Another Else: Volume I
Reminding and Restating Revised

Grammar, Where You At?

During my freshman year of high school, I took an honors English class taught by what was nothing short of a grammar witch.
Teacher: What is grammar?
Students: Grammar is a way of thinking about language.
Teacher: How many levels of grammar are there?
Students: There are four levels of grammar…blah blah blah
We were such a cult…*sigh*
I had the teacher again in my senior year, but she was nuts without the teaching by then. I’m sure other stories of this class will make their way into other posts.
My point is, I know how to properly form sentences and how to speak properly.
I can when I need to at least.
I don’t want to be a grammar Nazi, but some things I see really bug me.
For example,

  • at my place of work, there’s a sign by the lounge which says “Employee’s Only” and
  • by the mall, there’s a sign for a carpenter in which he wrote that no job is “to small.”

Now, I haven’t said anything to anyone at work about the sign because I like to believe I’m not that petty. I might save it for a good opportunity of a later date.
I have made fun of the sign with my friends, but that’s because they all had the grammar witch, too. We all make grammar jokes because we are nerds.
I keep in mind that signs were made by one person, and maybe even a person in a rush, so I’ll give the signs the benefit of the doubt, for now. What I can’t seem to forgive are corporate slogans with horrible grammar. For example, H&R Block uses the slogan “you got people.” People get grammar wrong enough on their own. Do we really need corporations to tell everyone it’s OK to get it wrong? Oh, and the most devious of these slogans has to be “Where you at?”
The commercials bugged me, but I don’t watch too much TV so I could deal with it. Then, I heard people using it in real life. They would seriously say that in real life…
I was stunned. I couldn’t believe anyone thought it was a good idea to say that in public.
So, I’m calling for all corporations to drop slogans with amazingly bad grammar. Nobody, but my grammar witch of a former teacher, is always to get it right, but I can expect to be asked “Where are you?”