I'm sorry

I've been outraged for years about the rudeness of retail and restaurant personnel in my town of Greensboro, North Carolina. (In fact, there's probably another blog in it.) After suffering the smoke and eternal wait at an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day, my husband and I left to find another place to eat. We ended up at the Lone Star steakhouse on Battleground Avenue, and I was quite surprised by the kindness of the staff. The wait staff smiled, made eye contact, and dealt professionally with a minor complaint we had about the meal. With the understanding of the power of our language, two people sincerely apologized for something that was worth an apology. If you're around here, give these people your business! They know what it means to treat a customer well.

Your

I returned recently from several days of sick leave with a combination of the stomach AND the respiratory nasties. On my desk was a precious, stapled card from my students, my AP students who read better than I do, my 10 Honors students who work so hard, and my EC/ESOL inclusion students who truly do the best they know how. The climactic turning of the title page to reveal the sweet words I needed brought more dismay: EVERY student who had written a sentiment related to "Hope you're feeling better" had spelled the contraction YOUR.
AP. Honors students. ESOL students. It didn't matter. Each one had made the error. The card meant just as much as it would have grammatically perfect, but I knew a tiny failure right then. How many times do I have to teach this rule???!!!!

Troubles

Blogger Poppy Seed asked in the comments section about my freelance editing, and I'm not sure yet how to get my responses onto the main blog page, so here's an answer. I'm an English teacher by trade, but I edit everything from textbooks to novels to in-house newsletters to professorial papers. Hire at will.

Apostrophes

A visiting blogger recommended a hook, so I'll begin today my war on apostrophes's'. One of my many jobs is the editing of a church newsletter, one of which recently advertised lilly's for sale. Of course, the error was sneaked in (yes, sneaked, not snuck) post-editing, and I was more than dismayed. Lilies could be for sale, and Lilly's hair could be on fire, but never the twain shall meet....wait, Lilly's Lilies could be for sale. Catchy. Lilly's Lilies' whiteness could be dazzling.

The P word

Today in one of my English classes, a student said, "Mrs. K, I am so PISSED OFF at my Spanish teacher!" My response, of course, as a bun-headed, sedan-driving English teacher, was, "Try angry, not pissed." Dumbfounded and dazed, she responded with, "There's nothing wrong with that word. My mama uses it." When I tried to explain my need to keep my classroom free of bodily fluids (literal and verbal), she didn't get it. Maybe the read "P" word is Prude, not Piss, but I'm concerned with how easily teens drop the F bomb five feet from a teacher. When confronted with how archaic my thinking is, I usually ask the student, would you say to your rabbi, minister or priest, "That was one _____ good sermon today" ?

Grand Opening

Welcome to WordSang. If you're frustrated by the deterioration of our language, puzzled by the obsessive few who cling to standard grammar, or just want to ask a question about correct comma use, post a message. I'm all keys.