Comments on: Are poor spelling and grammar really all that bad? https://writegroup.io/are-poor-spelling-and-grammar-really-all-that-bad/ Better business outcomes with clear, effective writing. Tue, 10 Dec 2024 20:32:13 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 By: Rosemary Mercer https://writegroup.io/are-poor-spelling-and-grammar-really-all-that-bad/#comment-319 Wed, 26 Aug 2015 02:34:23 +0000 http://writeclearlyblog.com/?p=1641#comment-319 1. I oppose any change in grammar that makes our language blunter, e.g: “hopefully” used to mean merely “full of hope”, now a sentence such as “She opened the envelope hopefully” has two different meanings. [too late to do anything about this now]

2. re the ‘wandering apostrophe’, I would solve this by abolishing apostrophes altogether except in the few cases where the meaning is clearer with them.

3. I would support using “they”, “them” or “their” instead of “he or she”, “him or her” or “his or hers”, they are both awkward but the “they” set could eventually become less awkward then “he or she” etc, (or “one”, “one’s” when it sounds pompous).

4. People think of grammar as a set of rules laid down by teachers and pedants, forgetting that it has evolved naturally through the use of ordinary speakers who want to communicate more clearly.

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