Grammar and Me
The post-millennial assault on the English language intensifies. The battle is no longer just about split infinitives, dangling participles, and Oxford commas. In recent years proper use of pronouns, subject-verb agreement, and correct article choice threatens to transform English into an unintelligible cacophony of gibberish. There was a time not too long ago when the following sentence would have been considered laughably ignorant, “Me and them went to an tractor pull.” Now sentences like this appear in news articles (real news sources), and a day rarely passes when I don’t hear these usages in common speech. Even my word processor’s grammar check only found one problem with that sentence (there are four problems).
I have been pondering this trend of linguistic devolution, trying to understand why and how it is happening. I could simply dismiss it as the “trumping” of America; the same ignorant rubes that voted for the 45th president are the same ones ruining the English language. I certainly would like to blame all sorts of ills on that “basket of deplorables,” but the problems go far beyond their limited mental capacities.
The most obvious source of trouble is with the crisis in our educational system. It is painfully obvious that even in schools with adequate funding children are not learning the basics of English. I am not sure why this is happening, though. Is it because K-12 curricula emphasize math and science over English and history? Is it because English is being taught differently? Is it standardized testing? Funding is always a problem in education, but even in poorly funded schools, it is possible to teach children the basics of grammatical construction.
Technology is certainly a factor. When children come of age reading and writing things like, “U R my <3” it is no surprise that they cannot construct an intelligible sentence. I understand that the struggle between technology and culture is constant. Culture demands new and innovative technology, while technology changes culture in ways that are irreversible. Still, there is a social imperative that we resist those trends that threaten to undermine the foundations of our society.
I am not suggesting a reactionary grammar Gestapo, but I am suggesting that credible news organizations should hire journalists that can read and write English correctly. Educational systems should reevaluate their priorities. Just fifteen minutes less computer time and fifteen minutes more in grammar and composition could make a significant impact. Most importantly, parents should teach their children to speak proper English. My Mother vigilantly guarded my speech patterns, correcting me whenever I strayed. For that and much more I am forever grateful.
There is another aspect of the grammar wars that is even more troubling. It is the fact that many of those assaulting grammar are the same ones embracing a dangerous ideology. I am not sure if it has a name, but I will call it “singularity.” It is not quite the same thing as fascism or Nazism. It is an offshoot of American individuality and the Horatio Alger myth, a perversion of Ayn Rand’s objectivism. Consider the message conveyed in the sentence, “Me and him went to a movie.” The first problem is the case issue, using objective pronouns in place of subjective pronouns. The second problem is word order. The sentence should read, “He and I went to a movie.” I remember my parents and grandparents teaching me that a construction like “me and him” was an expression of selfishness.
When people use aberrant constructions, like the examples used so far in this blog, they are sending a direct message. It is a statement to the world that they are singular individuals with their own rules. They do not care about rules of grammar. They do not care about social or cultural institutions or norms. It is a form of sociopathy. They are, in effect, anarchists and if they are left unchecked, they will destroy much more than the English language.
https://www.bluewatertales.com
I have been pondering this trend of linguistic devolution, trying to understand why and how it is happening. I could simply dismiss it as the “trumping” of America; the same ignorant rubes that voted for the 45th president are the same ones ruining the English language. I certainly would like to blame all sorts of ills on that “basket of deplorables,” but the problems go far beyond their limited mental capacities.
The most obvious source of trouble is with the crisis in our educational system. It is painfully obvious that even in schools with adequate funding children are not learning the basics of English. I am not sure why this is happening, though. Is it because K-12 curricula emphasize math and science over English and history? Is it because English is being taught differently? Is it standardized testing? Funding is always a problem in education, but even in poorly funded schools, it is possible to teach children the basics of grammatical construction.
Technology is certainly a factor. When children come of age reading and writing things like, “U R my <3” it is no surprise that they cannot construct an intelligible sentence. I understand that the struggle between technology and culture is constant. Culture demands new and innovative technology, while technology changes culture in ways that are irreversible. Still, there is a social imperative that we resist those trends that threaten to undermine the foundations of our society.
I am not suggesting a reactionary grammar Gestapo, but I am suggesting that credible news organizations should hire journalists that can read and write English correctly. Educational systems should reevaluate their priorities. Just fifteen minutes less computer time and fifteen minutes more in grammar and composition could make a significant impact. Most importantly, parents should teach their children to speak proper English. My Mother vigilantly guarded my speech patterns, correcting me whenever I strayed. For that and much more I am forever grateful.
There is another aspect of the grammar wars that is even more troubling. It is the fact that many of those assaulting grammar are the same ones embracing a dangerous ideology. I am not sure if it has a name, but I will call it “singularity.” It is not quite the same thing as fascism or Nazism. It is an offshoot of American individuality and the Horatio Alger myth, a perversion of Ayn Rand’s objectivism. Consider the message conveyed in the sentence, “Me and him went to a movie.” The first problem is the case issue, using objective pronouns in place of subjective pronouns. The second problem is word order. The sentence should read, “He and I went to a movie.” I remember my parents and grandparents teaching me that a construction like “me and him” was an expression of selfishness.
When people use aberrant constructions, like the examples used so far in this blog, they are sending a direct message. It is a statement to the world that they are singular individuals with their own rules. They do not care about rules of grammar. They do not care about social or cultural institutions or norms. It is a form of sociopathy. They are, in effect, anarchists and if they are left unchecked, they will destroy much more than the English language.
https://www.bluewatertales.com
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