A Reformed Grammar Nazi
by Nils Ling
Book : Truths And Half Truths
“I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.” – Abraham Lincoln
Yesterday I wrote a post wherein I took advantage of a quirky news story to point out once again the value of learning and using good grammar. I tend to be harsh and unforgiving of bad grammar in myself and, truth be told, less than completely patient with bad grammar in other people’s writing.
I’ve always been comfortable with this – and in fact, you could, if you squinted, almost detect an air of … superiority? Smugness? Arrogance? All of the above?
But that’s the thing about good friends. They never let you wander too far down that path. And one of my best friends in the world, Laura, took me to task.
She pointed out that it’s easy to be unforgiving about grammar if we assume that everybody starts at the same point – that we all have access to the same quality of education; that we all learn in exactly the same way; that we all have the same level of dedication in our teachers or parents; that we all have access to the same books; and that we all face the same physical, psychological, and emotional challenges … in short (if the ship has not already sailed on that), that we are on a level playing field.
And of course, we’re not.
I come from a Canadian public school education, as do my kids. It’s a high standard of education, relatively speaking. I was never in a classroom with more than 25 other kids till I reached University. While not all my teachers were top drawer, a lot were – and I include several English teachers among those who inspired me to do what I do. Their dedication and their encouragement made a huge difference to my life.
Unlike my brother, who fought dyslexia, I never had a serious learning disability. I wore glasses, but that just meant I didn’t get laid – it didn’t interfere with my education (probably the opposite). I had perfect hearing. I could walk, and speak properly, and other than being a bit homely, I wasn’t disfigured and scarred emotionally by classmates’ taunts. I had it easy.
So yes, I was taught grammar, and taught it well, and was inspired to care about it. The affected, illiterate, text-message/faux Ebonics/cool dude style of writing you find so often today is as fingernails on my psychic blackboard. ( I’ll tell you what, Prince/Artist Formerly Known As /Prince: I hold U personally responsible for UR share of this.)
But Laura – who hails from Florida - writes:
I volunteered for years with the schools here, where I’d take individual kids out of the classroom and work with them on their reading.. and I still see some of those kids on a daily basis. There were always kids who succeeded and some who just plain didn’t care at all. But then there were the kids who, no matter how much help they got, they just couldnt “get” it. I had one boy throw his chair at me, he was so frusturated. These people grow up to be adults.
And that’s an excellent point. When we – some of us – get to feeling all superior about grammar, it’s important for us all (and I am among the worst) to remember that flawless grammar is often a telltale sign of advantages that some people just didn’t have.
Not everybody who was disadvantaged has bad grammar – many can and do overcome their challenges. And not everybody who has it easy goes on in life to spill out flawlessly grammatical prose. There are lots of factors. Some are in our control; others aren’t. I forget that, and can sometimes say hurtful things about people who really don’t deserve it.
So while I’ll try to maintain my own standards when it comes to grammar, I’m going to try being a little less judgmental of others. Be tough on myself and forgiving of other people.
God, I hate it when I have to be a better person. Damn you, Laura. (g)
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Last “Bad” Words, another great post by Nils Ling.
Posted on June 22, 2012, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments.
English is my second language, my mother tongue is Italian.
I was taught English in high school and we were taught the grammar first. It was an old fashioned way to learn a foreign language, but it worked well. I rarely make grammatical mistakes in English, whilst I notice lots of mistakes made by British people. My husband is English and I often correct his grammar and spelling
I tend not to be too judgemental though, when British people don’t have a good grammar. I’ve realized that in the UK it’s not taught in school, so it must be very hard for people to get it right all of the time.
I used to teach Italian to English people, for fun, and when I tried to explain the use of conjugations, adjectives, adverbs, personal pronouns, etc, they didn’t know what I was talking about. Not because they were ignorant, but simply because they were never taught grammar in school. And some of my friends had a Phd!
Your post is great. It reminds us that we have to make allowances: no one is perfect, first of all, ourselves.
“we have to make allowances: no one is perfect, first of all, ourselves.”
Beautiful.
The English language constantly changes. It will always be in a state of flux, surely as a self said avid fan of English you know this.
I am from England. I love the language having my countries name being used across the world, allowing people to communicate. I can speak and type somewhat semi-literate. I never use text speak or slang of any kind.
That said, I fail, and always will, to understand the people who want the English language including the grammar of it, to stay the same. If we did that we’d still be speaking like Shakespeare. No,we wouldn’t even be speaking like his era, because he changed the language. He adapted it to what people understand and could connect with. That is no different from what the millions of others are doing by using bad grammar and poor punctuation, this very day. The only difference is Shakespeare is accepted by the arrogant and the snobs of our society.
I receive text messages, emails and instant messages in text slang, and i understand them. The communication is there, and that can only be a good thing. What’s more, in a very subconscious, subliminal way. They very people who aren’t ‘talking or typing properly’ are actually enjoying languages and experimenting with them and psuedo-learning to interact it in their lives regularly.
Bad grammar, bad punctuation, or just plain bad English shouldn’t be called bad. It should just be called what it is. New punctuation, new grammar, and new English. It’s evolving right now.
I didn’t mean to turn this into a rant. I apologise. I just found the article interesting and thought my opinion could be of some merit to you in some small way.
Thanks for your time.
I’m sorry, but I disagree. There has to be an agreed standard in order to construct meaning, especially in writing, between two parties who may not be face to face. Yes, languages evolve over time, but that takes time and consensus that something has in fact changed. The context of a text message is completely different from say, a journalistic piece and deserves different and appropriately precise standards for each.
@Renegade
I agree with your post and i liked it until u reach this part ”
Bad grammar, bad punctuation, or just plain bad English shouldn’t be called bad. It should just be called what it is. New punctuation, new grammar, and new English. Its evolving right now.”
Here my friend you are wrong!
I am not a native English speaker and i do a lot of mistakes(written and spoken ones). But in my country there is a committee from our highest Academy …they are the only ones who approve all the changes of the language.
Slang, txt versions and all the rest are for easy communication, but that doesn’t means that they are rite !
I agree with you renegade. People who are “Grammar Nazi’s” either don’t understand the concept of evolution in languages, or do but choose to ignore it. The only reason it would be beneficial for someone to learn the rules of modern English and strictly abide by them is to climb the social ladder, to get into higher academic, political, or professional settings, in other words, to become an elitist. In order to become an elitist, you must first abide by their laws, then prove you are one of them. Although the concept of grammar may have its utilities, it ensures that communication remains unambiguous and mostly efficient, it has its shortcomings also: it does not do its job perfectly, and it is not very open to change. I say we find some middle ground, be open to change, yet keeping efficiency and unambiguity in mind.
I respectfully disagree. If one has access to the internet, they have access to a standard of education that justifies correction of grammar. The internet is an equaliser; everyone who has the internet is accountable for not using it to educate themselves. There are great websites out there, like freerice.com that test grammar.
I dont agree with this. us humans are human after all.. Its doesnt matter who went to grammer or not .
we all have the same brains dont we