Grammar and Writing

How We Got Spoiled, Self-Satisfied Graduates

by on September 12, 2024

But to study English literature is to open yourself to the literature of other nations, because English authors were never reading only English. You cannot have Chaucer without the three great Florentines: Dante, Petrarch, and, especially, Boccaccio. You cannot have the English . . . Continue reading →

Grammar Guerrilla: “Prayers For” Vs “Prayers To”

by on August 5, 2024 | 4 Comments
Guerilla-Gorilla

The economy is hard for everyone right now. Even prepositions have fallen on hard times. In popular media, in news media, and particularly in social media, one regularly sees the expression, “prayers to so and so.” This usage reveals two errors, one . . . Continue reading →

Grammar Guerrilla: Grammar Is For Everyone

by on March 5, 2022 | 19 Comments
Guerilla-Gorilla

I submit that given a library of about 300 well chosen books, a chalkboard/dry erase board, a supply of paper, pencils, and pens, a cadre of dedicated, well educated teachers, who had authority to discipline students, produce outstanding high school graduates who, upon examination, could gain entrance into any university in the West. A substantial percentage of what, after Dewey is reckoned education is, in fact, a waste of time and energy. Continue reading →

Grammar Guerilla: Wake, Woke, Woken And Transitive And Intransitive Verbs

by on August 3, 2021 | 9 Comments
Guerilla-Gorilla

The widespread use of woke, the past tense of wake, as an adjective is ungrammatical but there are other issues with the use of forms of wake. The conjugation of wake is: wake (present): It is time to wake up and smell . . . Continue reading →

Grammar Guerilla: It Is “He And I” Not “Me And Him”

by on July 24, 2021 | 18 Comments
Guerilla-Gorilla

I have been warning students for some years about the impending collapse of Western civilization. It used to be a joke. Now, the warnings are rueful. Another evidence that the end is closer than it might seem is the apparent loss of . . . Continue reading →

A Phrase To Be Retired: Best Practice

by R. Scott Clark on April 13, 2021 3 Comments

Every human endeavor has its own vocabulary. Auto mechanics shorthand expressions and jargon—though beware if he or she tells you that you need a new Johnson Rod as you will pay good money for no part and no service—like every other endeavor under the sun. Continue reading →

Grammar Guerrilla: “Speak Into” And “Love On”

The American Evangelical Abuse Of Prepositions Continues

by on April 8, 2021 | 17 Comments
Guerilla-Gorilla

Two popular expressions entered the American colloquial lexicon about a decade ago. I first heard them both used by an evangelical from the American South. He wanted to “speak into” an issue and “love on” some people. It seems as if the . . . Continue reading →