I am not a perfectionist by nature, but at times, an aspect of my alter-ego that I call ‘Perfectionista’ does peek her snooty nose with glasses slid down the end of them, around a corner and points out all of the raggedy edges of my life and those of others as well. As a grammar geek, I tend to notice misspellings, poor grammar and misplaced punctuation. Sometimes I will be reading a book and wonder if the editor needed glasses since several errors were evident. My rule about that is not to tell the author since there isn’t a whole lot to be done about it after the fact. It goes along with my belief that it’s ok to tell someone that their zipper is down and the ‘barn door is open,’ or if they have spinach between their teeth, but not if they have a run in their stocking. The first two they can do something to rectify, the third they can’t. When I go back and look at some of my own writing, I sometimes cringe when I see that I have missed a few boo-boos as well.
I admit to having ‘judgy’ thoughts about people who misspell and use awkward phrasing, even when English is their first language, (I have heard that English is the hardest to learn, so non-native speakers get a pass here) particularly so since some of these people are writers, speakers, and educators. It is clearly one of my pet peeves. Here is my list of some of my favorite grammar geek faux pas:
“Him and I went to the store.” Him didn’t go anywhere. He and I went to the store.”
“Her and I’s car is blue.” I’s car isn’t blue. Hers and my car is blue.” or to simplify it even more, “Our car is blue.”
“I seen that dog somewhere before.” “I saw that dog or have seen that dog somewhere before.”
Using apostrophes to indicate plural instead of contractions. “Our children have two father’s.” when it should read “Our children have two fathers, (so we celebrate Fathers’ Day in a big way!)” “Their fathers’ house is in the woods and they live there with them.” Or using apostrophes for dates: 1960’s is incorrect. 1960s is correct.
Not being able to distinguish between than and then, to, two and too, there, their, they’re, affect and effect. And then there is the trifecta of lay, lie and laid.
In an article called 10 Common Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Make, the author, encourages accuracy in expression, since her take is that it makes the speaker or writer seem less intelligent and articulate than they might truly be. I acknowledge that I am less likely to give credibility to someone who doesn’t avail himself or herself of the benefits of spellcheck or Grammarly. It takes a few moments to run a document through the process.
When speaking publically, it takes a wee bit more awareness. Practice your presentation and get a sense of how it sounds. If it seems awkward, it probably is. Don’t get me started on all of the ‘like, you know, so, I’m all like, she goes…’
I know that in the grand scheme of things, these are what someone I know considers ‘mosquito problems’ that buzz around in an annoying manner. At the other end of the spectrum are ‘elephant problems’ that stomp and storm and trumpet about. I guess this comes from a desire to do something to create a sense of eloquence in a world gone wild.
I am learning, in the mist of such word mangling (in my not so humble opinion) not to roll my eye’s to much and discern between the too.
And just for grins and giggles, some grammar nerd jokes.
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