So, while I may not speak properly all the time (or as Craig would complain, too many pronouns with out a proper noun so as to confuse the heck outta him), I do attempt to write with proper sentence construction and grammar. I used to care less about it, but then I was assigned to be a public affairs officer in the air force (see...proper grammar. A formal title, such as stand-alone public affairs does not get capitalized. Neither does air force, unless U.S. precedes it because there are many air forces in the world. Only the Marines gets capitalized because there is only one Marines. I digress. Hey, I never claimed to not ramble.) Anyway, I was saying that my particular career path in the military reshaped my grammar eye.
I admit that I absolutely love catching grammar and punctuation errors in formal publications. It's fun. Next time you look at a menu, let me know if you see "Ice Tea" or "Iced Tea" (if you don't know that one is wrong, shame on you!)
I also don't use the typical text message shorthand in any email I send or even in my text messages. I will admit I have used OMG! before, but that's about it. Proper grammar all around, even in text messages. It's just what I do.
I also LOVE the AP Stylebook. Never in a million years, would I have imagined loving a book so much. It's fascinating! When challenged or confused about our wonderful language, I run to my faithful book. I have even been known to look up one thing and then just keep reading...
I shudder at Facebook picture captions that say, "this is so-and-so and I." You wouldn't say, "This is I." Or "this is I at the museum." Yikes!
I am by no means perfect at grammar or the English language, but at least I am intelligent enough to rearrange a sentence if I am not certain of appropriate usage.
I read this article today and loved it. Call me a nerd, but I did. Read it and be educated!
7 comments:
please dont ever read anything I have written or will write in the future. Or, read it but do not tell me of any errors. I dont want to know.
That's funny, Se. No worries...believe me, I stress over all my writings and cringe when I hit send or publish (as in the blog) and then notice an error. I don't have time for many other people!(((shudder)))
I'm with Se - I'm a Reading Specialist for heaven's sake and I know my grammar isn't perfect! However, here is a blog that you will find quite amusing: http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/. Enjoy!
yesssss. I love martha. and grammar.
hahaha! You crack me up, and you really would not want me to edit your posts--particularly that one...
The weird thing is, grammar mistakes do not usually bother me. Not even when I am doing the editing, or when I am reading published works. In those circumstances it is super fun to find the mistakes and fix them (it's my own little game). I do get a bit peeved when a teacher takes points off for grammar, saying I am incorrect when I am not.
-KT
I'm glad you have finally found the joy of Martha Brockenbrough (and I'm glad that she's still writing). I first discovered her when I started teaching high school. She wrote an article about hip-hip singers and their lack of grammar skills, so we looked at different songs in depth. It was fun.
If you like Martha, you will definitely also like Lynne Truss. She wrote Eats, Shoots and Leaves, which is hilarious, but she also has a series of children's books (3 now) all about punctuation--and her illustrations are hilarious. Eli just got me Girl's Like Spaghetti: Why, You Can't Manage Without Aposrophes. Fabulous!
I also have Eats, Shoots and Leaves: Why, You Can't Manage Without Commas and am looking forward to the latest one: Twenty-Odd Ducks: Why, Every Punctuations Mark Counts!
Merry Christmas!
She don't know no better.
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