Disregarding Basic Grammar

We live in an age of technology where connectivity and communications have effectively shrunk the world. It’s now so easy to stay connected to friends and family. With the rise of social media, instant messaging services, chat engines, blogs, yada yada yada – anyone and everyone with an Internet connection can use these services to great effect at lower costs. That’s part of the beauty of it, but it also has an ugly side.

It took me only recently to notice that the level of English used around the web has been effectively deteriorating. And it’s not an overnight process either. It takes a while before slang words and their effective usage become common place but that’s not what I’m ranting about. I am lamenting the blatant disregard of proper basic grammar (which also happens to include punctuation and spelling) when writing for the web or anything else for that matter. I understand the need to be quick in our fast-paced lifestyles, but even so it’s no excuse for throwing grammar out the door. Writing lets you get your message across but if it’s hard to understand, your target audience may just spend more time trying to make sense of the message before eventually giving up. I’ve experience times such as those and honestly, it’s gotten to the point of great irritation – even rage.

Look at it this way; it took a lot of time and effort for learned men and women to lay down the rules for writing in any language. These language rules define our civilised evolution and by disregarding them, in my opinion is an insult to their genius and dedication.

I really feel that English teachers, especially in Malaysia where the majority of students are bi-lingual (in some cases tri-lingual or more), should make it a point to teach the students the importance of using proper grammar so that they have a concrete foundation for written and verbal communication. And it shouldn’t stop at schools. Everyone regardless of age should practice proper grammar to lessen the exacerbation of the English language. Time and practice is all it takes to form good writing habits. Remember, writing and speaking in proper English is not an unachievable feat.

 

Tread Softly

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet,
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams

:: William Butler Yeats ::

I’ve never really read poetry as I was growing up so it’s only natural that I don’t have a great appreciation of this literary style. But the above poem by William Butler Yeats is simply beautiful. I simply love the word play. It’s nice how the end of the first four lines end in ‘cloths’ and ‘light’ and the next four lines end in ‘feet’ and ‘dreams’. Apart from that, I really love the flow and meaning behind it. Beautiful!

The Mortlach 70

Just a few days back I posted about the Glenfiddich 50 Year Old . A superb whisky that’s been sitting in a cask for 50 years. Now, take a look at this! The Mortlach 70 by Gordon & Macphail. It’s been 70 years – that’s right, 70 years -since it was distilled in 1938 making it the world’s oldest whisky. It comes in a beautifully crafted bottle that looks like a tear drop. Appropriate, as most of us would shed a tear at the mere mention of it’s £10,000 price tag. *Sigh*

Glenfiddich 50 Year Old

I’m not much of a whisky fan. But I do enjoy the occasional shot of whisky every now and then. I remember having my first single malt and it tasted amazing. Now after surfing here and there I came across this, the Glenfiddich 50 year old! Imagine that superb liquid sitting in an oak cask for 50 years! Anything could go wrong and ruin it. But apparently all’s good and the folks with great taste and way too much cash can now enjoy drinking this magnificent, incredibly rare, 16,000 USD a bottle, single malt whisky! Lucky bastards. Pour me a shot, I’d love to try it!