Editorial: Grammar Is Dead, Long Live Grammar Nerds
Most of us with a fondness for (or even a passing familiarity with) grammar can relate to the jarring, nails-on-a-chalkboard sensation of running across a sentence that claims, “Me and him are best friends.” Unless the sentence is meant to be an example of ultra-relaxed colloquial dialogue, most grammar-minded people will want to run screaming from the room as soon as they’ve parsed it.
Fortunately, we’re not alone.
Such is the point made in Jen Doll’s June 2012 article from TheWire.com. Doll graciously shares 10 of her favorite copyediting and grammar-for-life rules, some of which I’ll be discussing right here.
Doll takes on issues like possessive pronouns vs. contractions (it’s vs. its, your vs. you’re, etc.), the mistaken use of whom when one really ought to use who, and dangling participles. Which, if I’m being honest, can be wonderfully, unintentionally hilarious, so I don’t actually hate them. Sadly, Doll doesn’t call out any of my major pet peeves when it comes to grammar. As someone who spends a lot of time teaching people the difference between it’s and its as part of my job, I just can’t get that worked up about it. Unless, of course, I see the wrong one used in a formal publication that’s gone through several rounds of copyediting. That’s different-those people are paid to know better. If someone sends it’s when they mean its in an email, I’ll notice, but I won’t freak out about it.
In addition to picking only ten issues to highlight, Doll doesn’t spend a lot of time explaining why most of these particular peeves are problematic. She assumes that since we’re reading the article, we must be kindred spirits and therefore must fully understand why these problems are, indeed, problematic. For the most part, I’d say she’s probably right. All I had to do was pop down to the comments to see what others had to say. As Doll pointed out in the opening of the article, some people get incredibly passionate about grammar and punctuation, and they’re convinced that current forms of English are a sign of the apocalypse.
Overall, I thought this article was pretty good. Not because I particularly agreed with Doll’s top ten, but because she did a good thing in getting a discussion going. The real gems-the moments when I exclaimed, “Yeah! I hate that! How can people get that wrong?!” or “What? No, you’re just being a pedantic jerkwad!” and scared my cats-were in the comments.
If you’re interested in finding out other grammarians’ pet peeves, the things a lot of people get wrong, and the things that some people think are wrong but others are fine with, have a wander through some of our community tags. I recommend punctuation usage, common errors, and our various Grammar 101 features as good places to get started.
Fortunately, we’re not alone.
Such is the point made in Jen Doll’s June 2012 article from TheWire.com. Doll graciously shares 10 of her favorite copyediting and grammar-for-life rules, some of which I’ll be discussing right here.
Doll takes on issues like possessive pronouns vs. contractions (it’s vs. its, your vs. you’re, etc.), the mistaken use of whom when one really ought to use who, and dangling participles. Which, if I’m being honest, can be wonderfully, unintentionally hilarious, so I don’t actually hate them. Sadly, Doll doesn’t call out any of my major pet peeves when it comes to grammar. As someone who spends a lot of time teaching people the difference between it’s and its as part of my job, I just can’t get that worked up about it. Unless, of course, I see the wrong one used in a formal publication that’s gone through several rounds of copyediting. That’s different-those people are paid to know better. If someone sends it’s when they mean its in an email, I’ll notice, but I won’t freak out about it.
In addition to picking only ten issues to highlight, Doll doesn’t spend a lot of time explaining why most of these particular peeves are problematic. She assumes that since we’re reading the article, we must be kindred spirits and therefore must fully understand why these problems are, indeed, problematic. For the most part, I’d say she’s probably right. All I had to do was pop down to the comments to see what others had to say. As Doll pointed out in the opening of the article, some people get incredibly passionate about grammar and punctuation, and they’re convinced that current forms of English are a sign of the apocalypse.
Overall, I thought this article was pretty good. Not because I particularly agreed with Doll’s top ten, but because she did a good thing in getting a discussion going. The real gems-the moments when I exclaimed, “Yeah! I hate that! How can people get that wrong?!” or “What? No, you’re just being a pedantic jerkwad!” and scared my cats-were in the comments.
If you’re interested in finding out other grammarians’ pet peeves, the things a lot of people get wrong, and the things that some people think are wrong but others are fine with, have a wander through some of our community tags. I recommend punctuation usage, common errors, and our various Grammar 101 features as good places to get started.