Evie

And President Carter is another great linguist.

tessagin

I spoke with a client about selling his home. He had interviewed more than just one. His deciding factor was through a text message he sent to the different agents. He asked for a reply via text. He replied to mine and stated he was happy that just because the reply was to be in text, I didn't use text short hand. I actually texted the complete and accurately spelled words.

crafty pat

My DGD started kindergarten this year and my DD had her placed in one class where half the class spoke only English and half only Spanish. Being taught both in both languages is supposed to teach them to speak both languages. DD went to pick up DGD and wanted to see how she was doing and the poor teacher was about to pull her hair out. She told her most of the Mexican children didn't even speak good Spanish and over half of the American kids didn't speak good English. How sad not to start your children out speaking the right way from the start.

Stitchnripper

And, like, to complicate things, like, we have this, like, overused word!! I guess our ancestors probably complained about the same thing long before our time.

Onebyone

I didn't allow my kids to say ain't or say the days of the week by saying Mondee, Tuesdee, the ending is DAY. They may have answered with a 'naw' or 'yeah' one time to me. It's no or yes preferably with a mam or sir at the end. I got a tongue lashing by my sixth grade teacher in front of the whole class for saying wuz instead of was. I was humiliated but never forgot to pronounce my words carefully. I asked a classmate years later about the incident and she didn't even remember it and she sit next to me. LOL. It sure taught me a lesson. I think speaking words correctly is more important then how a word is spelled.

bearisgray

Sometimes I know how a word is spelled from reading it - but I do not know how it should be pronounced.

Geri B

..I am adamant about using correct grammar.....my daughters are adults, as are grandchildren....now working on greats.....same rules...no "ain't", hey, she/he - s/b mom, dad, Nannie, and the new one " dude"-- from 4 yr old ggs..to me--"hi dude!" He got an earful after that greeting....since then it's hi Nannie.....much of the bad grammar is picked up.once the children are in school--- from other students......an ongoing battle.....and of course..ever standing rule...no cussing in my house...and all abide by it.....

ladydukes

Remember when words had double L's in them, like CANCELLED, now it is CANCELED. Same for quite a few other words...

gramma nancy

I drive DH mad when I find all the grammatical errors in printed material -- not just newspapers, but commercial mailings, etc. Some of it may be finger-slip typos, but I think much is a complete ignorance of grammar and spelling. I have been known to stop reading a book that uses "alright" instead of "all right."

I am not perfect, but at least I put some effort into what I write (I freelance -- or free-lance(!))

waltonalice

I'm a retired English, Spanish, and French teacher, so I'm very familiar with the fact that languages change and evolve, with the most common words, especially the verbs, showing the most changes. I think that being able to cross from one language to another, whether it's English to French or standard to very colloquial, keeps the brain active. Youngduncan's remark about split infinitives reminds me that, in trying to avoid splitting an infinitive, one does almost mental gymnastics to reframe the sentence to make it not only grammatically correct, but also more free-flowing. That's what really concerns me about the current trends among teenagers: they spend so much time learning the "latest" way to speak and to write that they don't master the standard language. I have 5 grandsons, aged 3-16, and am constantly delighted when they use elevated words like "actually, nevertheless, complicated, interestingly, etc." at very young ages. It shows that their parents talk to them constantly, which is great for creating family bonds and just as fine for letting little minds absorb language.