Thursday, February 21, 2008

I am a grammar nerd

Two grammar stories are circulating out there, and since I am a serious grammar enthusiast, I feel obligated to share them.

The first one, from the New York Times, is outstanding. It's about the decline of the semicolon in American usage. I happen to love the semicolon, and use it liberally [as liberally as proper grammar will allow, perhaps even more so].

The second one is not as good, probably because it's from CNN, but it still has some grammatical relevance. It's about computers and grammar, particularly apostrophes and how they make computers go bonkers because of poor programming. I post it because it points to declining use of proper grammar in the technological age, shown here in how programmers failed to take account of grammatical constructions in last names when creating online forms in which one enters a last name.

No comments: