There’s really no rest for a person with a grammar stick up her butt. I’m just bothered by so many things. Of course, putting my peeves out into cyberspace is stupid because
(1) I’m sure to make mistakes too, inviting fist-shaking and cries of “Hypocrite!”;
(2) grammar rules evolve;
(3) I often abandon grammar rules for the sake of voice [see asterisks]; and
(4) who the hell wants to read a blog post about grammar anyway?
(Watch that not stop me!)
In addition, I follow certain British rules that American grammarians would consider incorrect. For example, from the last post: My girlfriends and I have this game we call “Gross Crush”. See, I have the quotation marks before the period because the game is not called “Gross Crush Period”; it’s called plain old “Gross Crush”. But American publications punctuate it thus: …this game we call “Gross Crush.” Quotation marks after the period.* I hate that.
But more importantly, really, Katy Perry? (Yes, I’m about to critique a Katy Perry song.) ‘Teenage’ is a compound word. You know how to hyphenate a compound word?** Between the two words that make it up.***
You sing:
You Make me Feel like I’m living a tee- Nage DreamA girl who is 13 to 19 years old is not a tee/nager. She’s a teen/ager.
Ugh, and there’s a house in my neighborhood where the Bailey family lives. They have a sign out front:
The Bailey’s House
I mean, come ON. That sign clearly states that one person lives in that house, and that person calls himself The Bailey!
Who’s with me? Want to share your favorite grammar peeve?
P.S. I’m filing this one under Ask the Avid Bruxist. Nobody asked, but I really think y’all**** should have.
*Sentence fragment
**Missing helping verb ‘do’
***Sentence fragment
****Variant of ‘you all’