I'm a sucker for good grammar books. I mean, I love learning about the little quirks of our language. When a bookseller at the Virginia Festival of the Book suggested that I would like Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies, I promptly bought a copy. Furthermore, I couldn't wait to dig in!
Wouldn't you know, I learned something right away. I was taught that the abbreviated form of the word "until" is "'til." But it's not. It's "till." I thought that "till" was another word for cash register. Even stranger, it turns out that "until" is derived from "till" and not the other way around. Motivated Grammar offers a wonderful discourse on this.
And yes, if you look hard enough, you'll find titles like Waiting 'Til the Midnight Hour.
One of my pet peeves is misuse of the objective and subjective case. Yet you hear and read it all the time. For example, this week's issue of People magazine quotes Emily Maynard as saying, "Well, he just saw Brad and I together, and he just started crying." She was explaining what happened after her dad met Brad Womack, the man who proposed to her on the Bachelor.
But it could have been because Emily misused the word "I." She should have said, "Well, he just saw Brad and me together, and he just started crying."
Frankly, I think the folks at People should have been generous enough to fix that little slip-up. Of course, there's an easy test for a problem like that--split up the sentence. I bet Emily would never say, "Well, he just saw I, and he just started crying." (I'll admit that running these tests in your head can turn your conversation into a series of halting stammers.)
I'm not perfect when it comes to grammar. Far from it. However, I hope to improve--and books like this can help a lot. (Not alot.)
Meanwhile, I'm happy to read that people often say "doggy-dog" for "dog-eat-dog" and "tow the line" for "toe the line." Where I grew up in Southern Indiana, I thought folks were saying, "It's a hard row to toe." Actually, they probably meant, "It's a hard row to hoe." But something got lost in the translation.
I definitely grew up hearing the term "widder woman," meaning a widow.
How about you? Are you a grammar geek, too?
12 comments:
I so appreciate the 'grammar geek' thing. One of my favorite podcasts is Grammar Girl. I'll have to take a look for this book, thanks for the hot tip!
Jenn, can you tell us more about the podcast?
Most annoying: when a professional copy editor tells me a certain phrase is correct but "awkward." Hello? It's awkward because, between you and me, we're not used to hearing "correct."
Loved learning the tidbits, Joanna.
Camille, an example of that is the word "err." Most people pronounce it like "air" but it's correctly spoken to rhyme with "grrr." When you do, however, people think you are nuts!
One of my favorite grammar-rant books is, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves." A very funny book written by a very angry woman. I nodded my head in agreement through the whole thing.
Combine incorrect grammar with incorrect punctuation, and you will see me just go bananas! I noticed yesterday at church that the projection of the song had "its" instead of "it's"! Come on, people! Some of this is really not that hard to remember!
And I don't look for these mistakes; they just automatically jump out at me! ;)
Monica, I actually bought two copies of that one. One in the UK, and then the American version. This book is just as interesting, IMHO.
Signlady, I noticed signs around town that say "Orchid's 5 for $20" on one side and "Orchids 5 for $20" on the other. I guess the writer couldn't decide and tried to cover his/her bases.
I hate bad grammar and am delighted that I'm not the only one, Joanna! I try to recognize, in my writing, that grammar evolves because of common usage. Even so, I hate it when copy editors try to change things in ways that make no sense. That grates on me like proverbial nails being scratched along a chalkboard! Okay, maybe that's an admission that I'm a bit old fashioned, least on this subject...
Linda, it is interesting how grammar and punctuation evolve. We have a living language. So now I see fewer and fewer commas, whereas back in the 1800s they sprinkled every sentence with semi-colons. We've gotten skimpier while they once were more liberal with their punctuation marks.
I have always err'd like grr'd but I thought it was a pronouncation thing. American English instead of English :-) Being English it is our birthright to be "nuts" anyway!
I also love Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips, on disc, by Mignon Fogarty the creator of the podcast.
I adored "Eats, Shoots and Leaves, so funny, and a delightful read.
My pet we see so often. Already is All right but Alright is all wrong!
Janet, all right! You're right!
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