What is National Grammar Day?

It has come and gone this year but until now I had never heard of National Grammar Day. Apparently, March 4th has been designated by The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG) as National Grammar Day. It is attracting a great deal of attention with bloggers and grammar-lovers everywhere. There are festive t-shirts, learning materials, and free e-cards to commemorate the the occasion. You can join the following on Twitter and even listen to a song honoring March 4th and cleverly entitled "March Forth". The video is a joint effort by Mignon Fogarty (Grammar Girl) and Erika Paul Carlson to promote the holiday and good grammar.




So next year how will you mark the occasion? If you're not sure, here are a few celebratory ideas from SPOGG:


1. Speak well
2. Write well
3. Kindly correct "catastrophic apostrophes"
4. Send friendly e-mails to newscasters who use "Between you and I"
5. Wear a National Grammar Day T-shirt

Until then, join SPOGG and help promote good grammar!

Remember Saturday morning cartoons?

I am probably dating myself with this post, but when I was a kid I really loved Saturday morning cartoons. They were something I looked forward to after a long week of school. Before the cartoons, I also remember watching the Schoolhouse Rock videos. They were Emmy-Award winning short videos that featured basic concepts of grammar, science and even math. The music was so catchy that I can still remember the lyrics in "Conjunction Junction" and "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here". I even recall learning a thing or two about grammar and the different parts of speech.

My own children have no idea about the novelty of watching cartoons only one morning a week or that the commercial breaks were educational. I searched around to give them an idea of what they were missing. I found some of the music and videos on YouTube. Here is one that brings back fond memories:



Grammar rules set to music, what a concept. ABC should bring back Schoolhouse Rock. How about cartoons only on Saturday mornings too?

Grammar rules do not apply

A whole new abbreviated language, one without grammar rules, has evolved for the convenience of communicating quick short messages. Instant messaging (IM) and text messaging has become a popular way to talk using uncommon abbreviations or SMS (short message service). Learning text lingo may be similar to learning a foreign language. At least it was for me. There are no rule books, dictionaries or style guides to consult, only websites devoted to text message shorthand. Here are a few examples from txtDrop.com



So what are the effects of all this texting? Is it creating poor spelling habits? It seems that there are different opinions on the subject. In his book Txtng: the Gr8 Db8 , linguistic expert David Crystal reveals the findings of his study on texting. The Times article describes his research in detail. He also shares reactions to his study on his blog.

You can read a different view on the effects of texting in an article written by an English teacher in American Teacher on BNET.

These are two examples that give contrasting views on a new communication phenomenon. Modern technology has indeed initiated a new debate. One that I'm sure will engage grammarians, teachers, and linguists universally.

The English language is always evolving. New words are regularly added to the dictionary that reflect changes in culture and innovation. Remember when your teacher told you that ain't wasn't even a word. Well now you can find it in the dictionary.