This is a from a note that came home from playschool today:
In addition to finishing our planting theme we focused on the colors red, white and blue this week in celebration of Memorial Day;OK, so far. But then...
Also stars and stripes, in which our American flag is decorated with.I'd rather you squirt some lemon juice in my eye than have to read that. There is so much wrong with that sentence that I don't even know where to start (other than the fact that it isn't a sentence).
I try not to be a holier than thou-er but I this kind of thing drives me 'round the bend.
"Your going to the beach this weekend? Your what is going?"
"Toy's for sale" "The toy's what is for sale?"
And you know what scares me the most? People, like my husband, who aren't writers, think I'm an intellectual snob for even noticing. He laughs at me when I get so incensed over business mail or newsletters that read as if my six-year old wrote them. I was at my daughter's elementary school the other day and up on the wall were the words, "Your the best!" At a school! Heaven help us!
Am I wrong to be so picky? NO! I am a writer and as such I have deemed myself responsible for the correct propagation (is that the right word?) of the English language. I am the first to admit I am bad with grammar - semi-colons and I aren't on the best of terms - but I do know where my apostrophes belong and the sentence, "Their keys? They're over there," is not a problem for me. Is that because I was educated in England or because I have a natural aptitude for words? I don't know, but I do know that our children have no respect for language - kwim (lol)? And apparently our schools are not bridging the gap, and haven't been for a while, judging on the ability of their parents.
Yes, I'm a snob and I plan to stay that way, nose held high and apostrophes well-placed.
Your welcome.
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4 comments:
I know what you mean. I hate to be critical though, because I've made far too many of my own.
I do my best to catch my mistakes (and I was a real stickler once upon a time). But I can be a real doofus sometimes. Even when I check, I will still miss things sometimes. If I catch a mistake, even in my earlier posts, I fix them.
I'm definitely not a "publication ready" blogger. I usually do my best the first time around, then I have to go back and edit a few times before I get it right.
When I make comments on other's blogs, it's even worse, because sometimes I don't get a chance to preview what you write, or I'm in a hurry.
I do think the brain has a tendency to "trick" you every once in a while. I've read passages a few times, and it's only on the third or fourth go around that I realize the word is the wrong one (there instead of their). I am mortified when that happens, but I chalk that up to age.
I would be incensed over the note as well! I don't think we are being intellectual snobs to demand our places of education have a passing acquaintance with the English language. It doesn't help children learning how to read and write and speak to learn incorrectly.
U R so rite LOL
In all seriousness you should not feel like a snob, how are our children to learn proper grammar if the teachers are unaware of such thing? I am horrible with apostrophies, which is ok as an office manager, however would not be ok if I were a teacher. I am joining snob forces with you!
I notice too.
Misspellings and bad grammar are especially glaring when it comes from someone you think should know better. Hard not to notice when a teacher screws up, and I don't think it's intellectually snobby to be affronted by it.
Misplaced quote marks are fun too, "aren't" they?
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