We all have our pet peeves,
don't we?
In an irritating society
there are plenty of
irritating habits that make your skin
crawl and your patience disappear.
People chewing with their mouth open,
snorting, sniffing, coughing, talking...
I can go on and on. It just depends
upon your tolerance level.
But there is something lately that
grinds me even more than all those
body noises.
Bad Grammar.
Perhaps it's because I'm a writer/
proofreader/editor it grinds me a bit
more than you. But I can't help but
wonder what ever happened to
teaching correct grammar -- spelling
and speaking.
With auto-correct and word
anticipation on every computer on the
planet, you would think the correct
words would just appear. But even
auto-correct can't help with the wrong
choice of words.Auto-correct can't
help those who guess at the wrong
word or the wrong version of a word.
Grammar isn't rocket science. It's
common sense. Something that many
people lack.
It's one thing if you type the wrong
word. In my haste to get something
written, at work and at home, I have
picked the wrong form/spelling/tense.
Almost always I catch my mistakes in
proofreading. But I've come across
some people -- professional people --
who consistently misspell, misrepresent,
and actually mangle the English
language. And often these are higher-
ups -- educated people with degrees --
who should know better.
I know I sound like an old lady, but at
least I am a grammatically correct old
lady. They aren't teaching cursive in
schools these days, but speaking and
writing well is as important as it's ever
been.I hear a lot of lazy English these
days -- hip language, slurred
consonants, half-words. In some
circles that may mean money -- a
recording career, stand up comedy.
But outside of that rarefied
atmosphere it won't get you far. You
need to know how to spell. You need to
know your syntax.
Even if you don't know what syntax
means.
I know English is one of the most
confusing languages around. I mean,
how many ways can you spell Where?
Wear? Ware? But in today's world
that's not an excuse. When I see a
professional letter start out "Goof
Morning," I have issues. It's one thing
to text "you are my breast friend"
instead of "you are my best friend,"
but not in an interoffice memo.
Not everybody is a writing scholar. I
know I'm not. But I've practiced. I've
learned. You owe it to yourself to take
your time and reread what you write.
Don't count on spell check to catch
your mistakes. Once you learn your
weaknesses, make an avid attempt NOT
TO DO IT AGAIN. Don't let lazy
English get in the way of your moving
forward in your life.
After all, not everyone is Rocket
Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Not everyone is cute and furry and
can get away with saying, "Well he
don't know talkin' good like me and
you, so his vocabulistics is limited to 'I'
and 'am' and 'Groot,' exclusively in
that order."
don't we?
In an irritating society
there are plenty of
irritating habits that make your skin
crawl and your patience disappear.
People chewing with their mouth open,
snorting, sniffing, coughing, talking...
I can go on and on. It just depends
upon your tolerance level.
But there is something lately that
grinds me even more than all those
body noises.
Bad Grammar.
Perhaps it's because I'm a writer/
proofreader/editor it grinds me a bit
more than you. But I can't help but
wonder what ever happened to
teaching correct grammar -- spelling
and speaking.
With auto-correct and word
anticipation on every computer on the
planet, you would think the correct
words would just appear. But even
auto-correct can't help with the wrong
choice of words.Auto-correct can't
help those who guess at the wrong
word or the wrong version of a word.
Grammar isn't rocket science. It's
common sense. Something that many
people lack.
It's one thing if you type the wrong
word. In my haste to get something
written, at work and at home, I have
picked the wrong form/spelling/tense.
Almost always I catch my mistakes in
proofreading. But I've come across
some people -- professional people --
who consistently misspell, misrepresent,
and actually mangle the English
language. And often these are higher-
ups -- educated people with degrees --
who should know better.
I know I sound like an old lady, but at
least I am a grammatically correct old
lady. They aren't teaching cursive in
schools these days, but speaking and
writing well is as important as it's ever
been.I hear a lot of lazy English these
days -- hip language, slurred
consonants, half-words. In some
circles that may mean money -- a
recording career, stand up comedy.
But outside of that rarefied
atmosphere it won't get you far. You
need to know how to spell. You need to
know your syntax.
Even if you don't know what syntax
means.
I know English is one of the most
confusing languages around. I mean,
how many ways can you spell Where?
Wear? Ware? But in today's world
that's not an excuse. When I see a
professional letter start out "Goof
Morning," I have issues. It's one thing
to text "you are my breast friend"
instead of "you are my best friend,"
but not in an interoffice memo.
Not everybody is a writing scholar. I
know I'm not. But I've practiced. I've
learned. You owe it to yourself to take
your time and reread what you write.
Don't count on spell check to catch
your mistakes. Once you learn your
weaknesses, make an avid attempt NOT
TO DO IT AGAIN. Don't let lazy
English get in the way of your moving
forward in your life.
After all, not everyone is Rocket
Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Not everyone is cute and furry and
can get away with saying, "Well he
don't know talkin' good like me and
you, so his vocabulistics is limited to 'I'
and 'am' and 'Groot,' exclusively in
that order."
0 التعليقات لموضوع "Grammar Is Your Friend"
الابتسامات الابتسامات