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Pedaling Peddlers
self | January 12, 2013 | Revolting cat!

Posted on 01/12/2013 4:59:43 PM PST by Revolting cat!

If you happen to care about grammar and spelling, then in these post-literate times you can expect to be considered a pedant by the semi-literate, and a "grammar nazi" by the illiterate. My blood pressure rises when I see misuses of the apostrophe, pluralization with an apostrophe, "impact" as a verb, "pro-active" in all its uses, "there is a lot" and "there is many", "He would have if he would have", among other errors familiar to the readers among whom I don't expect to see makers of such errors. Still, I realize that the battle has been lost now. Here and elsewhere. Pidglish rules, and only foreigners speak proper English. I've known semi-literate CEOs who had graduated from Stanford.

A teacher told me once that people who make common grammatical and spelling mistakes tend to be non-readers, simply because we first learn to write by, gasp, reading. Do I want to read opinions of non-readers?

I have trouble with commas, commaizing too often or too little (hey, I can verbize as well as anybody!), but I was happy to read recently that my favorite author and conservative Mark Hel prin himself engages in battles with the editor of his books over commas.

I was less happy the other day reading the fifth or sixth novel of my new favorite author, recommended to me last year by the WSJ's mystery editor Tom Nolan, who (the author) writes literary mysteries, and has written over two dozen of them, while still remaining pretty much in the shadows, as my visits to the bookshelves of local Goodwill stores confirm where the Lee Childs rule. I hear he's more popular in Europe, even in translation, and at least one of the reader reviews on Amazon complains about his writing being too literary (!) (You guess his name!) By the way, is Cormac McCarthy's blood and gore "literary"? I'm asking because I haven't read him and refuse to watch the blood and gore movies made from his novels.

But I digress. In the mystery I am reading, in three places (so far) my new favorite published author uses the verb "to peddle" when he clearly means "to pedal", as he describes a boy riding a bicycle. What the heck? I've seen this error here more than once, just as I see daily "boarder" for "border" and "your" for "you're", among other beauties of our post-literacy, but a published author, edited by a professional editor?

Should I then write the man a hate mail?


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Education; Society; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: grammar; literacy; postliteracy; spelling
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To: Dr. Pritchett

As to that quote, I only wish I had thought of it, but not I wish only I had thought of it.....


21 posted on 01/12/2013 9:14:05 PM PST by Intolerant in NJ
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To: Revolting cat!

That’s quite concerning to me.....


22 posted on 01/12/2013 9:15:33 PM PST by Intolerant in NJ
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To: Intolerant in NJ

I once knew a temporarily one eyed piano bar pianist who sang it “I only have an eye for you”.


23 posted on 01/12/2013 9:19:51 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: proxy_user

What baits my breath? For certs, I use Chlorettes; lures them in every time!


24 posted on 01/13/2013 12:26:32 AM PST by ApplegateRanch (Love me, love my guns!©)
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To: Dr. Pritchett
Sorry, I couldn't resist the opportunity to practice my HTML...

Photobucket

25 posted on 01/13/2013 9:38:48 AM PST by Dr. Pritchett
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To: Revolting cat!

Your premise that your favorite author’s book was edited by a professional editor is probably wrong. To reduce costs most of the publishing companies have cut out “line editing” positions, relying on the author’s use of spell check in their submissions to do the job. NOT!

But you are correct in the basic argument that we have become a society that no longer teaches or enforces “standard English.”

As a college teacher of writing, I have seen at first hand the downward spiral of literacy in writing skills.

But I knew that war was lost when I read a Houston Chronicle editorial about “loosing” the Iraq war.


26 posted on 01/13/2013 9:43:04 AM PST by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk only to me.)
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To: wildbill

This morning I received another spam, allegedly from a “Lydia”, starting with “Hi handsome! ;)”, signed “With kisses” by “Payton” and titled “Alexandra thinks your sexy”!


27 posted on 01/13/2013 12:55:34 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: Revolting cat!

I presume you know that by opening that obvious scam spam you may have opened your computer to a virus?


28 posted on 01/13/2013 6:42:19 PM PST by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk only to me.)
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To: wildbill

Opening an e-mail message does not subject one to a virus, but clicking on a link or especially an attachment can.


29 posted on 01/13/2013 6:44:26 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: Revolting cat!

Funny - a musician and a humorist too.....


30 posted on 01/13/2013 9:00:32 PM PST by Intolerant in NJ
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To: Intolerant in NJ

Jewish, whadya expect. Better humorist than pianist.


31 posted on 01/13/2013 9:03:50 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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