I really want to read some new blogs. If you are a baby boomer who writes with humor about loving your adult children and senior moments and possible retirement and taking care of elderly parents, I want to follow you and share your posts here on my blog and on Facebook. Even more than those things, though, I REALLY want you to edit your blog posts before you publish them.
I know it’s a “thing” with me. I spend too many of my work days cringing at eighth grade writing and I know this makes me crazy when I find editing mistakes in adults’ writing. I also know, however, that you had an English teacher (just like me) who pleaded with you to use the correct spelling of to, too, and two, and begged you to use it is instead of it’s so that you didn’t confuse the contraction it’s with the possessive pronoun its. There’s a reason that the old biddy thought the correct usage of the English language was important. She was afraid that someday you might actually have to write something in your professional life, and lo and behold, she was right! Unfortunately, it seems that you were “absent” on the day(s) your teachers taught you about commonly confused words and agreement.
It’s not that I’m perfect; my darling husband has been known to correct me on my usage of like I said rather than as I said. I even sometimes use my object pronouns incorrectly and say with him and I. I’m really struggling with the “new rules” that allow us to use the plural pronoun they with a singular antecedent instead the accurate but sometimes unwieldy he or she.
Example: If anybody wants to succeed as a writer, they have to know the rules of the game. (This should be he or she rather than they, because anybody is singular.)
I really don’t want to be the grammar police in my online life, and since I’m not at school, I have a choice. I choose not to read blogs with consistent mistakes. I can handle a couple, but more mistakes than that and I’ve moved on to the next cute blog title.
Interestingly, I found a wonderful “grammar police” graphic that I was going to use here, but it was attached to a blog by a writer who said that she was too busy to edit her posts. Her commenters backed her up and basically told the grammar police types (that would be me) to get a life. I am unclear how this post will go over, but I’m pretty sure that my niece, who writes grammar lessons at Vanderbilt Wife, will get a chuckle from it.
Eye wood give my black patten shoos if sumhow yoo all cood go bak and relern thoze lessuns. For now, tho, I will haf too keep looking for a blog that duz not make me wunt to gouj my eyz out.
Header Image: Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
