Frank, aka PCGuy, has published another one of his Truthful Tuesday posts, and this week Frank wants to know…
What are your thoughts on Grammar? Are you part of the Grammar Police, or are you a Syntax and Spelling Renegade? Explain.
Blogging is a communications medium that relies on the written word. I believe that to be effective communications via the written word requires at least a fundamental proficiency in punctuation, grammar, and usage.
Thus, I’m more on the grammar police side of the equation. And to illustrate my point, I’m not a fan of the way that Frank used capitalization in his question for this prompt. Why did he capitalize the words “grammar,” “grammar police,” “syntax,” and “spelling renegade” in his question? Not only was it grammatically wrong to do so, but it was totally unnecessary.
On the other hand, we bloggers are only human and we make mistakes and typos. Most of us don’t have an editor on retainer to review our drafts and to correct our grammar, punctuation, usage, or spelling errors. So sometimes our posts aren’t grammatically perfect.
And I concur with Frank about using “text speech” in blog posts (like “U” and “K” for “you” and “okay,” respectively). That’s not okay.
Bottom line, I believe that, as Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message, and that blogging is a medium of the written word. Hence, for a blogger to get his or her message across, proper grammar, punctuation, usage, and spelling are a must.
So sayeth Fandango, a member in good standing of the grammar police.
Well said!
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I’m always screwed in this respect. I’m a story teller not an English professor and so the technicals of grammar and punctuation and hit, miss and maybe for me. So, come on Grammar Police arrest me. I’ll be the one with a hundred missing commas and too many adverbs!
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Got a suggestion for you IF it bothers you that grammar might get away from you from time to time. There’s an add-on thingie to Google (I use Google as my browser) called “Grammarly”. Now Grammarly is NOT perfect, and perhaps to get the top-shelf version you might have to pay for it, but the basic plug-in is free. It’s saved me from embarrassment many times since I started using it. A few bugs, but well worth a look!
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Thank you, Melanie. I always use Grammarly and it fixes some of the errors. My stories are still always littered though. People like to read them that’s the important thing.
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The old adage is still true. Those who matter don’t mind and those who mind don’t matter. Your stories are well worth reading!
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I like that adage. Thank you, Melanie.
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I think there’s a Grammarly keyboard for the iPhone. I’ll look into it. Thanks.
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😂
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There is a style of capping phrases to show sarcasm, and I’m fine with that. But capping grammar alone is just wrong. I’m also fine with people making up silly words, if they’re easily understood. Forex, Angie calls Covid the Kootie, which is cute. I used to do a lot more of that myself, but I got tired of it. I constantly obsess about grammar, and I try to write more precisely every day.
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When I first started following you, you spelled “post” “posts.” I never understood that. Also, “forex,” which you use instead of “for example,” always reminds me of a brand of condoms, “Fourex,” that I used to use back in the day. Just so you know. 😏
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Someone told me about Fourex this week on Facebook too. I’ll probably continue to use it though. A group of us used “poast” and other random misspellings back when, but outside the group it’s just silly 😜
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Oddly enough, I had cause to mull over this topic myself just last month. Here are my thoughts on the matter: Everything has its place.
PS Own up: how long did you spend checking this post for its accuracy, hmmm? (Just curious!)
PPS A total non sequitur, but: here’s hoping you’re having a hoopy Towel Day! 🙂
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“…how long did you spend checking this post for its accuracy?”
Just three or four times. Did I miss anything?
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I don’t think so 🙂
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Count me in as a fully paid up member of the Grammar Police, which makes it doubly embarrassing when I slip up and commit faux pas myself.
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Yes, I know the feeling. It’s mortifying.
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😦
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I use Grammarly to protect the reading public from my natural abuses of the English language. But it is still far from perfect.
I also kick the editing program in the pants sometimes when I feel that it over sanitizes the way I am trying to express myself. Nothing is perfect, least of all this creole mash up of a language we call English.
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Very good points. All very well expressed, in fine grammar correct style. In my opinion. It doesn’t hurt to cover one’s fanny nor bases..
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I have dyslexia. It would be hypocritically of me to be a grammar police officer. I watch myself, but it’s not up to me to do that for others.
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That must make it challenging for you.
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I am far from an expert on the ways of the English language. I would hope if I make a glaringly obvious mistake someone would kindly let me know. I don’t really notice too many errors in others posts though. And if I did, I would only say something if I know they wouldn’t mind it.
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