Keep Your Filthy Latin Grammar Rules to Yourself

Finally! An expert grammarian is sick of all the self-righteous correcting of other people's grammar.


The book on CD, A way with words. III : understanding grammar for powerful communication by Michael Drout, is a book for those of us who aren't always quite sure if we are using correct grammar. He is unmercifully hilarious while explaining every minute detail about correct grammar and the history of how it became a rule. If you have never heard anyone get really, really excited about grammar, this book is worth listening to just for the novelty.


His premise is that all people should know the rules of grammar, and then they should be free to break them whenever they want.


Even his mascot (a red panda) is a jab at traditional grammar books, which generally use a panda on the cover. The red panda is actually a small animal. The author spent hours waiting to see a red panda at the zoo, only to realize it was more like a raccoon than a huge bear. His friend made a very loud, very kid unfriendly comment when she realized they had waited for such a measly little animal. So he picked it for his book cover - the renegade panda and the renegade grammarian get together.


I love every section, but the one I love most is on prepositions. Why is it that ending a sentence with a preposition is one of the worst sins someone could commit with the English language? A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. "Pre" means "before" and it came from Latin. You can't end something with the beginning, so in Latin you can not end a sentence with a preposition.


Drout thinks you should be aware that if you are in a place where you want to look really smart, you shouldn't end your sentence with a preposition. But technically, it is a rule that is a leftover from Latin and should never have been in the English language. Therefore, if someone corrects you when you end your sentence with a preposition, take Drout's advice and sneer at them, "Keep your filthy Latin grammar rules to yourself." That'll give them something to chew on.


Here's his blog: http://wormtalk.blogspot.com/