Apr 4, 2013 / Beginner

Being the Grammar Police

For nearly two years, I’ve written posts about grammar and usage, so clearly it’s a topic that I think is important. Equally important, I think, is knowing when it’s appropriate to insist on proper grammar and how to go about it.

You hear of cases now and then in which people go into public and make a big show of correcting grammatical problems on signage. Take for example this instance that resulted in probation for two men who fixed the grammar on a sign at Grand Canyon National Park. The men in fact went on a nationwide crusade to fix public typos, as documented in an NPR story and a book.

If you search the web for “Facebook grammar,” you’ll find a number of lists of posts in which people have used the language incorrectly and been corrected in the comments. The corrections are often delivered with a distinct air of superiority to or disdain for the author of the incorrect post, and the sites listing them tend to do so for the sake of humor.

I don’t think either of these types of corrections turn out to be very useful. Or, while they may result in the correction of grammar, they also tend to be self-serving. They call attention to the people making the corrections rather than to the reasons it might be beneficial to use the language more carefully, and I think they’re usually petty and toxic rather than relevant and helpful. There is almost always a subtext of “I am smarter than whoever made this mistake” — a subtext that is essentially trollish.

This is not to say that raising awareness about using the language carefully isn’t valuable. I do think that putting care into how we write and speak helps us to formulate our thoughts more clearly and shows respect for our readers and our subject matter. I think that if more people used such care, the world would be in some ways a better place. And I think that helping those who’re interested in understanding the rules of grammar and the finer points of usage is a good thing to do. But I also think that trolling people by pointing out mistakes that were clearly only typos or mistakes that, in their context, are minor or forgivable (a quick Facebook status requires less rigor than a persuasive letter) doesn’t help a thing and in fact may do more harm than good.

After a year of writing a post a week about grammar and usage, I tapered off to a post a month both because I was running out of ideas and because we added a bunch of new regular features to The Daily Post. Although grammar’s never far from my mind, I’m retiring the column — internally they’re calling me the grammarian emeritus, and I eagerly await my mortarboard and robes — and will be writing for a while instead about writing I like (and why).

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  1. Spelling errors bother me too…my biggest peeve YOUR and YOU’RE…not the same thing.
    Without looking them up I believe YOUR shows possession and you’re/you are is a state of being! The guys that went on the typo crusade certainly had/have guts…apparently they asked about “fixing” a lot of the signs why not the one in the park?

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  2. Dear Daryl,
    Thank you for the great tips and insights you shared on this column. I always stopped by to read your posts and loved your wry sense of humor. I hope you’d check in, from time to time, to share your writings with us. Wishing you great success in all you do! 🙂
    Eliz

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      2. I think we always make an error I am finding the more we write the more practice we get I know obvious YES.

        my biggest pain in the butt is my shifting mouse pointer on my laptop I will find a way for it to behave yet I spent most of the this morning trying to find out. mostly I found I am not the only one.
        But OHIASIA Don’t you think as much Grammar advice as much is best thanks Daryl keep it coming

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  3. I’ve enjoyed the clarity of your posts and have read them for pleasure! As an ex English teacher, I am happy that you have pointed out things to people that make their words maen what they want them to mean!
    I’ll be following your new posts too.
    All the best 🙂

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  4. Yes! It is good to correct freinds if there is an error in his/her grammer, but sometimes i may feel shy to do so for stoney minded freindz.

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  5. Yes! It is good to correct freinds if there is an error in his/her grammer, but sometimes, i may feel shy to do so for stoney minded freindz.

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  6. I do have a touch of dyslexia and do appreciate a private text or message of a grammar error as I can read a blog for days and not see an error. This allows me to have a correction that I would miss. I love to blog as it is helping me overcome my fear of writing due to the dyslexia. Thank you for sharing this.

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  7. I think some of the errors/typos, if the posts were sent from a phone, are the result of the auto correct feature. I’ve had instances where I’ve typed a message/status/whatever and it looked like I wanted it to look but after I hit send, it “corrects” it. (correct is said with all the scariness of the pre-Jack Torrance caretaker character in The Shining. Of course, since I am a writer, I always correct the correction but it’s frequently too late!

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  8. I also wonder at times whether being a slave to proper usage squashes creativity? I often intentionally use words in non-traditional ways, or use “&” instead of “and.” Or write incomplete sentences. Or not use commas. Or use commas more as breath marks, if you will. And so on…

    When it comes to creative writing, I think pushing the barriers of proper usage to an extent can expand the expressive power of language.

    There is a time and a place for proper usage. Like…manuals and the like.

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    1. There is no escaping the long reaches of the law. In this case the law of the land is Senor Grammar. Good to great grammar isn’t a bad thing, eh?

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  9. I’ve learned to overlook the grammatical and spelling errors I read on the social platforms, networks, tickers on the tv screen, sometimes even the newscasts. There’s a brief flash of irksomeness and my brain wants to make the corrections, but I let it go. Can’t do anything about it, anyway. I do make it a point to let my boys know what is wrong and needs to be corrected. That, I can do something about, and hopefully correct grammar and spelling will stay with them through their life. Thanks and happy retirement.

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  10. I wonder what jail those two would end up in if they traveled outside of the US in, let say an African country where English was not the first language spoken? My wife and I still laugh about it still when we saw several years ago a white billboard with large black letters at the entrance to a shopping mall construction site announcing: LARGE ERECTION COMING”

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  11. As someone who does not consider themselves very adept at grammar usage, I appreciate being corrected as a means of encouraging my continued writing. I think the two have a natural link but the social internet has focused on the more aggressive behavior. Pieces like this are important. I like the practice mentioned earlier of sending the writer an email or tweet. My opinion is that if one can’t do that in a cordial way then that person should think about their motivation for writing a correction in the comments.

    Personally, I try to make sure I write my posts, tweets and status updates offline in a text editor as a first line of defense. I’m fortunate to have a partner who writes and teaches so, when she has time, I’ll forward a larger piece to her to look over. I give it another read and post. If I get corrected after all that in a cordial way, again, I appreciate it as I’ve likely learned something.

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  13. Grammar is so important, and it’s kind of frightening the level that it’s dropped off to today. Granted, I’ve edited and written for a number of years, but a grammar error really jumps out at me and disrupts me from what I’m reading. I agree with you that it doesn’t help to publicly point out a mistake though, as painting people in a bad light in front of others is only self-serving. I do try to notify people privately, because I would appreciate it if the situation was reversed.

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  14. I will never be able to correctly use contemporary grammar. The rules of grammar have changed in my life time. What makes matters worse; most of my source material is written in an unknown tongue, King James Version Bible English. My computer likes the KJ5 Version of English. The software I have speaks it quite well. Does that convince you that the KJ5 is true yet?

    I guess my computer likes the N4 Version as well. I just don’t know what I am in for with the N4 version. Is this a warning label? Uh Oh, I am beginning to sound like the grammar police.

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  15. I went back to school to get my masters degree in nursing. The online program of the university required many essays written following the American Psychological Association (APA) style of writing. I learned in many ways, the grammatical world has changed. Without spell check, and frequent rewrites, I would have been a washout in the program.
    When I read, I look at the material I am viewing. If it is a peer reviewed nursing journal, I expect the publication to be factual, grammatically correct, and pertinent to the topic. If I am reading a serious article in an publication, I expect to see a well thought out article without the distractions of multiple glaring mistakes. When I read for entertainment, I do not go looking for mistakes unless the mistake creates a roadblock to the storyline. Finally, when I read posts, I look for intent. I am simply happy someone took a momen to include me in their moment.
    We are all fallible and make mistakes. Most of the time, my fingers run far behind my thoughts.
    I am grateful for the above postings. I feel each of the comments have taught me a littlt more.

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  16. Uh, good post. It reminded me about two things that piss me off. I generally don’t care much about grammar. However, there are few things that drive me nuts. Number one is when people say “codes” when referring to program code. The second one is not knowing the difference between “you’re” and “your”. Other than that, we’re OK.

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  18. Sometimes grammatical errors are not intentional and doesn’t mean the blogger doesn’t know his/her grammar. For me, grammar is important but doesn’t mean that I’ve never made a mistake. I use my WordPress app to blog and sometimes it’s because I’m typing on a small screen and sometimes it’s auto correct. I agree we should proof read prior to publishing but again, doesn’t mean that we’ll catch every mistake. Another point to consider is that people from all over the world use WordPress. I came across a blog by someone in Indonesia and while the posts are in English, there are numerous grammatical errors. English, after all, is not the blogger’s first language. So I think we need to be mindful and respectful of those bloggers who live outside of North America. And also be mindful of Canadian bloggers like myself, who have different ways of spelling certain words, example “colour” vs. “color”.

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  19. Help me if you can I’m feeling the power of properly used nouns, but my grammar skills and typos constantly get me down, won’t you help me get my writing off the ground? Won’t you please, please help me…(Sing to the tune of :”Help” by The Beatles)

    I find so many mistakes in my writing, even after re-editing numerous times, that a nice person correcting me would not be unwelcome, but most people don’t for fear of offending.

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  20. Thank you for the much needed reminder that I (and everyone else) should be utilizing proper grammar – verbal and written. This is what we were taught in school and something we should never take for granted (or take short cuts on). Despite my laughter, which drew some funny stares from patrons at Starbucks, I had to remind myself that not too long ago I was the person correcting family & friends grammar, but I stopped doing so because I was annoying them. I will resume correcting bad grammar when I see/hear it because it’s who I am and I care about my family & friends.

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  21. Grammer, spelling, linguistics, all of primary import to me but let’s face it, everyone occasionally &%#@%^#$ – makes a mistake. I know the import of a second visit !

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  24. I like to be corrected on grammer (hehe) grammar but some have forgotten there grammar due to sms bb in other words cell typing also some have as you say a mouse that likes to slip on there laptops. I will hold my hands up to both and I do like to be corrected as its been a long time from school. But please don’t point out in my twitter or fbuk thank you

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  25. Just yesterday, I saw an email from 1999 where I’d written “every day” as one word – a huge irritant of mine. (For the most part, I suffer in silence.) Needless to say, I was appalled.

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  26. I’m sure I’m guilty of a few errors on my blog but the object of my post is the story. It’s hard to correct yourself or see it before it posts. Fortunately, I have forgiving fans!

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  27. Reblogged this on Personal Geographic and commented:
    I used to notice every little grammar or spelling lapse I read in my environment and online. I’ve done my share of correcting friends and family members, and have been corrected, too. I realize not everyone is a native English speaker, so I’ve become more relaxed about these things. I try to see if the content is interesting, and just focus on that. My particular peeve is text-speak, which is only appropriate on sms and not elsewhere. But somehow I feel that people should care about finding out whether if they’ve been expressing themselves correctly.

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