Below is an approximate transcription of a real conversation in my office today. Supervisor (me) talking with two engineers. The subject of an upcoming training session comes up:
Employee: Yeah, we’re having that class on writing good in September.
Supervisor: Well, I suppose writing good is OK, but we really want people to write well.
Employee: [puzzled look]
Supervisor: We don’t really want you writing evil, but we need you to write well.
Employee: [pause] Oh, I get it!
Supervisor: [sigh].
I have a group of very smart young engineers working for me, and it amazes me how consistently deficient their grammar is. Or have I just turned into a grumpy old man? The worst thing is that it is rubbing off on me, I'm getting sloppy too. When my wife has to (frequently) correct my use of "I" versus "me"..... that's bad.
Hey you kids! Get off of my lawn!
The photo above is mostly random, something from the ancient archives. From way back in 1982 / 1983, shot on Tri-X film, scanned from an 8x10 print. This was on the north side of Wheaton, MD. The building was torn down probably 25 years ago when they widened Rt 97.
1 comment:
The most infuriating thing to me is the misuse/overuse of the word "like".
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