I'm not sure that one does pick up proper usage by osmosis. To me it seems that most of us require somebody to tell one that the writing isn't that good and req

I'm not sure that one does pick up proper usage by osmosis. To me it seems that most of us require somebody to tell one that the writing isn't that good and requires more work, whether that someone is parent, teacher, or boss. My brother, who teaches a college class or two as an adjunct, complains of undergraduate writing. On the other hand, I can say that I was a copy editor long ago, and there were many Ph.D.s back then who couldn't write a clear paragraph.