It is Pronounced Egregious...

...anyone know what movie that is from?  Anyone?  Pirates of the Caribbean.  Jack Sparrow says it.  I love those movies.  Johnny Depp is just too funny.  The title of this posting really has nothing to do with this post itself; I just like that line in the movie.  Well, on second thought, it does sort of go with this posting.

Grammar & Speaking Rules 

This is a little bit of a hang-up for me.  It started with my mom.  Which today would be her 65th birthday, so how timely that I'm writing about grammar.  Growing up we had to speak properly or she wouldn't acknowledge us.  And now, much to my children's chagrin, I'm the same way.  We may be from the south, from the state of Alabama, but you will speak properly.  (insert most charming smile here.)  :)

Last night as I waited up for Hop to get home from a friend's house I was cruising Face Book.  You know what was bothering me just a bit?  It was when I read 'Happy New Years' for status updates.  Yes, it's ticky and petty, but it's one of those weird things that bothers me.  Um, yeah, because the new year is not plural.  It's a new year...not years.  Thank goodness it's not more than one year because I can only handle one at a time.  Yes, I'm being critical, but you know I use this blog to get things off my chest, and now I consider it off.  Insert very large smile here.  Whew, I feel better.

By the way, there are a few other grammar rules that people break that drive me a bit nuts too.  I saw a list on a friend's Face Book page & decided to post it here.  :)  It's amazing how ignorant people come across when they don't know basic grammar.  Don't take it personally, I said you can sound ignorant, not that you are.  But in reality, it's not like we are asking you to diagram a complex sentence with a  dangling participle; just know how to properly use words that are in everyday speech.

A few rules to add that are not listed...

• The first is when to use the articles 'a' and 'an'.  'A' will be placed in front of any word that begins with a consonant, and 'an' is used in front of words that begin with a vowel. 
• Please don't end a sentence with a preposition.  For example ending a sentence with the word 'at'.  Let me know where I can reach you at.  OH MY, that will send me over the proverbial edge.  Big Hopson has it on his cell phone voice mail and every time I hear it I cringe.  I mean the man graduated with honors from college without really going to class, and he ends a sentence on his cell phone with a preposition.  8/  

Just to let you know, I do have trouble with grammar as well.  I think everyone who speaks English does.  Our language is a little crazy.  Of all those rules, number 8 is always the hardest for me.  I can't remember if the A is the verb or the E.  I usually want the E to be the verb because the word verb has an E in it.  So wrong, so wrong...hopefully I'll do a better job in the new year with that rule.

This list doesn't discriminate between adults and teenagers.  And teens, when you text, I know you're using shorthand, but in the long run you are doing yourself a disservice.  Learn how to write a proper sentence please, because your parents, teachers and future bosses with be very grateful.  You can even throw a couple of sentences together with a comma and a conjunction, and voila, you have a complex sentence.  It's an amazing thing to do.  Try it; you just might like it.

Well, it's now almost 2 am, and I am finally sleepy, so I'm heading off to bed.  I hope you all have a very blessed New Year!  Make sure you eat some black-eyed peas. 

Celebrating Life!
~ashley