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Recently Newshub ran a piece asking its readers if they cared about correct grammar.
An Auckland woman has sent a complaint to Countdown over its poor use of grammar on some of its signs.
Karen Wilkinson has written a letter saying their in-store checkout signage refers to “12 items or less”, when it should say “12 items or fewer”.
In her letter she says it is an accepted principle of the English language that if the noun in question is countable, “fewer” is the correct word.
Do you care about correct grammar?
Vote in The AM Show Question of the Day.
I don’t know the results of the vote but I’m pretty sure most voters would say they don’t care about correct grammar. But here’s the thing. Grammar is like oxygen. If there was no such thing as grammar, or standard rules for communication if you like, we’d really miss them.
With regards to writing there are two types of writers. There are those who live by the maxim “Thy Reader, Thy God” and believe there is nothing more valuable than the reader’s time. For these writers, writing simply, clearly, and concisely is the goal, and for that correct grammar is essential.
Then you have writers who believe that what they write is like gold and the reader should be eternally grateful for what the writer has written.
For examples of the latter head over to the hard-left blog The Standard (but don’t spend too much time there, also my apologies in advance). You’ll find the writing to be ponderous, self-indulgent and obscure. You’ll also find yourself asking, “What is this person trying to say?” It’s also not a coincidence that this kind of writing is often the providence of the Left, as it is in a sense putting the state ahead of the individual. It’s also no coincidence that, given the Left have a monopoly on awards for writing, the books which get awards tend to be long, ponderous, hard to read, and let’s face it, very, very boring.
For an example of the former think of the blog Whaleoil and of course The BFD itself. One of the most important reasons I believe that Whaleoil was so successful is because the writing was simple and clear, and respected the reader. Remember, it’s a lot more difficult to write simply and clearly than to do the opposite. To write simply and clearly, correct grammar is essential.
Correct grammar also works on a subconscious level. Correct grammar means I don’t have to spend time and effort figuring out what someone is trying to say. And that’s important even if I don’t notice the time and effort spent. It means far less of a chance, after reading the article, of thinking “I’ve just wasted my time.”
Should we care about correct grammar? Definitely. We’d all notice it if it was gone. The fact that Newshub appears to think we shouldn’t care goes to show just how far the MSM have fallen.
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