When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People

Foreword

Language is the great gift that distinguishes human beings from other creatures. Like most gifts, it can be used thoughtfully and to good advantage—or it can be used carelessly, indifferently, and quite unsuccessfully. The way in which you use language can tell people a good deal about your personal qualities—your way of thinking, your alertness, your concern for useful communication with other people—and your concern, your respect, for the English language itself.

When your speech is sloppy, when it seems to reveal that you have never learned—or perhaps just don’t care—about using language properly, you certainly don’t do yourself any favors. Other people are likely to assume, whether fairly or not, that your thinking has flaws because ...