Grammar Pet Peeves (or What I observed about Writing from Dear Abby, the Oatmeal, Facebook, and the Raptor waiting line at Cedar Point)

After this lesson you should be able to  Have a broader understanding of the subtleties of language  Understand that your writing is going to be judged as a reflection of intelligence and ability in and out of school  Move toward becoming a savvy writer

Abigail Van Buren is famous for being the author of the Dear Abby advice columns. In one of her columns, which has been reprinted on at least a few occasions, she has a grammar “rant” about her favorite pet peeves and the pet peeves of her readers.

While there are many valid points raised in the column, there are also some pet peeves that don’t seem to be very important in the great scope of life. Let’s look at a few: February Youse Can you see others? “Good Grammar is Sweet Music To Any Language-Lover’s Ears”

Now let’s look at the types of errors we are really seeing.  Errors that interfere with meaning  Errors that mark social class or race  Errors of hypercorrectness

What grammar pet peeves do YOU have? Are you the self-appointed grammar police among your friends?

Where does the Oatmeal fit in? 

Where does Facebook fit in?  “Mrs. Busler, your the best English teacher EVER!!”  “Thanks, I enjoyed teaching you Greek mythology.”  “Marcia, you didn’t correct your student.”  “I don’t correct people on Facebook. If I did, I would never get anything else accomplished.”

What about the waiting line for the Raptor at Cedar Point?  “I can’t believe she corrected my post!”  “Excuse me, but do you mind if I look at your post so I can see what she corrected?”  “Mom, you are such a geek! Forgive her, she gets confused sometimes and thinks people actually care about this stuff.”

“Seen this today. Didn’t know they were still around.”  It turns out the people in line were college students, and they DID care, (or they were incredibly polite.)

When should we worry about grammar? 

What are YOU going to do about it?  Think about rhetoric. Everything that you put out in the world is communication. Make sure you are sending the message you want to send.