Grammar and Spelling Mistakes Bother Me

I hate to admit it, but I am a grammar and spelling snob. When I see a post on someone’s blog and read, “Its just what you would expect.”, I feel my eyes start to roll. It’s “it’s”, for heavens sake. I know I slip up from time to time, but did you really, “rain in your spending then take a look at the finances and decided that it was time to make a budget.”? I really read that on a blog!

Is good grammar that important when spell check is so quick and accurate? The answer is yes. Of course, it is just my opinion, but I believe good grammar and correct spelling are indications of a well-developed mind. People who spell well and make few grammatical errors have usually read extensively. I was recently discussing with a friend the lack of well-written American television shows. We both believe that good writers are great readers, and great readers are in short supply these days. You know what that means — no good television; well, not much.

I recently saw an advertisement for a pair of Apple Bottoms jeans I have been wanting for a long time. Below a banner proclaiming, “Sale Apple Bottoms”, two models wearing my favorite jeans sat dangling their feet over the side of a small sailboat. I raced to the store, ad in hand. Plastered on the door at the front door entry was an apology for the misspelling in the flyer; the ad was supposed to read “sail” not “sale”.

I do enjoy a messed-up modifier or a dangling participle; now that is bad grammar I love. Sentences like, “The child was about 4, with ruby-red cheeks weighing about 35 pounds.” Those are the kinds of sentences that cheer me up and make my day.