After reading this post you’re going to think one of the following about me:
- I’m an education snob.
- I’m a hypocrite.
- I’m cruel and insensitive.
- I’m right.
I am picky about grammar. I cringe when I hear people mix up the words “well” and “good”. Using the wrong tense of a verb is like nails on a chalkboard. And if you’ve ever typed “your” instead of “you’re”, I probably noticed.
Like it or not, we are all judged by the way we speak and write. You simply don’t sound as intelligent when you say things like “I don’t want no cheese on my burger” or “They was planning on going, but decided not to.”
In middle school, I was the dorky girl who actually liked to diagram sentences. I like to read articles by Martha Brockenbrough and I thought the book “Eats Shoots and Leaves” was hilarious. And while the TEAL folks might be going a little over-board(they did get in big trouble for messing with national park signs), I admire their determination.
And yet, after all of that, I’m the queen of comma splices. I over-use the ellipsis… And I love to start sentences with “and” and “but”. I also get sucked into using common phrases inappropriately. Like “literally”…and “like”. 🙂 Oh! I also say “might could”. It’s a Southern thing.
And I might be a grammar snob, but these grammatical nightmares make me laugh every time:
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see more dog and puppy pictures
I agree with you. It’s my job to pick apart and try to remediate morphological and syntactical errors. Such fun!
“expecially” makes me want to vomit.