I’ve been called worse things than a grammar nerd. One of my sisters posted on Facebook, “This is you dear brother.”
But am I, REALLY?
1. The little I text I’m willing to use “2” for “to” or “too,” mostly because I’m a worse typist on that device than on a computer. My fingers cramp up, which is one reason I HATE texting.
2. I suppose I am an “honorary proofreader” for AmeriNZ and Jaquandor and SamuraiFrog, and they do the same for me.
3. It is true that I know the difference between affect and effect.
4. I DON’T correct public signs, but I’m sorely tempted. Also, and I’ve done this since I was a kid, I find “End Work Zone” signs uproariously funny. I visualize people picketing the fact that people are working. Now “end of work zone” wouldn’t have that affect, I mean effect.
5. I’m mortified by typos, yet it happens often enough that I just grind my teeth and move on. This, I will attest, is likewise true of some of my blogging colleagues.
6. Oxford comma: generally unnecessary, unless it is. But speaking of commas, I would have put one between “you” and “dear” in the sentence at the top of the page.
7. I’ve been to Grammarly, but don’t follow it.
8. I don’t do a lot of hashtags on social media, and the ones I do are work-related.
9. I find double negatives less cringe worthy and more confusing, especially as an interrogative.
10. I DO edit magazines and newspapers I read. Oh, and when I see one of those funny things on Facebook, and something is misspelled – it’s usually “weird” – it takes me out of it. And I almost never SHARE it, for that reason alone, even when I would otherwise re-send.
Worst problem, of course, is its/it’s. Apostrophes in general are misused.
And I HATE it when “they” misspell Binghamton, my hometown, as Binghampton. I remember seeing that on a map of Pennsylvania, which the city is near. It was spelled CORRECTLY on the New York State map.
Are YOU a grammar nerd?