Grammar Geek Wednesday: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means Edition
Posted June 24, 2008
I've heard and seen some bad stuff since starting my teaching program. And I do not mean from the 11th graders I spend my mornings with. Not because it would be too easy to make fun of the grammar of high schoolers who mostly failed English last year. No, because it's what I've seen from the adults who are running my program that makes me even crazier.
(Although, honestly, the adults make me crazier in general. I'm always in a good mood when I leave my practice teaching with the 11th graders at noon. I am generally in a homicidal rage when I leave my teaching course with the adults at 3:30. Two and a half hours of group work with people who not only cannot draw a conclusion independently but fail to even read directions makes something in my head go *pop*.)
Anyway, some things I've seen and heard this week from folks running my teaching program:
- Where your nametags.
- I hope everyone found today to be resourceful.
- Thanks for your timeliness this week.
So, the first one is pretty simple. She meant "wear". Although "Where your nametags?" would be similarly disconcerting.
#2: Yes, that day was full of resources, but that is not what resourceful means. In case anyone here is similarly confused, resourceful is an adjective for someone who can find information, tools, and creative ways of solving problems.
And in the case of our third sentence, the word they actually wanted was not timeliness but punctuality. They appreciated us showing up on time, not at an opportune time.
And finally, this doesn't come from my program, but I did read something this week lamenting the death of the semicolon. I can't say I'm overly torn up about it. Back in the day, the semicolon started out as a glorified comma, eventually becoming a way to stick two entire sentences together. I've never fully understood the point. This could be because my sentences are so long to begin with that combining two of them seems downright irresponsible. Although it is a bit sad to see something with such a long and distinguished linguistic history relegated to being primarily used as the eyes in a sideways winky face.
As always, I welcome your own contributions to the grammar pet peeve bank that is this blog. Ready, set, geek!
Holly Rose says:
June 24, 2008 at 11:00 PM
I am afraid you will have to get used to it...I have language teachers who use fustrated (not frustrated) daily. It drives me crazy as well! Welcome to the wonderful world of teaching! We are glad to have you :)
Evan says:
June 25, 2008 at 12:35 AM
I can't stand it when people mix up "i.e." and "e.g." Drives me insane. I'm also annoyed by people who insist on ending sentences in prepositions (though this puts me in many people's "grammar nazi" category).
In any case... Three cheers for grammatical high-falutinism.
DogBlogger says:
June 25, 2008 at 07:21 AM
I'm glad you're out there watching these things for the rest of us. And preparing to teach another generation how very wrong they are.
I. Love. Semicolons. In the middle of my sophomore year, I was up late finishing a paper and my roommate came back from the library. I asked her to review a paragraph I'd just written, and when she finished reading, she looked up and said, "Amy, you have to let them go." I'd written three (six?) consecutive sentences with semicolons. It was hard, but I set at least two of them free.
Pearl says:
June 28, 2008 at 06:32 PM
I saw a mistake that was breathtaking in its beauty today. It was on the a UK Big Brother forum (which is not a place one goes for great literature, but even so...), and said 'Dennis broke an thunder mental rule when he spat in someone's face'. An thunder mental rule. Genius.
ally says:
July 02, 2008 at 01:28 AM
Like this post. I'm glad there are a few others out there who think about this sort of stuff.
Last week I corrected another teacher's writings, which were posted for our students (which makes it so much worse in my mind). Two of the mistakes were "brake" instead of "break" and "your" instead of "you're."
As long as I'm writing, the semi-colon will not die!