20th March 2008, 02:13 PM
Posted by M300572:
I don't care two hoots about formal rules of grammar as such, but I do believe that it is simply good manners to make an effort to ensure that whatever you write is clear and easy to read. That means that, whether your writing is formally correct or not, you do have to actually think about the grammar.
It might be applied differently, but this principle of good manners applies just as much in formal and informal writing, so I use it whether I am texting, writing an e-mail or writing a client report.
I will now get off my high horse, which is insufficiently pedantic for me, in order to froth at the mouth and fall over backwards.
Colonel 1man1desk (Mrs), aka Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.
Quote:quote:The comment however does rather lose sight of the fact that English (along with probably every other language ever spoken/written/typed/drawn on cave walls/impressed into clay tablets is not an unchangeable entity and the rules of grammar and spelling change over time and usageThat is very true and valid. However, there is a big difference between adopting (or even inventing) new usages, spellings and grammar where they aid clear expression, and 'bad grammar' or wrong spelling as such, which obscures meaning and makes life difficult for the reader.
I don't care two hoots about formal rules of grammar as such, but I do believe that it is simply good manners to make an effort to ensure that whatever you write is clear and easy to read. That means that, whether your writing is formally correct or not, you do have to actually think about the grammar.
It might be applied differently, but this principle of good manners applies just as much in formal and informal writing, so I use it whether I am texting, writing an e-mail or writing a client report.
I will now get off my high horse, which is insufficiently pedantic for me, in order to froth at the mouth and fall over backwards.
Colonel 1man1desk (Mrs), aka Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.