Oh, I know. I just like to keep my grammar correction verbal up to speed. Not too ‘Sister Hyacinth’, but instructive.
t’s a fight I have around the house and beyond. I teach ninth graders.
I tell them I’d love to know what you are saying but I just cannot follow with all the inappropriately placed ‘hims’ and ‘theys’, expecting the listener to do all the work, but the listener is just not that invested, then resentful at time wasted.
Grammar cops always are hated, yet, I’m truly just trying to follow the story.
Some people don’t understand the importance of making the readers’ job easier. They fail to grasp there is a certain level of salesmanship in the craft of writing, one needs to beckon the reader, not just transport thoughts from one mind to another.
Making understanding a chore is anathema to that principle. I’ve seen plenty of people come to FR (and go) who seemed to think the language isn’t important. We had a guy once who was proud of his refusal to use capitalization, and insisted any problems in understanding were our fault, not his, and we should sharpen up a bit. The ee cummings wannabe lasted about a week before he was kicked to the curb.