing a comma: “The diversity inherent in the world.” Here you can’t correct the error yourself; you have to go to the store. The administrator looks at the guest somehow strangely and, calling the owner, promises to correct the mistake, honestly warning that this will not happen too quickly.

Yes, next time I’ll probably find a better email address and write a letter. With the mysterious signature "Secret Spelling Police".

***
Summarize. The Grammar Nazi movement has become a part of our lives today. Thanks to such language defenders, you can be sure that our language will not only be preserved, but also become much purer and better, and the number of people studying it as a foreign language will only grow. Several years ago, Austrian linguists began to sound the alarm: their national variant was in danger of extinction. In Austria they categorically refuse to switch to common German. Today, Austria has already adopted a program for reprinting the dictionary of Austrianisms, which, by the way, has already gone through more than 40 editions. I note that the Austrian version of the German language contains many borrowings from many languages, most of which are Slavic.

Österreichisches Wörterbuch. 40. Auflage

In general, the struggle for language is akin to the struggle for culture, because language is part of our culture and self-awareness, and not just a tool of communication. Remember Bismarck's Kulturkampf. This term came into use in 1873, when the scientist and Prussian statesman who held liberal views, Rudolf Virchow, first identified the struggle of Prussian and partly imperial German law against ultramontanism or, more specifically, the struggle of Bismarck (and the national liberals who joined him) against the Catholic party The center and overall claims of the Catholic Church under Pope Pius IX.

After a period of peaceful relations with the church, the Prussian government, immediately following the unification of Germany in January 1871, fearing the particularistic aspirations of the Catholic clergy under the influence of the decisions of the First Vatican Council and papal claims, moved to a new system of church-state law. The initiator of this policy was Chancellor Bismarck, the main executor of his plans was the Prussian Minister of Education and Confessions A. Falk. Bismarck, who was a staunch Protestant, never fully trusted the loyalty of Catholics towards the newly created German Empire, and he was especially alarmed by the Declaration of Papal Infallibility issued by the Vatican Council. The Catholics who made up the Central Party were dissatisfied with the fact that Protestant Prussia played a major role in the empire, and often opposed Bismarck's policies.

Today Sprachkampf is in some way a branch of Kulturkampf, but taking into account the fact that we are now in the 21st century. it takes on a different meaning - protection from extinction due to Americanization. I support such people who act as linguistic guardians and sincerely wish them good luck and final victory in their difficult struggle.

"Kämpf mit uns und sieg mit uns,
Im Sprachaufstand für Gerechtigkeit
Kämpf mit uns und sieg mit uns
Die heile Zukunft ist nicht mehr weit!

Nicht mehr weit
Nicht mehr weit
Nicht mehr weit..." (Schlachthaus. "Kämpf mit uns")

And one more thing: if any prosecutor tries to initiate a case against GN or collect a fine, then our goal in protecting GN from such arbitrariness should be for the prosecution to pay compensation that exceeds the amount of the fine for the illegally initiated case. Strike - strike! The Grammar Nazis have nothing in common with Hitler's Nazis. The Fuhrer appears everywhere - go to the hospital forever!

It is going through hard times: spelling, pronunciation rules and even the lexical meaning of many words are not known not only by children and people far from the cultural environment, but also by those who, it would seem, should understand all the subtleties and nuances of the rich Russian language: journalists, philologists and writers. The reasons were the following factors: firstly, this is, undoubtedly, a decline in the general cultural level, and secondly, of course, the Internet, which has taken on the function of a global media outlet. Unlike traditional media, any user can post content on the Internet, that is, there is no pre-selection, so not only meaningless, but also illiterate texts end up on the Internet.

"A ray of light in a dark kingdom?"

Let’s make a reservation: you shouldn’t think that all Internet content is a collection of illiterate nonsense. Professional journalists and writers work on the Internet, and cultured and educated people communicate. They are not the only ones worried about the fate of the Russian language: for several years now the Grammar Nazi movement has been active on the Internet (including on social networks). Let's talk about it in more detail.

Grammar nazi - what is it?

The phrase “Grammar Nazi” is literally translated from English as “grammar Nazis.” However, the word “Nazis” in this context should be understood somewhat differently. In this case, Nazism means intolerance towards those who often make mistakes in the writing of certain language structures, incorrectly place punctuation marks and deny the importance of learning and preserving their native language. In a broad sense, Grammar nazi is a social movement for the purity of language.

Grammar Nazis position themselves as sort of universal cleaners of the Internet environment from illiteracy and philistine stupidity. They placed this burden on themselves, because this social movement has neither a clear organization, nor a charter, nor a program. Moreover, anyone has the right to be called “Grammar Nazi”. In this situation, many literally dishonor the honor of this organization, too aggressively proving their rightness, but at the same time making simple spelling mistakes. Some “inhabitants of the Internet” consider grammar Nazis to be too aggressive and too picky individuals who have nothing to occupy themselves in real life. Agree, the Nazis and their comparison of themselves with the Nazis and “sacred warriors” are repellent

What do Grammar Nazis do?

Grammar Nazis do not have a clear structure and responsibilities, so everyone who considers himself one simply sits in “public” places on the Internet (popular social networks, forums, online games) and makes comments to everyone about their spelling knowledge, which delivers terrible discomfort for visitors and resource administration. Often, “Nazis” end up with a blocked account - the result of their “heroic” linguistic activities.

Grammar Nazi organization

However, there are also more organized Grammar Nazi groups in which responsibilities are clearly divided. Their representatives monitor certain sites, sometimes help the administration of small resources monitor content, and promptly “clean up” frankly crazy comments, that is, they act as editors. This is especially common in Yes, yes, don’t be surprised, Nazi grammar is not a purely Russian “exclusive”: initially the movement was completely international, and then its cells were divided into countries.

It should be noted that they also pay attention not only to spelling: for Grammar nazi, commas play an important role. This position often leads to outright aggression in dialogue, because the placement of commas in the same sentence can be different, and the disputing parties in a heated state cannot understand this.

Nazi Grammar: pros and cons

Since we are talking about such an interesting social movement, let's look at its pros and cons.

One of the advantages is that, after all, people who consider themselves to be “grammatical Nazis” do not so much know their native language perfectly as they try to preserve its purity and originality. They want people to remember their roots, respect culture and not lose their national identity.

On the other hand, all of the above can be attributed exclusively to the inspirers of the movement and in no way to its ordinary members, who cannot even be fully called members. Usually they simply behave too aggressively, do not take into account the opinions of others at all, and their main goal is some kind of self-affirmation due to this. That’s why grammar Nazis are so biased towards Internet users, and because of individual representatives the entire movement suffers.

Thanks to our article, we found out who the Grammar Nazis are, what they do and how they convey their ideology to the masses, but whether it is good or evil is up to you to decide.

Internet slang appears and becomes fashionable among young people. It is characterized by such features as a special distortion of spelling (“preved”, “cho”, “malyffka”, etc.), as well as a tendency to shorten words (“norm”, “sps”, etc.). Internet users are divided into those who believe that one must be literate both online and in life (such people online are nicknamed “grammar Nazis” or grammar nazi) and those who do not consider it a matter of principle to follow the rules of the Russian language .

Common features

A related movement to the “Grammar Nazi” is called purism. Its participants oppose the presence in their native language of words borrowed from other languages.

The situation with the Ukrainian language

A classic example of mixing languages ​​is the so-called Surzhik, which is a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian language norms. It is typical for the eastern parts of Ukraine and the western regions of Russia.

Tendency to join the “Grammar Nazis”

Recently I came across this several times Russian language reminder, prepared by Irina Belyaeva from the subtitle formation group
information programs. The document seemed extremely interesting to me, so I saved it and slightly adjusted it to suit myself. I will post my version here, and if someone needs the original, then look for it yourself - I have provided you with all the necessary information for the search.

Today I would like to touch on the topic of the Russian language. I want to warn you right away that I myself am not an ardent grammar Nazi, despite the title of the post. But I must admit that I love literate texts. Unfortunately, the trend is that literacy among young people is rapidly falling. I noticed this in all the companies where I worked. It is especially surprising for me to observe the total illiteracy of webmasters, marketers and other people whose work is related to text.

I don’t consider myself a very literate person, although I studied very well and have a certain degree of innate literacy. My self-esteem of my knowledge of the Russian language dropped sharply when I started writing my first book for a publishing house. You are probably aware that any text, even from the most famous writer, is checked by a proofreader and editor. So, when I sent the material I had prepared to the publishing house, I received my work back, completely corrected in red. Entire paragraphs, sentences, and words were underlined on almost every page. For each correction, the editor left his comments, which he greedily absorbed. A whole new world opened up for me. The following books were easier for me. Since then, I have been more strict with my tests, trying to keep the bar at a certain height.

Moreover, I always correct any mistakes I notice in old entries. It's no secret that sometimes recordings are made spontaneously and in a hurry. The browser's built-in spell checker doesn't always help. And re-reading old entries, sometimes you come across typos and errors. I am also always grateful to those who send comments on the texts. At the same time, other people often get offended when I point out mistakes to them. This happened to many work colleagues. Imagine, a person spent the whole day typing a large document, then it was approved by his superiors, converted to PDF and posted on the website. And here I declare that in the word robot error. Naturally, you don’t really want to correct a single error that most people won’t even notice when reading. But I always correct my mistakes, because I feel awkward in such a situation.

At the moment, there are not many truly literate sites and blogs with normal literary language. The Internet has given birth to a new culture where everyone can express their thoughts. But not everyone does it beautifully. When there are too many mistakes on the pages, it is unpleasant to be on such a site.

To keep the number of errors to a minimum, I am posting the revised memo here. In the original memo, at first it was about the long-suffering letter Yo. In principle, I understand people who avoid it - this letter is very difficult to type, it is located somewhere on the top side and is difficult to reach even with touch typing. I usually don't use this letter in letters or online communications. But recently I decided to use it in my notes as a sign of respect for the Russian language.

And here is the revised memo itself, so that it is always at hand.

PUNCTUATION MARKS

1. At the beginning of a sentence HOWEVER The comma is not highlighted.
2. A dash is placed before This, it is, this means, Here, if the predicate is attached to the subject through these words.
3. In the names of routes like Simferopol - Yalta, a dash with spaces is required, quotes are not needed. The conventional names of the highways are enclosed in quotation marks: the Don highway.
4. In complex conjunctions a comma is used ONE once: either in front of the whole union, or in the middle: in order to, especially since. At the beginning of a sentence, complex conjunctions are usually not divided: In order to obtain seedlings , you need to fill out the coupon and send it to the address.
5. If the conjunction AS means “as a quality”, then before AS there is a comma not placed. For example: I speak as a writer (as a writer).
6. A subordinate clause without a main clause is not used, so you cannot break a complex sentence with a period. For example, incorrectly: “They couldn’t put out the fire. Because there was no helicopter."
7. A colon is placed in a complex sentence if the following words can be inserted in place of the colon: What; namely; because, And saw/heard/felt that. I ask you one thing (namely): shoot quickly. I also remember (that): she loved to dress well.
8. A dash is placed in a complex sentence if it is possible to insert between the parts: conjunction And, But or A, That's why, as if, This. A dash is also placed if the following can be inserted before the first part: When, If. Ignat pulled the trigger - (and) the gun misfired. I am dying - (therefore) there is no need for me to lie. (When) I drove here, the rye began to turn yellow. (If) It rains, there will be fungi.

MISCELLANEOUS

1. The pronouns you and your are capitalized as a form of polite address to one person. For example: I ask you..., We inform you... When addressing several persons, these pronouns are written with a small letter. For example: dear colleagues, your letter...
2. “... in the amount of 50 rubles.” The preposition B is not needed!
3. Correct: power lines
4. Unions ALSO And SAME are written together if they can be replaced with each other. If such a replacement is impossible, then these are not conjunctions, but combinations of the demonstrative pronoun TO or SO with the particle ZHE, which are written separately. Particle SAME in this case, you can often simply omit it.
5. Pretext DESPITE written together: We set off, despite the rain.
6. It is not advisable to use collective numerals (two, three) with words denoting occupation, position or title. Those. It’s better to write two presidents, three academicians (rather than two presidents, three academicians).
7. Correct: put on the agenda, but stay on the agenda.

NUMBERS, SIGNS, ABBREVIATIONS

1. Centuries are indicated by Roman numerals.
2. The sentence does not begin with numbers.
3. Signs No., % of the number are not separated by spaces.
4. Incremental (literal case ending) is used in writing ordinal numbers: 11th grade student; 1st car from the center; 5th difficulty level; take 2nd and 3rd places; in the early 90s. The extension must be one-letter if the last letter of the numeral is preceded by a vowel sound: 5th (fifth, fifth), 5th (fifth), and two-letter if the last letter of the numeral is preceded by a consonant: 5th, 5th.
5. The international standard for marking time, also adopted in Russia, is through a colon: 18:00.
6. To denote large numbers (thousands, millions, billions), combinations of numbers with the abbreviations thousand, million, billion are used, rather than numbers with a large number of zeros.
7. There is no dot after the abbreviations MILLION and BILLION, but after THOUSAND. – is put.
8. The word “university” is written in small letters.
9. Some abbreviations use both capital and small letters if they include a one-letter conjunction or preposition. For example: Labor Code - Labor Code; MiG - Mikoyan and Gurevich (aircraft brand).

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

1. Instead of “Chechnya”, write “Chechen Republic”.
2. The Constitution of the Russian Federation spells out the option “Republic of Tyva”.
3. The correct spelling is Sharm el-Sheikh.
4. Correctly spell Gaza Strip.
5. Used only “from/to Ukraine”.
6. It is preferable to use the options “Estonian authorities”, “European universities”, etc. instead of “Estonian authorities”, “European universities”.
7. Correct: in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, in the city of Moscow, in the city of St. Petersburg, in the city of Vladivostok, in Vidnoye, from Vidnoye, but: in the city of Vidnoye, from the city of Vidnoye; in Velikiye Luki, but: in the city of Velikiye Luki.
8. Place names of Slavic origin in -ov(o), -ev(o), -in(o), -yn(o) are traditionally inclined: in Ostankino, in Peredelkino, to Strogin, in Novokosin, from Lublin.
9. In a name like “Moscow River”, both parts are declined: Moskva River, Moskva River, Moskva River, Moskva River, about the Moscow River.

SMALL/CAPITAL LETTERS AND QUOTE QUOTES

1. The names of the highest elected institutions of foreign countries are usually written with a small letter. For example: Riksdag, Knesset, US Congress, Bundesrat, Sejm, etc.
2. The first word of elective institutions of a temporary or individual nature in historical literature is written with a capital letter. Eg: Provisional Government (1917 in Russia), Estates General, State Duma, III Duma.
3. Articles, prepositions, particles van, yes, das, de, del, der, di, dos, du, la, le, von, etc. in Western European surnames and names are written with a small letter and separately from other components . Eg: Ludwig van Beethoven, Leonardo da Vinci.
4. The components of Arabic, Turkic and other eastern personal names (aga, al, al, ar, as, ash, bey, ben, zade, ogly, shah, el, etc.) are written, as a rule, with a small letter and are added to a hyphenated name. For example: Zain al-Abi-din, al-Jahm, Harun ar-Rashid, Tursun-zade.
5. The names of countries of the world are written with a capital letter when they are used instead of geographies. titles. For example: the peoples of the East (i.e., eastern countries), the Far East, Western countries, the Far North.
6. In the names of the republics of the Russian Federation, all words are written with a capital letter. For example: Altai Republic, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, North Ossetia Republic.
7. In the names of territories, regions, districts, the generic or specific concept is written with a small letter, and the words denoting an individual name are written with a capital letter. For example: Primorsky Territory, Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug.
8. In the names of groups, unions and associations of states of a political nature, the first word, as well as proper names, are written with a capital letter. Eg: Asia-Pacific Council, European Economic Community (EEC), League of Arab States (LAS).
9. In the names of the most important international organizations, all words except official ones are written with a capital letter. Eg: Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, United Nations (UN), UN Security Council.
10. In the names of foreign news agencies, all words, except generic ones, are written with a capital letter, and the name is not enclosed in quotation marks. Eg: Agence France Presse, Associated Press.
11. In the proper names of academies, research institutions, educational institutions, only the first word is written with a capital letter (even if it is a generic name or a name indicating a specialty), as well as proper names included in a complex name. For example: Russian Academy of Sciences, Air Force Academy named after. Yu. A. Gagarina, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.
12. In the names of entertainment institutions (theatres, museums, parks, ensembles, choirs, etc.), only the first word, as well as proper names included in the name, are written with a capital letter. For example: State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Russia, Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army, Moscow State Conservatory. P.I. Tchaikovsky, State Armory Chamber.
13. The names of foreign firms, companies, concerns, banks, etc. are transcribed in Russian letters and enclosed in quotation marks. The first word in quotation marks and proper names are written with a capital letter in these names. For example: United States Steel, General Motors, Peugeot, Rolls-Royce, Coca-Cola, United Fruit Company. It is undesirable to print the names of foreign companies in their national language. or state accessories.
14. In the names of companies, joint stock companies, plants, factories, etc. with a conventional name in quotation marks, the first of the words placed in quotation marks is written with a capital letter, while the generic name and the name indicating specialization are written with a lowercase letter. For example: confectionery factory "Red October", research and production company "Russian Oil", joint-stock company "Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines".
15. Abbreviated names made up of parts of words are written with a capital letter if they denote individual institutions, and with a small letter if they serve as generic names. They are not enclosed in quotation marks. For example: Goznak, Vnesheconombank, but: special forces.
16. The names of firms, companies, banks, and enterprises that are complex abbreviated words and abbreviations are not placed in quotation marks, unless there is a generic word: LUKOIL, Gazprom, Russian Railways, NTV. If there is a generic word, the name written in Cyrillic is placed in quotation marks: LUKOIL company, Gazprom OJSC, Russian Railways OJSC, NTV channel.
17. The first word and proper names in the full official names of parties and movements are written with a capital letter. For example: All-Russian Confederation of Labor, Women's Union of Russia, Democratic Party of Russia, Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
18. Unofficial names are written with a small letter (including similar names of pre-revolutionary parties in Russia). For example: the Conservative Party (in Great Britain and other countries), the Menshevik Party, the Cadets Party.
19. The names of parties and movements of a symbolic nature are enclosed in quotation marks, the first word is written with a capital letter. For example: the People's Will party, the Democratic Choice of Russia, the Women of Russia movement, the Islamic movement Taliban, Al-Qaeda.
20. The names of the Fatah and Hamas movements are abbreviations, so they are written in capital letters and are not enclosed in quotation marks. These words are bowing!
21. The highest positions of the Russian Federation are written with a capital letter only in official documents (laws, decrees, diplomatic documents): President of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. In other cases - with a small one!!! For example: The meeting was attended by the President of the Russian Federation, the Chairman of the State Duma, and ministers.
22. The highest honorary titles of the Russian Federation are written with a capital letter: Hero of the Russian Federation, as well as honorary titles of the former USSR: Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor.
23. Other positions and titles are always written with a small letter: assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, governor, mayor, marshal, general, Nobel Prize laureate.
24. Names of higher and other state. positions are written with a small letter. For example: Emperor of Japan, Queen of the Netherlands, President of the French Republic.
25. The names of senior positions in the largest international organizations are written with a small letter. For example: Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Chairman of the UN Security Council.
26. In the names of historical eras and periods, revolutions, uprisings, congresses, congresses, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. Eg: Renaissance, High Renaissance (also: Early, Late Renaissance), Renaissance, Middle Ages, Paris Commune; Great October Socialist Revolution, Great French Revolution, Copper Riot; All-Russian Congress of Soviets, Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation.
27. The names of historical eras, events, etc., which are not proper names, are written with a small letter: the ancient world, civil war (but as a proper name: Civil War in Russia 1918-1921), feudalism.
28. Centuries, cultures, geological periods are written with a small letter. Eg: Bronze Age, Stone Age, Ice Age, Jurassic Period.
29. In the names of ancient states, principalities, empires, kingdoms, all words are written with a capital letter, except for the generic concepts of principality, empire, kingdom, etc. For example: Eastern Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt, Kievan Rus, Russian land.
30. In the names of significant dates, revolutionary holidays, large public events, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: May Day, World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day, Year of the Child (1979), Constitution Day of the Russian Federation, New Year, Victory Day, Happy Birthday.
31. In the names of some political, cultural, sports and other events of national or international significance, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. Eg: World Economic Forum, Peace March, World Festival of Youth and Students, Olympic Games, Football World Cup, Davis Cup.
32. In names with an initial ordinal number in digital form, the word following the number is written with a capital letter: May 1, March 8, XI International Tchaikovsky Competition. If the numeral is in verbal form, then only it is written with a capital letter: First of May, Eighth of March.
33. Correct: “blue chips”.
34. Correct: round table (without quotes).

NAMES RELATED TO RELIGION

1. The word God (in the meaning of a single supreme being) and the names of gods in all religions are written with a capital letter. For example: Jehovah, Sabaoth, Yahweh, Jesus Christ, Allah, Brahma, names of pagan gods, for example: Perun, Zeus. The proper names of the founders of religions are also written. For example: Buddha, Muhammad (Mohammed, Magomed), Zarathushtra (Zarathustra); apostles, prophets, saints, for example: John the Baptist, John the Theologian, St. George the Victorious.
2. All the names of the persons of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit) and the word Theotokos, as well as all words used instead of the word God (for example: Lord, Savior, Creator, Almighty, Almighty) and the words Mother of God (for example: Queen of Heaven, the Most Pure Virgin, Mother of God), as well as adjectives formed from the words God, Lord, for example: the Lord's will, the will of God for everything, the temple of God, the Divine Trinity, the Divine Liturgy.
3. In stable combinations used in colloquial speech without direct connection with religion, God (and also Lord) should be written with a small letter. For example: (not) God knows; God (Lord) knows him.
4. Words denoting the most important concepts for the Orthodox tradition are written with a capital letter. For example: the Cross of the Lord, the Last Judgment, the Holy Gifts.
5. The first word in the names of various faiths is written with a capital letter. Eg: Russian Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Armenian Apostolic Church.
6. In the names of religious holidays, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: in Christianity: Easter, Christmas, Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, Baptism of the Lord; in other religions: Eid al-Adha, Ramadan, Hanukkah.
7. The names of fasts and weeks (weeks) are written with a capital letter: Great Lent, Peter's Fast, Bright Week, Holy Week, as well as the words Maslenitsa (Shrovetide Week), Christmastide.
8. In the names of church governing bodies, the first word is written with a capital letter. For example: Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, Council of Bishops, Moscow Patriarchate, Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia.
9. In the names of clergy titles and positions, all words are written with a capital letter, except for official ones and pronouns in the official names of senior religious officials. For example: Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Pope of Rome, but: During the conversation, the president and patriarch... The names of other clergy titles and positions are written with a small letter. For example: Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and Yuryev, archbishop, cardinal, abbot, priest, deacon.
10. In the names of churches, monasteries, icons, all words are written with a capital letter, except for generic terms (church, temple, cathedral, monastery, seminary, icon, image) and service words. For example: Kazan Cathedral, Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Church of the Conception of Righteous Anna, Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
11. The names of cult books are written with a capital letter. Eg: Bible, Holy Scripture, Gospel, Old Testament, Koran, Torah.
12. The names of church services and their parts are written with a small letter. For example: liturgy, vespers, mass, procession, all-night vigil.

MILITARY TITLES

1. In the most important military names of the Russian Federation, types of troops, the first word is written with a capital letter, as well as proper names. For example: General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Strategic Missile Forces, Ground Forces, Air Force.
2. In the names of departments and divisions of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the first word is written with a capital letter, as well as proper names. For example: Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Main Headquarters of the Ground Forces.
3. In the names of military districts and garrisons, the first word is written with a capital letter. For example: Moscow Military District, North Caucasus Military District, Saratov Garrison.
4. In proper names of wars, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. Eg: Balkan Wars, Patriotic War of 1812, World War I, but: Great Patriotic War (traditional spelling); Afghan war (1979-1989).
5. In the names of battles, battles, directions, the first word is written with a capital letter (with a hyphen - both parts of the name). For example: Berlin direction, Battle of Borodino, 1st Ukrainian Front, Southwestern Front.
6. In the names of military units and formations, proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: Vyatka Regiment, Red Banner Baltic Fleet, Siberian Cossack Army, 1st Cavalry Army.
7. In the names of orders that are not highlighted in quotation marks, the first word except the word order is written with a capital letter. For example: Order of Courage, Order of Friendship, Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, Order of St. George. In the names of orders and insignia of the former USSR, according to tradition, all words except the word order are written with a capital letter, for example: Order of the Red Banner of Labor, Order of the October Revolution.
8. In the names of orders, medals and insignia, highlighted in quotation marks, the first word of the name in quotation marks and proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, Medal “In Memory of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow”.
9. In the names of awards, the first word except the word prize is written with a capital letter. For example: Nobel Prize, International Peace Prize, Grand Prix, but: Golden Mask Award (with the name in quotation marks).

DOCUMENTS, PRINTED WORKS, MUSICAL WORKS, ART MONUMENTS

1. In the names of documents with a preceding generic word that is not included in the title, the generic word is written with a small letter, and the name is enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter. For example: the decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On measures to improve public finances”, the law “On freedom of conscience and religious associations”, the Partnership for Peace program.
2. It is customary not to enclose the names of documents without a preceding generic word outside the title (charter, instructions, etc.) in quotation marks and begin with a capital letter. For example: Treaty of Versailles, UN Declaration, Constitution of the Russian Federation, Treaty on Social Accord, Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Declaration of Rights and Freedoms of Man and Citizen. If an incomplete or inaccurate title of a document is given, then the spelling with a small letter is used, for example: At the next meeting, the law on pensions was not approved.
3. In the names of books, newspapers, magazines, etc., highlighted in quotation marks, the first word and proper names are written with a capital letter. For example: the comedy “Woe from Wit”, the novel “War and Peace”, “The New World”. The same rule applies to foreign books, newspapers and magazines. Eg: Al-Ahram, New York Times.
4. The names of TV channels that are not abbreviations are enclosed in quotation marks: “Russia”, “Domashny”. The names of TV channels that are abbreviations are placed in quotation marks if there is a generic word: NTV channel. If there is no generic word, then the correct spelling without quotation marks is: NTV, TNT.
5. Foreign language names of organizations and institutions, represented by abbreviations, are not enclosed in quotation marks: BBC, CNN.
6. The names of organizations and institutions written in Latin are not enclosed in quotation marks: Russia Today.

CONDITIONAL NAMES OF PRODUCTS AND PLANT VARIETIES

1. Conventional names of grocery, perfume, etc. products are enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter. For example: “Russian” cheese, “Little Red Riding Hood” candies, “Inspiration” chocolate.
2. Conventional names of species and varieties of plants, vegetables, etc. are highlighted in quotation marks and written with a small letter. For example: Victoria strawberries, Lithuanian pepin apples, Golden Cockerel cucumbers.
3. Common plant names are written with a small letter without quotation marks. For example: aloe, Antonovka, white filling.

SHIPS, TRAINS, PLANES, CARS

1. Conventional individual names are enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter. For example: the cruiser “Aurora”, the airplane “Maxim Gorky”, the schooner “Running on the Waves”.
2. The names of production brands of technical products (including cars) are enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter: cars “Moskvich-412”, “Volga”, “Volvo”, airplanes “Boeing-707”, “Ruslan”. However, the names of these products themselves (except for names that coincide with proper names - personal and geographical) are written in quotation marks with a small letter, for example: “Cadillac”, “Moskvich”, “Toyota”, but: “Volga”, “Oka” ( coincide with proper names, therefore they are written with a capital letter). Exceptions: “Lada”, “Mercedes” (the same as proper names, but written with a small letter).
3. Serial designations of vehicles in the form of initial abbreviations combined with numbers, or without numbers, are written without quotation marks. For example: An-22, BelAZ, ZIL, GAZ-51, Il-18, KamAZ, Tu-104, Yak-9, Su-30.
4. Conventional names of means of space exploration are enclosed in quotation marks and written with a capital letter. For example: artificial Earth satellite “Cosmos-1443”, spacecraft “Vostok-2”, shuttle “Endeavor”, orbital station “Mir”.