All my life two things that have really irritated me are, “Well, you know what I mean” to excuse the use of poor English. The other is, “Where do you get all them big words?” The latter is simply a declaration of someone’s ignorance and inability to comprehend why anyone would choose not to sound like an illiterate idiot.

Decent grammar and language is not that difficult and even easier if a person doesn’t have a large vocabulary. But it’s easier to be lazy and try to pull others down to your own level than to invest a minimal effort into speaking and writing correctly.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil´s last blog ..Have Faith

My parents used to spank us again if we were spanked at school. This is the only time my mom and dad laughed and called the principal to say the punishment was extremely harsh given there was no crime. An apology was suggested in case it ever happened again. My dad went to school and met with the teacher and gave her some witty come-backs to use in case I managed to correct her again. She never made anymore errors after that so I didn’t do it again, but I was guaranteed to be spared a spanking in the future. My mom sent my dad because he was much more diplomatic than she was, and much more charming to my female teachers.

I got an apology for harsh punishment from both the teacher and the principal.

Sherri’s last blog post..Debt Report Feb 2008

Every month when I have to pay my debt collectors I long for a time when I could slap each of them in the face with a glove, challenge them to a duel, and if I win they would have to cancel the debt. If I lose, well, my estate would have to pay the rest of them.

Of course, back then, there were no debt collectors because there were no credit cards, HELOCs, and extremely few loans of any type!

My mom was a business English and accounting teacher. I was corrected when learning to speak. I had a tough time in grammar in school because I knew how to say and write everything properly, but I couldn’t (and still can’t) tell you what all the terms for things are. Since I already knew how to speak and write properly I also had no desire to learn any of the terms.

Most of my friends are very literate, so correcting them isn’t an issue. We all correct all of our children when they are in our company. None of us tolerates poor grammar from anyone under 18, or 22 if they’re still in college. I do not, however, suggest correcting your teacher during class. Doing so resulted in me getting a spanking by the principal for embarrassing the teacher. It was irrelevant that I was correct.

Sherri’s last blog post..Debt Report Feb 2008

Which means, of course, that it just kills me when I find myself using them…. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen, and then I kick myself.

PreSchool Mama’s last blog post..More PreSchool Sensory Activities: The Sense of Touch

Breath in
Breath out
Breath in
Breath out

Remember that bad grammar is not as important as the wrong coloured neckcloth.

Karen (Karooch from Scraps of Mind)’s last blog post..Digital Scrapbooking Tutorials – Manipulating the Color in your Photos

@Maria–Well, you know, it’s not so much that I’m passionate as that, like, you know, I just have a strong belief that people should obey basic society rules–like grammar. You know?

@J–Of course, the only people READING our online complaints about these things are people who care about the same thing, more or less. And, I know, you have to address these things verrrrry carefully in real life! One of my co-workers comes to my office to vent when he’s upset and he’ll start with, “Between you and I….” and it drives me nuts. I appreciate he feels he can confide in me, but I wince every time.