Grammar Gripe of the Week

Because I am the grammar police, I constantly obsess over how much I despise people who can't speak English. And by that I don't mean native speakers of other languages - they're okay. It's people who were brought up speaking English who still can't speak English that get me. I admit I occasionally make a mistake, what person frantically running their fingers over a keyboard doesn't? But chronic mistake makers really get my goat.

One thing that's been bothering me lately is people who don't know common phrases. Here is an example, from someone's Facebook status (no names, sorry if the person who had this status reads this):

So-and-so is not to sure what this day in tales.

I first thought this must have been a joke. Of course the person knows that it's "entails" and not "in tales". I mean, what does "in tales" even mean in this context? It makes no sense. But I don't think the person was joking. Another one that bothers me is when people say "could of" or "would of" when they really mean "could have" or "would have".

When did we lose sight of our own language? Oh, it depresses me.

I think I'll make this grammar gripe thing a regular feature, as I really like pointing out people's mistakes. For other grammar nerds (and members of the police force) I'll also direct you to another woman who does this, The Sentence Sleuth.

Delighting in grammar!

Those of you who know me know I am a stickler for correct spelling and grammar. I frequently take pleasure in pointing out mistakes in the New York Times or other venerable publications, and when I make a mistake myself I'm often quick to correct it lest I end up looking foolish in front of the literati with which I keep company.

In today's world, however, inventions such as texting and Twitter seem to dumb-down our lanugage abilities and turn communication into something that is done in short, carelessly abbreviated bursts (u gng 2 movi 2nite?). It makes me a little bit depressed to think that proper language and all it's beautiful intricacies may be flushed down the toilet. I mean people are writing NOVELS on their CELL PHONES... Dickens must be turning over in his grave!

Amidst all the semantic turmoil, I was happy to stumble across this website: English Grammar Revolution. It's all about learning parts of speech and diagramming sentences--I know it was tedious in elementary school but for adults it's a great way to procrastinate and do your part to perpetuate language correctness.

So please don't let words become obsolete in favor of three-letter abbreviations. Don't let commas become a thing of the past. Don't wait until it's so bad that you get a letter (or more likely, a text) from your child at summer camp that looks like this:
omg mom plz snd sox feet stnk fuds gud mis u

Instead, go here and diagram a sentence. Encourage your kids/friends/illiterate neighbors to do the same.

Oh, and check out the preposition song, it's pretty sweet.