In my last blog, my intolerance for callous, inane, and deliberate grammar error came out rather instinctively. The responses and requests from the ‘self-proclaimed literati populace’ (I consider it an honor to be a part of them), is the reason I am writing a sequel to ‘Grammar Terror’.
Honestly, I have never been mortified about my fanatical attitude towards ambiguous communication, but today I feel honored to have found my posse. These people have reaffirmed my faith: in the power of the words, the magic of grammar & punctuation, and the desperate need for a tenet that will curtail the proliferation of incessant incoherent ramble amongst people who pointlessly strive to belong.
I feel comforted in knowing that I am not the lone obsessive-compulsive lunatic, emending people in my head, as they speak. The other day, some one at work asked me if they should continue working on the project ‘irregardless’ of what the client thought. Irregardless! C’mon! You want to kill me, use the inappropriate tense, but for the love of Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, do not just invent words.
Honestly, how many people do you know who pronounce ‘ask’ as ‘aks’ and ‘desk’ as ‘deks’? The first time a woman at a bank told me ‘Miss, I am aksing you to stand on line irregardless of when you cames,’ I didn’t know whether to feel intimidated or snicker. If this is how we speak, this is what we’ll teach. It’ll take a malignant form where the entire world would be a concoction of miscommunication.
I am not Shakespeare’s descendant, but I don’t want him turning in his grave either. It’s not about proficiency; it’s about making an effort. I know peer pressure can be hard; however, what if people like us pressure our peers in to sounding intelligible? I am convinced most people know the difference between ‘right’ and ‘write’ but they choose not to acknowledge it.
I rest my case with this clip from YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD3lMaMUWxw
Copyright © 02.24.2007
"A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers." Gandhi
Saturday, February 24, 2007
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3 comments:
WOW! This reminds me of my teacher at Sunday school! The 'Grammar Terror' I can relate to here is her!!
So, let me aks you, irregardless of where you bees, do you always speaks in perfect grammar?
As the great Yoda would have said - Everyone does not a perfect english have. :-)
Dear Welsh,
I can tell you one thing honestly -I definitely try, which is more than what you can say for yourself:-) Comparing Yoda's conversational skills (or lack there of) to that of Oscar Wilde's or any normal human's, should be considered a federal crime:-)
Communication between two individuals is nothing but exchange of thought waves and these are essentially free of correctness of linguistic excellence or otherwise.
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