Carter's Mom

I'll be the first to admit, I am not perfect. I can never think of words I want to use, I make tons of typos, but I am a grammar snob. This goes back a very long way. At least back to 6th grade. I had Mrs. Ashworth. She taught grammar. She gave us a HUGE grammar test that only 3 of us passed. (Yes, I remember making an A on this.) This was a big test. She had built it up and was shocked when almost everyone failed. We were able to sit outside and read books for a week while she retaught grammar to the rest of our classmates. My classmates even decided I should be the editor of our little class magazine for Louisiana History. (Oh, that was an AWFUL class where Mr. Morris would lean back in his chair and pick his nose.) Ok, that's not the worst of the nerdiness. I don't even know if I should admit what I am about to discuss. Beth laughed her butt off when I finally admitted this many years later....Ok, here goes. I loved diagramming sentences. I really did. We bought our textbooks and could sell them back each year. Well, I decided to keep my grammar book, so I could diagram sentences for fun once I was done with that class. Ok, please stop laughing at me. I guess I like grammar because it is the one part of English I was good at. It is logical and straight forward. There are definite rules. I didn't have to read something and think of wonderful new scholarly ideas to put into writing. It didn't force me to make sense of all the wonderful (ok, not really) British poets. Wordsworth....he just wasn't for me.

Maybe, I shouldn't admit this because I am sure I have made some mistakes in my blog. (If you notice any, please email me, so I can fix them).

I love this website. I guess it's just the nerd in me. Anyway, today an English teacher sent out a mass email stating, "To whom did I give the locker notebook to?" Ok, if you are going to be fancy and use "whom" correctly, at least finish the sentence correctly.

Here are some of the common mistakes that drive me nuts:
lose v. loose It seems most people want to use loose. I have seen it so often that I started second guessing myself on the correct usage.

myself Oh, this is a big one and really gets to me. Please don't ever start a sentence with myself or use it as a subject of your sentence. Please! You don't sound smarter.

Beaucoup: Being from southern Louisiana and having learned French, I understand that "beaucoup" means many. It is not a noun, and it is not pronounced "boocoos."

One that isn't on the website is mines. You know, "that's mines." My social studies colleagues would like to remind you mines blow things up.

I'll admit, it has taken me years to learn the difference between bring and take. I was probably 23 before I even knew there was a difference. I still mess up when speaking, but I am learning to catch myself (did I use it correctly?)

Another one that gets me is where to put the punctuation with parentheses. I like parentheses (in case you didn't notice). If this had to be APA style with parenthetical documentation, I could punctuate like a champ. It's just my little asides that get me.

Ok, I will stop my rant. Hopefully, I didn't make too many errors or make myself (there it is again) sound like too much of an ass.