The causes may vary: Public education, lack of intelligent stimulation, lack of spell check, sticky keys while eating caramel corn (IT HAPPENED!), or in my case, a lack of practice.
I've noticed, with SO MUCH EMBARRASSMENT, that I, too, suffer from horrible grammar. The kind that used to make me cringe, then promptly yell at the display. I hate myself a little for it. So I decided to do something about it. And by doing something, I mean write a blog post.
I distinctly remember the good ol' days of being the uncontroversial Queen of Grammar. Well, that's not true, that was my mom. I was the Duchess of Usage. I met fellow enthusiasts in high school, but still didn't feel threatened.
Now, I feel a need to submit my blog posts and Facebook* statuses to my English teacher before publication. Because I've caught myself messing up. Either I am worse at grammar now and am just realizing that, or I'm better now and never realized how bad I've always been, and I hope to God above that it's the former. Because I can fix that, that one is about present and future, but the past is stuck, and that scares me.
But as there's been a decline in grammar, there's been an increase in snotty remarks and snippy ecards about how frustrating bad grammar is. But honestly, I don't know where anyone gets off feeling superior in that regard. At least not the people making those snide comments, because I'm sure the editors at MLA have better things to do, like debate about the Oxford comma.
No one is really fluent in English anymore, at least not in that regard. It's a sad thing, but it's true. My AP Lang teacher said, while in a heated debate about the importance of teaching grammar, that as long as the point is communicated intelligently, then there's no reason to be concerned with grammar's finer points. I, representing the pro-education side, argued that if we don't continue to teach grammar, the finer things will be lost. It's an art form, like great piano playing. And just like concert pianists have to practice their craft, so do grammarians theirs.
Maybe it's one of those things that is only valuable to those who have it, like how the people in North Korea, by and large, are completely content with that way of life because they don't know what it's like to live anywhere else. Plus, defecting is incredibly arduous. Actually, I'm really happy with that simile. I'm keeping it that way. No offense to anyone who would be North Korean by that comparison.
I'm just glad that I'm the one who was raised by the Queen of Grammar, because I do value my ability to determine a gerund versus a participle, though I'm not entirely sure I use 'versus' correctly to this day. Maybe I'll finally figure it out now that I'm aware of my shortcomings.
*Anyone else notice how the icon for Facebook is a lowercase 'f' but the little, red, squiggly line only goes away when it's capitalized?
No one is really fluent in English anymore, at least not in that regard. It's a sad thing, but it's true. My AP Lang teacher said, while in a heated debate about the importance of teaching grammar, that as long as the point is communicated intelligently, then there's no reason to be concerned with grammar's finer points. I, representing the pro-education side, argued that if we don't continue to teach grammar, the finer things will be lost. It's an art form, like great piano playing. And just like concert pianists have to practice their craft, so do grammarians theirs.
Maybe it's one of those things that is only valuable to those who have it, like how the people in North Korea, by and large, are completely content with that way of life because they don't know what it's like to live anywhere else. Plus, defecting is incredibly arduous. Actually, I'm really happy with that simile. I'm keeping it that way. No offense to anyone who would be North Korean by that comparison.
I'm just glad that I'm the one who was raised by the Queen of Grammar, because I do value my ability to determine a gerund versus a participle, though I'm not entirely sure I use 'versus' correctly to this day. Maybe I'll finally figure it out now that I'm aware of my shortcomings.
*Anyone else notice how the icon for Facebook is a lowercase 'f' but the little, red, squiggly line only goes away when it's capitalized?
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