Grammar Guru June Casagrande Is Calling Me Names!

Someone Called Me A Grammar Nerd. June Casagrande to be exact. I guess I'll just have to accept that--proudly. I'm telling you not so you can write a letter to defend me but because, in the process, she also helped us with the worst grammar conundrum to come along in decades. That big grammar problem is the one caused by our effort to make a language that is not gender neutral more . . . well, equal.

I'll qualify that. English is not neutral enough though it's better in that aspect than many.

And she does that with her column for the Glendale News-Press, "A Word Please."

Yes, you do need this article. (-: It's practical. It doesn't just tell you that we have a problem but gives you ways to fix it when somehow the singular "he" or "she" doesn't match the "their" in your sentence. You know what I mean.

Find the article at http://www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2010/01/06/columns/gnp-aword010610.txt


You'll also note that I've added buy widgets for three of my favorite grammar books (two of them June's and one of them mine! Ahem!) for you to buy. It's a service, of course. To make buying easy for you. But I hope you'll use them, or go to the library and borrow them. You'll be glad you did.

-----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits, consults and speaks on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com, where writers will find lists and other helps on the Resources for Writers page. She blogs on all things publishing (not just editing!) at her Sharing with Writers blog.
And please tweet to your followers. We all need a little help with editing. (-: