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To this I retort with Steven Fry's piece on language pedantry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY

• rsanchez1 14y ago
  There's a difference between being pedantic about language and desiring clarity, as Fry pointed out in that piece. Additionally, apathy and ignorance about language, not just grammar but all that encompasses language as a means of communicating ideas, makes it very easy to be deceived with language. Here is a piece by George Orwell on Politics and English Language which touches more on the degradation of English used to express ideas: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm "It has nothing to do with correct grammar and syntax, which are of no importance so long as one makes one's meaning clear, or with the avoidance of Americanisms, or with having what is called a "good prose style." "What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way around. In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is surrender to them." The gist of it is that good grammar should arise naturally from the clear communication of ideas. When you are sure of what you want to say, the words to say it should naturally come to you. Ideas should hunt for words, instead of words hunting for ideas. If you're writing with bad grammar, why should I worry about what you're saying if you yourself don't even know what you mean to say? If you don't know what you mean to say, how can you know what a politician or a CEO means to say? How can you avoid being deceived if you don't have a good grasp of language and meaning? Why should I hire you if you are so easily deceived?