It seems I am one of the few amateur web writers out there who is dating an editor. Some of my stuff gets more scrutiny than much of the writing out there. I am lucky because most of my grammatical mistakes get caught before they are published. This saves me from much discomfort and embarrassment. Sort of like etiquette lessons would, I guess.
We all learned some basic grammar rules in school, right? And there are books (American link and Canadian link) that tell us how to use the basic tools of writing.
It seems a lot of people haven’t read those books. And apparently not everyone was taught basic grammar in school. For those of us who are perplexed and annoyed by a very particular abuse of the structure of the English language, there is a website to sympathize with us.
Your penchant for proper grammar notwithstanding, it appears that your true predilection is for witty aphorism.
Please allow me to make a humble contribution to your r’epertoire by explaining a method of quashing a self destructive impulse by borrowing a crude reference to diminutive manhood.
“If you can’t hit bottom, bang the hell out of the sides.”
Peter Clarke, Nov 07 2007