[Artemisia] Correcting grammar

[Stephanae Baker]

There's a chance some of you may not find my parenting style  
humorous, but KyneWynn's post reminded me of a story about my  
daughter that always makes me laugh. But please, if you find swear  
words extremely offensive, READ NO FURTHER.

My daughter is a verbally clever 10-year old but not too long ago she  
inadvertently said "he don't."

I looked at her and said, "What did you say?" I told her, "You can  
say f__k, but you can NOT say he don't."

I then asked her, "What do you think of that?"

She looked at me and said, "F__k that."

Of course, this is a much funnier story if you know that while I've  
always told my daughter swear words are just words like any others,  
and I don't mind if she uses them but she needs to be aware of their  
social implications, what others might think of her if she uses them,  
and when it's extremely impolite to use them, she elects never to say  
them. Her choice to use the word in this particular exchange with me  
was pure wit.

On a more serious note, my daughter also summed up my general  
feelings about correcting people's inadvertent grammatical errors.  
I'll do it if I'm asked to. Once in a while I'll do it for light  
teasing humor. I might even occasionally do it if the other person  
started it, although I still try to keep it light. But for the most  
part, I think correcting others' grammar is discourteous. I also feel  
absolutely no need to display my "superior" knowledge of English  
grammar and usage, and if you really think about it, does anyone  
correct another adult's grammar (without being asked) for any other  
reason?

Belladonna


On Aug 30, 2007, at 8:23 PM, KyneWynn wrote:

>
> I have tried to abide by that advice since then,  with the  
> exception of my
> children (my own and my "adopted" ones), I still correct their  
> grammar.  And
> they delight in catching ME in a mistake, but it's worth it to me,  
> because I
> know they are paying attention to grammar, my daughter Raquel even  
> going so
> far as to buy a t-shirt that proclaims, "Good Grammar Is Hot."
>