March 4 Is National Grammar Day!

Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, writers and communicators of all persuasions, today is your day. National Grammar Day, designated March 4, 2008, by the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar and MSN Encarta, is all about promoting good grammar. And since we are professional communicators, you know, since we’re writers and all, we should be very concerned with this particular observance.

Today, keep an eye on your grammar. We’ve gotten lax here in the US, saying…

…”Who are you calling?” instead of “Whom are you calling?”

…”It’s me” instead of “It is I”

…”I wish I would have known” instead of “I wish I had known”

…”like” instead of “such as”

…”Who you talking to?” instead of “To whom are you speaking?”

…”irregardless” instead of “regardless”

We write…

…”its” when we mean “it’s”

…”they’re” when we mean “their”

…”Oreo’s” when we mean “Oreos”

…”they” when we mean “he or she”

…”which” when we mean “that”

Misplaced modifiers, comma splices, and dangling participles abound, and don’t get me started on people who start sentences with conjunctions (ahem, ahem). It’s a scary world, grammatically speaking.

Now, let’s be honest: Some of this stuff is just the way people talk. The next time you call your best friend, are you really going to say, “It is I?” Probably not. But there’s no excuse for saying, “I got concert tickets for you and I.”

What’s your favorite grammar pet peeve? I have too many to list, but suffice it to say that “irregardless” and “if I would have…” are in the top five.

For more grammar tips and annoyances, and to laugh at the ignorant, check out these language-related blogs:

Tags: freelance writing, freelance writing blog, national grammar day, society for the promotion of good grammar, grammar tips, grammar errors, grammar mistakes, grammar goofs, bad writing, grammar humor, common grammar errors, holidays for writers, inkthinker, kristen king

Comments on this entry are closed.

Susan J. Mar 4, 2008 Link

My grammatical pet peeve is “where you at?” Ugh… makes my skin crawl, because it sounds so trashy!!

Susan J.’s last blog post..Top Search Terms for the Urban Muse
Cory Mar 4, 2008 Link

Yay! A day for people like me!

Mine is “try and”; e.g., “I’m going to try and accomplish something today.” Yeah? Why don’t you try *to* improve your grammar?

Thanks for posting this!
Kristen King Mar 5, 2008 Link

Susan, I’m from Jersey and I hear it CONSTANTLY. I also hear groups of Bambi’s relatives as “deers.” Shudder.

Cory, that makes me batty. So does “the reason is because.”