Ah, I am reading this well-known book “Eats, shoots, and leaves,” and I am thoroughly enjoying it. For those of you who might not be aware of the joke on which the title of the book is based, here it goes — A panda walks into a nightclub and eats shoots and leaves. Now look at what a few extra commas do to this sentence — A panda walks into a nightclub and eats, shoots, and leaves.
This is exactly what happens when extra commas are put in or missed in the places required or when apostrophes are just added without any reason. The meaning of what is to be conveyed is radically transformed. There are so many such examples given in the book, which can be hilarious or even tragic sometimes.
Even if you pick up any newspaper or magazine today, you would be struck by the low levels of proofreading being done. Even a child conversant with the basic rules of grammar, spelling and punctuation should be able to do a better job than them. Some common bloopers that I notice all the time are the wrong usage of its and it’s, the terrible usage of apostrophes where not required (door’s), apostrophes used to make plurals (i’s instead of ies), the use of the word anyways (it is anyway), and so on.
What could be causing this general decline in English language, notably grammar and punctuation? Is it because the grammar being taught in schools is low grade. I remember, I had to study a huge volume of Wren and Martin in school, whereas my son has some cursory grammar. Most of the times, the teacher herself is not very good at English.
Another reason could be the explosion in writing due to the spread of the internet. It is hip to abbreviate and use wrong spellings due to the ease of texting or emailing.
And, don’t even get me started about how poor Hindi has become — the lingo is astonishingly grammatically incorrect most of the time, and there hardly seems to be any punctuation. I see textbooks replacing the Hindi purnaviraam with the English period. Even the numbers used are in English. Even basic pronunciations are wrong. Most Hindi-speaking people mispronounce phool as fool. Fa has actually come from Urdu, and the Hindi alphabet is pha. Since there is not much scope of reading good Hindi writing, I don’t see how one can improve the written Hindi standards. I subscribed Champak in Hindi for my son, and it really is a load of garbage.
Many of you might not feel as aggrieved as I do, because like my husband says — I am a language Nazi :). But seriously, it makes me cringe when I see such bad usage so often. This way all languages are headed towards a coma!
Having read this post, I realise what you are saying is right.But, that is OK.After all,in most of the non-English speaking countries, such adjustments are acceptable.
Oh I am not a grammar nazi! 😀
If we analyse, how much ‘English’ has changed over the years, the number of new words finding its place in the dictionary every year, we might tend to be a bit more accommodating, perhaps. But how much more, is the question. English may no longer sound like English someday, the way it is headed!
Oh, btw (had to use the abbrev!) love the title of your post ;D
@BKChowla Yes, but I think that this decline is happening across all languages.
@Agnes ;). Just some quirk in my character.
@RGB You are right, language evolves. But correct tenses,spelling,and punctuation are not changing that rapidly. Thanks about the title 🙂
I liked this post very much. 🙂
First para joke was :D.
If u ever saw any grammatical or punctuation mistake in my blog. Please tell me either on mail or comment. So that I can rectify it. 🙂
To improve the command over the language I try my best to read books than on net because of the reasons stated by u.
I was in the impression that my Hindi was good but when I read Banbatta ki Atmakatha by Hazari Prasad Divedi I realised I was wrong. Still I have learn a lot.
Amar chitra katha are good for kids and also the stories from different states and countries.
I don’t think this is OK (as Mr Chowla said)
When you write or speak English, do it the right way.
I think the new methodology of texting is one of the reasons for this down slide.
Another reason being, people get used to doing the spelling correction that is prompted by the computer, which is actually not the Queen’s english, but the American english.
Hi Rachna, me too, I am very particular re commas and whatever.
But of course sometimes do miss some, ha ha.
Have a nice day, Lee.
@Chandrika Well, that is really sweet of you. To improve your language, read books. That helps a lot! And, you could always google grammar or punctuation rules when in doubt about usage or punctuation. I think blogging is a medium, where a person speaks his/her mind. My peeve is with publications who ought to maintain a certain standard.
@Haddock Yes, we must not be okay with making grammatical errors. And, this British English vs. American English thing is taking its toll too. We are taught British English in schools, but end up emulating American English resulting in a merry mix of confusion.
@Uncle Lee Good to know that you are particular about your commas. This breed is definitely on a decline ;-). I must be missing some too, out of sheer laziness at proofreading. So, I won’t hold that against you ;-).
I am afraid to write something, lest I would make mistakes. I don’t know if a comma was needed there.
What you said is true.But, many of us can read and write English.How many of those English speaking people can do the same with other languages?
Long back I had read somewhere (it was some Hindi article) that a language should be like a river. Like a river keeps on flowing taking on whatever comes in its way, including the other small rivers, so should a language keep on evolving itself. Thats why Hindi survived and Sanskrit, only a few learn now.
But that is not an excuse for poor grammar or punctuation, I guess now it is the SMS culture and yes because of the low standards of education.
@dr. antony Like Haddock said, it is not a good enough excuse to use poor English especially grammar. And, blogs are still fine, but look at the newspapers and magazines. One would expect them to follow the correct rules. Also, what about the declining standards of mother-tongues. Isn’t it happening to all languages?
@Bhagyashree You are absolutely right. I agree with everything you’ve written.
I’m commenting so late coz I asked my fb friends for such sentences.
Here are some awesome ones!!
Hope you like it!
Capitalization is the difference between “helping your Uncle Jack off a horse” and “helping your uncle jack off a horse”!
“Let’s eat, Grandma” versus “Let’s eat Grandma.” Punctuation saves the lives of the elderly!
“As I was undressing, Mary, my wife, walked into the bedroom.” “As I was undressing Mary, my wife walked into the bedroom.” Punctuation saves marriages!
“Coming down the stairs, I smelled the oysters that were for dinner.” or “I smelled the oysters coming down the stairs for dinner.” Misplaced modifiers turn harmless scenes into sci-fi horror movies!
“Goat Cheese Salad … tomato, onions, goat cheese” turns into something else entirely with a couple of extra s’s and an additional comma: “Goats Cheese Salad … tomatoes, onions, goats, cheese.” Grammar saves lunches!
btw, I only studied basic cursory grammar!
My first language was Sanskrit and second language was English in school!
Hope my English is acceptable!
A great post and very well explained!
Looking at the way “English” is headed, the new words being added to dictionaries every year might change the language altogether. Our movies are a vital example of that. Btw, I am not a grammar Nazi but enjoyed reading it nevertheless 🙂
@Girish Pretty good examples, and you have proved my point correct. I am certainly not judging you or any other blogger. I just wanted to lament about the falling standard of languages.
@Cheryl Thank you so much!
@Akshay thanks for visiting my blog, and for your nice comment.
english is too tricky a language ya…
@Ramesh Really?
When I went to the library to pickup books for my son today, I asked for this book. And guess what? I got it. The librarian immediately gave a broad smile and said, it’s a nice book. 🙂