The Grammar Police
I like to consider myself a grammarian, one who respects the importance of using proper language rules in speech and writing. Yes, there are many out there who can point out my numerous flaws, but I'm always striving to write well.
It began with the passion for reading. Later, my Dad encouraged my enjoyment of language arts by purchasing books like "The Joy of Lex", "The Elements of Style" and other books geared towards becoming a better writer. I think he was telling me something 25 years before I became a blogger!
Back when I started writing the blog, the typical blogger could have easily worked in as a professional writer if they didn't already work in the field. Perhaps that was part of what intimidated me from starting up-I am not on their level.
Still, there are daily reminders that most people haven't read "Eats Shoots and Leaves" or had excellent English teachers and professors. There are people just don't care that they've made glaring errors in an email that is sent to a large group of people.
Those same people, when you mention that they might want to run an email through a grammar checker (because hey, your copy of Word came with it!), you get blown off with the statement "it's not a big deal."
Maybe not to the person who uses 'they're' when the proper word should be their. To my brethren, it starts a huge discussion about the various violations against the English language that we've seen daily.
I think I need to find a bunch of badges, because most of my friends are fellow officers in the Grammar Police.
It began with the passion for reading. Later, my Dad encouraged my enjoyment of language arts by purchasing books like "The Joy of Lex", "The Elements of Style" and other books geared towards becoming a better writer. I think he was telling me something 25 years before I became a blogger!
Back when I started writing the blog, the typical blogger could have easily worked in as a professional writer if they didn't already work in the field. Perhaps that was part of what intimidated me from starting up-I am not on their level.
Still, there are daily reminders that most people haven't read "Eats Shoots and Leaves" or had excellent English teachers and professors. There are people just don't care that they've made glaring errors in an email that is sent to a large group of people.
Those same people, when you mention that they might want to run an email through a grammar checker (because hey, your copy of Word came with it!), you get blown off with the statement "it's not a big deal."
Maybe not to the person who uses 'they're' when the proper word should be their. To my brethren, it starts a huge discussion about the various violations against the English language that we've seen daily.
I think I need to find a bunch of badges, because most of my friends are fellow officers in the Grammar Police.
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http://www.babasfarmlife.com/2010/03/another-award-yipee.html