Guilty Grammarians

Many of the English teachers we had would be horrified by the butchering of the grammar they taught us. It is not only the students who make the mistakes, but teachers are also at fault. I am appalled by what I see some teachers — especially those specializing in English — put on the blackboard, whiteboard, or computer screen. Very few teachers actually worry about correct grammar. They want to teach literature, and that is fine. The students should still be taught to write correctly. Verb-subject agreement is foreign to students. Pronoun usage is horrible. When should you, him, her, who, or whom be used is confusing to many people. The rule is to finish the thought, and you can decide which correct. For example, when you finished talking, “he left” not “him left.” To “whom” did you talk? Not to “him” did you talk. The strangest I expression I have read or heard lately is the use of the word “myself.” “Send the message to me” not to “myself.” What have something sent to yourself? Proofreading is another thing gone wrong. You see misspelled words on signs. I know some are attention getting, but most are out of ignorance. We were also told never to end a sentence with a preposition. How can you recognize a preposition? Think of anything you can do to a tree. You can go around, up, through, across, near, and so forth (I hate the term “etc.”). None of this has anything to do with the new “woke” language. It will be a tragic nightmare and very confusing. But that is something with which I shall not deal. I was sent an email about proofreading being a dying art. Here are some examples of new headliners: “Man kills self before shooting wife and daughter” “Something went wrong in jet crash, expert says” “Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers” “Miners refuse to work after death” “War dims hope for peace” “Cold wave linked to temperatures” “Red tape holds up new bridges” “Astronaut takes blame for gas in spacecraft” “Local high school dropouts cut in half ” And the winner: “ Ty pho on ri p s through cemetery; hundreds dead” Thanks for staying with me.