I have a naughty little guilty pleasure. It's called Yahoo Answers. People post a variety of questions and hope to get appropriate responses. The site is overrun by trolls, haters, and idiots but occasionally someone asks a genuine question and I get an opportunity to share the knowledge I have. I spend most of my time answering questions about what I know the most about: Literature, History, Games, Food, Cats and any other question that strikes my fancy. It's a fun way to spend an hour or so while I wait for something better go come along. Of course, there is a down side. I'm not talking about the trolls (you know, the ones who ask a question JUST to start a frenzy) or the haters (there's a whole societal structure of bickering and fighting that a pyschologist could write a book on!) -- I'm talking about the complete lack of respect for spelling and grammar.
These two soul sisters were imprinted on me from an early age. Hounded by Miss M, Mr. F, and Mrs B who gave spelling tests every week, prodded by Mrs. G and Mr. R about where the verb goes and how to form a complete sentence, I learned (embraced!) a love of the English language. I learned not just to write it well, I learned to speak it when Mr. N, a quirky high school teacher took points off our daily "participation" points if anyone in the class used the word "like" incorrectly (like, ya know?) Even then, a decade and more ago, the record was held by a girl who said it a whopping 50 times in a half hour class period. That record has probably been broken. Many times.
Do people not try any more? Do people not proofread any more? Have they stopped teaching the difference between "affect" and "effect"? Did anyone else learn the nuances of "since" versus "because"? How about just the difference between "then" and "than"? When did "cuz" become acceptable? Why do people use text speak in regular writing? Is using ten exclamation points any more exciting than just one?
I've decided to join the revolt.
When I partake of my guilty pleasure, I can't help myself. I've started my answers by re-typing the asker's question so its grammatically correct. I fix the spelling errors. (All except for "aight", which I'm not sure how to spell anyway. It's not really a word. I think it might be "a'ight" since its a conjunction of all and right but I could be wrong.) I remove the text-talk. Then, and only then, do I feel comfortable answering the question.
They call people like me "Grammar Nazis". I dislike the comparison. I like " Proper Language Enforcement Agent". I'm proud to say there are many PLEA Agents around. They are my kindred spirits of late. I think if we work together we can end the grammar and spelling apocalypse.
Now...on to the trolls....
