There are those who might think it is well past time for a day to celebrate good grammar. Many may think the internet killed it. And in some ways maybe it did.
I will say that I may have played a small part as well. For instance, I tend to write as I speak. That does not always lend itself to proper grammar. But I try to get some of the basics correct.
We’ve probably all cringed at bit at some of the things we see online. Improper use of words like to, too, or two. Maybe even their, they’re, and there. And we can all get confused by the British “u”, used in English spellings, but dropped from many American versions of words. It gets confusing.
My grandmother was a teacher. She would occasionally correct letter I wrote her and send them back. Not to be mean. Just to try to instill proper grammar usage. It didn’t really work, but I commend her for trying. And it did at least get me thinking about it.
I am also of an age when the occasional teacher in school would actually physically rap your knuckles if you used improper grammar or spelled something wrong. I know it may seem cruel today, but when I spell something wrong I still get a little sharp pain across the back of my hand, so again, it worked.
But we live in an age when our fingers tend to move faster than our brains, particularly on a computer keyboard. That can lead to many things, but bad grammar is certainly amoung them.
Today, however, is the day. It’s National Grammar Day, and although it started in the United States, it is also being marked in Canada. So correct those spellings. Tell people the difference amoung to, too and two. (I believe amoung would be proper there. I was always told between is used for two things and amoung for more than two, but that’s a rule that seems to be getting lost.) Today is even the day to berate those for not properly using the Oxford comma. Although, honestly, I had to look up what it was.
If bad grammar bothers you, let the rest of us know. Today is the day. And we need to learn somehow.
