However, time has passed and the rules have changed. Or at least, not many people are following the rules as I learned them. That goes for professionals on TV as well as the newspapers. That goes for books and the everyday educated person. I realize that language grows and changes over time, but this evolution has left me confused.
As I have mentioned in this blog before, I don't understand today's trend of the fewer the commas the better. I'm not sure when this started, but several years ago I was in a seminar with a publisher (and as a geologist, I have no idea why I was there.) and I heard an interesting thing. At that point in time, paper was very expensive and book publishers were feeling the pinch. One of the ways they were dealing with this, besides making the margins narrower, was leaving out all "unnecessary" commas. It seemed rather silly to me but she said in the long run, it was saving them money.
Because I see so many differences in the way language is used today, not only am I unsure, I'm forgetting what I used to know. For example, when is it that you capitalize a season? When do you use the word healthy and when do you use the word healthful. I used to know. However, today I see seasons capitalized in an almost random way. (I tend to follow this method.) Also, I've observed that healthy is used in almost all circumstances whether it is an adjective or adverb. (I too am guilty of this.) I think that healthful may become a thing of the past as language evolution continues.
A couple of other changes that are on the horizon are take/bring and less/fewer. Have you noticed that no one uses take anymore? They are always bringing something whether the object is coming toward them or going away from them. And the one that is an assault to my ears every time I hear it-people using less when they mean fewer. (Less is an amount that can't be divided into discreet things. Fewer measures something that has discreet things that can be counted.) I fear, too, that these uses as I learned them will become a thing of the past in not so distant future. And the list goes on.
However, in the meantime, I'm happy that this is a conversational, casual blog. I don't think I could stand the pressure of trying to figure out what is the correct grammar of the day every time I post.
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Let's not even get started on the effect that texting is having on our written language. Maybe I'll discuss that with the letter "T".
And yes, I am old. At least old enough, that I wish for the good old days when things were done "right". :)
I'm with you! My dirty little secret? I enjoyed diagramming. I get comma confusion now too. I will sometimes got to Grammar Girl to refresh my brain. The site has quick, easy tips for making grammar understandable.
ReplyDeleteI have a sister-in-law who writes for a living--mostly technical writing, and she deals with a lot of different publishers. She says that each one has their own style as to what they consider correct grammar especially where commas are concerned.
DeleteI had 1 trimester of grammar in all of my public school education. I didn't really learn much grammar until I homeschooled my 3 kids. We followed a language curriculum that emphasized rules of grammar. I had never seen a sentence diagrammed before I was teaching my kids. And even after trying to learn, so that I could teach them, I still found those diagrams to be confusing.
ReplyDeleteHelen Stephens, my seventh grade English teacher, was really the one who taught me the ins and outs of diagramming. However, I'm not sure I could do it now.
DeleteI must say that I totally suck at grammar. And what I do know, I know mostly from studying foreign languages. I sort of have mixed feelings about the evolution of language. On the one hand, I think the primary purpose of language is to communicate, so it should serve us rather than the other way around. And I hate how grammar and language are so often used as a cudgel for wealthy educated people to hit poor people over the head with... actually that should probably be "with which to hit poor people over the head." Whatever.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, some of the usage I see these days, especially on the interwebs makes me totally crazy. There, their & they're are my pet peeves... though, while I'm ashamed to admit it I've somehow managed to slip up that one a few times... the horror!!
Anyhow, have you seen the movie, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? Leave it to Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer to make adverbs hilarious!
I have not seen "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang". I didn't think I wanted to, but maybe I'll give it a look. I totally understand when to use there, their, or they're but I too slip up sometimes with a typo.
DeleteWell, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is irreverent humor to be sure. And there is some gratuitous violence, but it's not meant to be taken seriously. I giggled through the entire movie. :-)
DeleteI just put a hold on it, so I should be getting it from the library soon.
DeleteExcellent! One of my sons calls me an antiquated grammar Nazi every time I use whom as an objective case pronoun with the words "to" and "from". I fear if I did not use it, my long deceased Latin teacher might whack me on the knuckles with a ruler. Then she would probably make me do all pronoun declensions
ReplyDeleteI think whom may be another one that is going by the wayside. Whack on the knuckles with the ruler. Did you go to Catholic school?
DeleteNo I went to a public school, but she was quite old and had taught when teachers used rulers and such. She carried a ruler and would stop just short of the actual hand, but we all knew her intent (and I think desire too!)
ReplyDeleteMy teachers didn't have rulers, but they did have paddles.
DeleteYes! I'm not alone. I too had grammar classes with diagramming and was really quite good at it. The downfall is that no matter how much I may have forgotten I still see all the incorrect usage in books and find reading poorly edited books a struggle.
ReplyDeleteI also find it distracting to read poorly edited books.
DeleteGrammar, or lack thereof, is a pet peeve of mine as well. High schools are teaching the meaning of books, etc. and no longer how to write a sentence.
ReplyDeleteBut what peeves me the most is that cursive handwriting is going away. Over the weekend, the guests at the bridal shower had to write some sentences on an index card for a game. My daughter had to read them off. She stopped several times to say she couldn't read the 'cursive'. Good grief...she was my Catholic school girl who wrote in cursive all.the.time. What is happening? Yes, I am old too.
Even if keyboarding to touch screens are a thing of the future, I have read studies that learning cursive writing plays an important part in brain development. If they aren't going to teach it anymore, they should figure out what else they're going to do to replace that part of development.
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