- The 2008 presidential election is one week away.
- The U.S. economy is in the tank, and it appears that the economic infrastructures of the European Union and several other countries around the globe are following suit.
- Osama Bin Laden is still at large. So is George Bush.
- I could go on, but my antidepressants aren't strong enough to handle the potential repercussions.
So why am I taking this opportunity to carp about grammar? Primarily, because I've been carping about Americans' propensity to mutilate the English language for years to a very narrow circle of people, and I just realized that a blog would allow me to spread my carp farther and wider.
In addition, I am a home improvement show junkie. And, damn! There's something about the linguistic feces that TV hosts (who, incidentially, who get paid to speak) toss about so freely that makes me want to snip out their tongues with old pruning shears. Venting on a blog, however, is more socially acceptable and doesn't carry criminal penalties, yet it's almost as satisfying. So I've opted for the safer route.
Now, before going any farther, I should give you a disclaimer or two. First, my rantings will likely not be limited to poor grammar, but will also include bad vocabulary, the practice I call "verbing nouns," jargon, and other verbal faux pas.
Second, I suppose, given that grammar is a small portion of these verbal faux pas that make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, the name of this blog should be the first target of my ire. Rather than "grammar," the word I really want encompasses much more. In my defense, though, I didn't change the name of the blog because I am a techno-idiot and don't know how to do it.
Third, I am quite sure that readers (There will be readers, won't there? Please?!) will have many occasions to criticize the critic by pointing out my own lapse in syntax, misspelling, and even grammar. I am not verbally perfect. I've gotten over it; so should you.
So, stay tuned. Have fun. Write about your own verbal bugaboos.
Talk to you soon!
