Drivel

"My worst nightmare is seeing apostrophes where they don't belong." -- New Yorker cartoon, 5 Dec. 2013.

   Strict adherence to grammatical correctness is no vaccine against drivel.
   Even so, it's helpful to follow the rules. J.S. Bach wrote the book on rules of musical composition, then broke every one of them.
   Rules are made to be broken, it has often been said, but first you need to know them. Case in point: Grammar rules. They are not laws, but descriptions of what good writers and speakers do and how they communicate.
   There is no jail time or monetary fine for those who break rules of grammar or composition. Their only punishment is a failure to communicate.
   And longer isn't necessarily better; it's just longer.