Feb 7, 2009
Even the most proper talkers make the mistakes against which they think they are.
Formal syntax can’t hold the fort forever against a speaker’s more comfortable way of getting the same thing said—and it shouldn’t.
On Writing Well, 41
(Thanks, Tyler, for the quote.)
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Good thought. Syntax should be blended with the soul and personality of a speaker. Syntax alone should never define a person’s message.
(Coincidently, -I’m new to the blog. I said hello at the DG Pastor’s Conference…I’m the guy whose wife enjoys your wife’s blog.)
Thanks for coming by!
whoa, it just took me a long time to figure out the title of this blog post. I kept thinking you left off a few words.
Didn’t Winston Churchill once say something along the lines of “That is the sort of grammar up with which I will not put.” (Only better, and wittier.)
I had to do some transcribing work a while ago for some really gifted speakers. I quickly discovered that nobody speaks properly — not a single soul.
My grammar OCD dropped a healthy notch or two in response. I’m grateful.
On Writing Well is an awesome book. But Zinzer would never have written (or spoken) a sentence like that!
I may have spelled his name wrong – I was too lazy to get up and look. Sorry.
What is your thing against grammar?
Did you have a mean English teacher or something?
PS And the odd thing is that you seem to be brilliant with language!
Along those lines, today’s installment of One Big Happy:
http://www.creators.com/comics/one-big-happy/29800.html