LEGENDS AND LORE: How Necessary is Grammar?

LEGENDS AND LORE: How Necessary is Grammar?

I have went away for a while getting my Master’s, but now I am finished with it and have time to get back to writing.  While I was away, I done alot of homework and than I remodeled the kitchen.

Ok. Ok. I can’t take it anymore. I must stop this disgustingly obvious bad grammar. I would bet that many of us did not even notice all the mistakes. Just to clarify, when using the helping verb has/had/have it often changes verbs to their irregular forms if they have one. I should have said, “have gone.” Done alot should be “have done a lot.”  A lot is actually two words, though most people believe it is one. Lastly, then vs. than—I see many of my friends and colleagues misuse these two little gems. Simply put, then has an element of time. The user is implying a future action. Than shows a comparison. There you go. Now  you can better outsmart your personal writing software. (grammargirl.com)

                What does all this matter? To the dismay of many of my English teaching comrades across the country who so enjoy raising their eyebrows and smirking while pointing out, “Ahem, you shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition;’ or,’Only you know if you ‘can’ do something. However, if you are asking me for permission, you must use the word ‘may."  it truthfully doesn’t matter that much. What’s important in language is comprehending the message. Understanding what is said and the meaning of what is said are what matters most. However, I admit that it is good to know proper grammar rules when writing, but even that knowledge must be taken with a grain of salt. Most formal writing is written on Microsoft Word or other writing software. Thus, autocorrect plays a significant role in helping to identify the more obvious grammatical errors. Frankly, anyone with a good writing software program can don the appearance of a decent writer.

The English language is dynamic and always changing (redundant—did you catch it?). Our language is saturated with colloquialisms, dialects, borrowed words, and figurative expressions to the point that grammar rules fall in and out of practice continually. Lately, mostly due to text messaging, acronyms have even crept into our language as actual words. The “word nerd” in me always chuckles when I read AWOL or sna*u in national newspapers; look this one up on your own and you too can smirk when you read it in the papers or hear it on a mentioned in the pulpit.

Where you are, the grammar, and the language/dialect used has little bearing on what you understand and comprehend of the language. I was once in an Indianapolis mall when a young lady asked me, “What time it isms?” I didn’t search for an interpreter, or ask her to use proper grammar so I could help her. I just replied, “7 O’clock.” Usually, the context of the conversation alone helps the converser understand the foreign phrase and conversation. I enjoy watching Swamp People. The dialect and the Creole English are fascinating to me. They switch their subjects and verbs, end sentences with prepositions, and often use the wrong tense. But, I don’t care. I love it, and I completely understand their meaning.

If you too are a bit of a “word nerd” take some time to check out “America’s Secret Slang” on H2, a sub channel of The History Channel.  Very informative, it helps explain where many of our figurative expressions come from—I ended with a preposition; is the meaning of the article now lost?