Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Now Ear This

Language is not logical

   Grammar check programs are generally not worth the space they take up on computer memory banks, because they're too often wrong. Spellcheck, however, is a useful tool. But remember, a tool is only as useful as the user. Spellcheck will catch words that it does not recognize, even though they may be the right words. The user has the option of adding those words to the program's lexicon, or word list. Meanwhile, the program bypasses words that are spelled correctly, but are the wrong words. These are called homonyms, or soundalikes. That is, they sound the same but are spelled differently. Examples: Way, weigh; to, too, two; and my favorite, carrot, karat, carat, caret.
   As for grammar check, the ear is often a better judge of syntax than trying to adhere to a hidebound set of rules imposed in elementary school and often based on someone's weird sense of logic, using Latin terms that only serve to confuse. Let's face it, language is not logical.
   In the use of collective nouns, for example, there is the insistence that these forms always take a singular verb. But that's true only if the members are acting collectively, as in "The crew is ready to make sail," or "The team is ready to play ball." On the other hand, if (members of) the crew are acting as individuals, as in "The crew are going ashore," presumably to visit friends and/or drink, then a plural verb is needed.
   One of the most egregious examples is the choice of verb for "couple." Or, as the editor once put it to make the point: "The couple was married ten years ago. Two years later, it was divorced." Keep in mind that two people are involved, and so the plural pronoun "they" is appropriate. And this, of course, requires a plural verb. But if the two people are musicians and form a duet, then a single musical entity is formed, and it performs.
   Logic? As they say in Noo Yawk, "Fuhgedabowdit!"

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