Grammar Snob

Handwriting?  We don't teach handwriting anymore.  The kids have computers and writing really isn't that important, anyway.  Not now.  It's the electronic age. 
Spelling?  Spelling isn't important, really.  Every computer has a dictionary that underlines all words spelled incorrectly and gives the options of the correct spelling right at the users fingertips.  Memorizing spelling words are a thing of the past.  It's the electronic age.  

How about punctuation?  I see more and more people failing to use even ending punctuation.  What used to be a "run-on sentence" is now a full Boston Marathon sentence.  It makes my brain hurt.

How about using the proper tense of a word? There, they're, their..........very different meanings.  And it does matter!  Hear and here.  Do you hear me?  See and sea. See?  Spayed and spade.  Oh my, what a difference. :)

I admit it, I am a grammar snob.  With today's world, a whole lot of my reading is done online.  I belong to several online groups, and I hang out on Facebook with the rest of the world.  I often find myself skipping what some write (yes, even friends) when their postings are full of errors or lacking in punctuation.  My brain has a hard time deciphering what message is being conveyed when the poster seems to be "hukt on fonix."  My eyes yearn to find that needed period or question mark.  I feel let down when the exclamation point fails to show up. 

Even worse, I have seen a lot of people (especially young people) use a language I don't even recognize.  It centers around some sort of fascination with the letter Z that suddenly makes it fashionable to end as many words as possible with it.  Or should I say "wordz?"  Sometimes they speak in some sort of "gangsta" language that leaves me feeling like I need a hot shower and two Advil.  Gah.  Color me unimpressed.  I should be inspired by your ideas, not exhausted by decoding your writing.  Even great ideas lose validity if they have no grammatical structure. 

I admit it, I am a grammar snob.  I judge someones educational level by how well they write.  I question the level of intelligence the person has when they write poorly.  Perhaps that makes me judgemental.  Perhaps it makes me obtuse.  Perhaps it even makes me a bit of a dinosaur.  I find delight in reading from people who write well.  I enjoy fulling understanding what someone means and not questioning the context of their sentences.  I had to take a "handwriting" class when I was a child.  I had to pass spelling tests.  I had to study punctuation and diagram sentences and learn how to use a dictionary and thesaurus.  Maybe I am bitter that now machines do most of that for us.............and what isn't done by machines isn't valued much by society anyway. 

Spell Checker

I halve a spelling checker,
It came with my pea see.
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I dew knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait aweigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the era rite
Its rarely ever wrong.
I've scent this massage threw it,
And I'm shore your pleased too no
Its letter perfect in every weigh;
My checker tolled me sew.~Author Unknown

Yeah, I see what you mean now.........No need for our kids to learn "the dinosaur way" I was taught.