Speling and grammer: lost causes?
I read with interest Knute Berger's Crosscut piece, Can writers get a federal bailout too? The teaser to it reads: "Some think the time is ripe to revive a New Deal program that put writers to work for the public good." Others say that's what bloggers are already doing.
As a freelance writer for the past two decades who added blogging to the mix about three years ago, I'm all for revival of this program. In fact, I have a specific job/title in mind: Sue Frause, Director of Spelling and Grammar.
I've always been a stickler for correct spelling and grammar. It's no surprise, since I grew up in the era of diagramming sentences on the blackboard to taking three years of Latin in high school — long before Dan Quayle thought Latin was the spoken language in Latin America. Plus, I was the fifth grade spelling champ at my school in Arlington, Washington. And to this day, I have an obsession with proofreading just about anything, from the billboard at a liquor store here on the island (who also had the chutzpah to list their "Customers of the Month") to restaurant menus clogged with bad spelling and/or typos (Caesar Salad is one of the biggest culprits.)
My current campaign is with the Internet. Not with emails, that's a lost cause, but online chatting and social networks. I recently had a lively discussion with several of my 389 FB (Facebook) friends. They happen to be high school students, and for whatever reason, they can't spell. Here's some of the conversation among us, conducted on the Facebook "wall" and online chat. It didn't start out as a conversation about spelling and grammar, but quickly morphed into such:
Student #1:Your misconseption could cause great harm and grief...how does that way on your consiconce?
Sue Frause: Oh dear, we have a spelling problem here: misconception, weigh, conscience. Sorry, but spelling/typos drive me nuts. It's the editor in me (and I was fifth grade spelling champ).
Student #1: In online chat, spelling doesn't matter.
Sue Frause: It totally matters! Why wouldn't you spell the same here as you do elsewhere? That makes absolutely NO sense. That's akin to switching your grammar because you're on the island, so you start talkin' like Sarah Palin, droppin' the G's from words. Which, by the way, the local TV weather babes are doin' and it's drivin' me nuts! All spelling all the time! All G's all the time!
Student #1: No, what Im saying is people write faster in chat so it doesn't matter.
Student #2: First of all, spelling only matters when you have an either formal conversation or an important audience.
Our conversation continued, with the students cutting me no slack. I could see that this was turning into a generational issue, not just a discussion about spelling and grammar. So as not to alienate my youthful FB friends, I bid them all adoo.
Comments:
Posted Mon, Dec 22, 6:21 p.m. inappropriate
question for every pretty faced news reader on the local TV channels:
whats the difference between 'now' and 'right now' ?
now, how does it sound when same above, start every sentence with the word 'now' ?
wasn't there some grammar rule about starting a sentence with a preposition ?
forgive my new style, caps are simply a waste of time.
Posted Tue, Dec 23, 8:38 a.m. inappropriate
Our youth aren't the only ones perpetuating this problem. Take a moment to read a Starbuck's napkin. It reads, "Less Trees, More Plants. More Planet, Less Trees." A 12 year old should know that this is grammatically incorrect, but of all the people I have asked to tell me what is wrong with this (and English majors have been in the mix), maybe 1 out of 10 people guess what the error is...do you know?
Posted Tue, Dec 23, 9:41 a.m. inappropriate
Sue, this drives me crazy too. In communicating with my own teenage kids by Facebook, MySpace or text message, I'm struck by the barrage of misspellings: too/to, their/there, your/you're are almost always wrong, and a lot of words seem to be sounded out phonetically as though they've never been seen in print. Online conversations with their friends are even looser. And these kids are all getting A's and B's in school!
After earning my street cred as an old nag I've been about to give up, but your piece weirdly makes me want to keep fighting the good fight. So thank you, I guess.
zelicon: No telling whether your 1 in 10 guess is accurate, but I'll bet even fewer people than that get it right.
Posted Tue, Dec 23, 1:34 p.m. inappropriate
Sue, I am absolutely one hundred percent with you on this subject. Thanks for mentioning the dropped G's. Another thing I've noticed over time is how my handwriting has deteriorated with more computer use.
Posted Tue, Dec 23, 7:25 p.m. inappropriate
Here's a missive from Bill Root, sent to the editor and posted here:
I am a fellow word cop. Sloppy spelling, punctuation, and grammar drive me around the bend. I have participated in adult spelling bees locally (Kirkland) with much success. My teammates and I won the Kirkland area adult spelling bee in '06 and again in '07. One of our opponents (in '07) was a former (Scripps) National Spelling Bee champion. One of my screaming pet peeves is the poor spelling by local television news stations. KING 5 News is one of the worst. Rarely does a week go by that I don't catch them in a spelling error. They ignore my frequent emails calling them on the errors. I share your frustration.
I possess few talents but one talent I do have: I can spot a misspelled word a mile away. My wife rolls her eyes whenever I point out these things - like your students, it's simply not an issue with her.
I also enjoy catching people using the wrong word. Even professional writers occasionally do not understand the difference, for example, between "affect" and "effect". Some years ago, I took William Raspberry - a nationally syndicated opinion columnist - to task when he referred to someone's comeuppance as,"just desserts." "Just deserts" is the correct spelling/usage. Granted, there are many confusing words in our language - but that's never an excuse for laziness. When I was growing up, my mother was relentless: "Look it up!" was the response when I needed word help. To this day, I have a large dictionary nearby when reading a book. These days, I rarely have a need for it. Yeah, word cops CAN be pedantic.
Posted Tue, Dec 23, 8:34 p.m. inappropriate
The best speller in my house is my 10-year-old son. He's not the oldest, but he reads the most. With so many competing distractions, a kid rarely relaxes on a wintery weekend anymore and reads for hours, like we did as kids. I think Starbucks should redo their napkin and have it say, "Less screen time. More books."
Posted Tue, Dec 23, 9:44 p.m. inappropriate
I can't spell my way out of a box with out spell check and I would like one for correct grammar but I must admit I never passed a spelling test my senior year and for 50 years it has shown(?). I enjoy books like the Panda eats, shoots, and leaves but it does not stick so I just stick to enjoying the argument. But I do agree with Sue Frause it is really important and being ignorant is ignorant.
Posted Wed, Dec 24, 11:14 a.m. inappropriate
I couldn't agree more. I work with a building full of people with advanced degrees in a scientific field. The confused word use, convoluted grammar, contorted spelling and overall bad writing I get from these highly-educated professionals is simply appalling.Although they pride themselves (often excessively) on the accuracy of their scientific work and their credentials, few could have passed the rigors of my eigth-grade teacher's inspections of their written communications. They tell me "It isn't important. What matters is the thought being communicated." That, by the way, is an actual quote.
These are not stupid people. These are lazy people. Poor spelling, poor word use, lousy grammar are all indications of intellectual laziness.
I often ask them how they can expect people to respect their professionalism if they can't be bothered to check their own spelling, word use and grammar.
Tragically, that question is usually answered with a blank stare.
And they wonder how America got where we are today....
The earlier comment about reading is spot on. Kill your television. You'd be amazed at how it expands your world!
Posted Wed, Dec 24, 12:14 p.m. inappropriate
"Caesar Salad is one of the biggest culprits."
First, the salad is not a culprit at all. The person writing it might be.
Second, please enlighten me as to just what is wrong with "Caesar salad."
Posted Wed, Dec 24, 2:17 p.m. inappropriate
Zelicon: "Less Trees, More Plants. More Planet, Less Trees" - I asked both my hubby (63) and son (28), and they said it should be "fewer," and not "lesser."
bigyaz: As far as the Caesar Salad -- sorry, I should have spelled it incorrectly. I see it spelled [b]Ceasar Salad [/b] about half the time. And you're right, I mean you're dcorrect, the salad is not the culprit, the speller is!
Sue in Greenwich Village (a high of 50 degrees is expected on Xmas Day)
Posted Sat, Dec 27, 12:45 p.m. inappropriate
In homeschooling my children, I focus less on grammar and spelling than I do on more important matters. The greatest irritent about this article, for me, is the continued pillaring of Governor Palin. What is the bigger 'crime' in the article? Addressing spelling errors or suggesting that there is something wrong with that good, Christian woman who does not pronounce a g at the end of a word? I'd rather my children grow by and to that example than be some non-believing 'wordy nazi' like the writer of this article.
Knowing how to diagram a sentence won't get you into Heaven.
Knowing truly important Laws, however, will do that. Put down the dictinonery and pick up the King James, Mrs Fraus. Your life and lives of your readers will be all the best for it.
Posted Sat, Dec 27, 1 p.m. inappropriate
HolyBibleLover: Incorrectly spelling "dictionary" as "dictinonery" was a joke, right?
Posted Sat, Dec 27, 3:48 p.m. inappropriate
Good one, Olga. I'm on your side!
May HolyBibleLover's god -- should it exist -- assure us all that HBL's entry was written tongue-in-cheek...
Posted Sat, Dec 27, 7:23 p.m. inappropriate
Trevor and niudd (what great names! A gay one and an iliterate one!).
My God is YOUR God, and the sooner you serve Him and not your flesh-centered selves, the better off you and the rest of us will be. Why can't this site as well as others devote time and space to the Christian disciples who are more than glad to share the Word to you, not people like the author of this article who only wants to talk about words.
There is a very big difference.
Lots of people in Hell have perfect grammar and spelling.
ALL the people in Heaven learned what was truly important to master-----
the words and grammar in the Holy Bible.
Posted Sun, Dec 28, 1:41 p.m. inappropriate
Wow, I've never been referred to as a "wordy nazi" before. My bumper sticker collection is growing. I'm currently commentless about anything else you had to say HBL, as I wrote what I wrote and I stand by my words. By the way, I'm a Daughter of Norway who was raised a Catholic and can still recite the "Our Father" in Latin and say "Uff Da" with just the right accent. I'm sure that'll win me lots 'o points to get past those pearly gates. And with all my frequent flier miles, I'll be able to book it on Orbitz, I'm sure. Toodles to you and King James, m'lady.
PS: It's Frause with an 'e' on the end ... as in Frau Frause. It's Czech, not German.