From a New York Times Magazine story on torch singer Shelby Lynne:

“Do you know the difference between the words ‘bringing’ and ‘taking’?” she practically whispered into my sleeve, as if not to embarrass me. “Because you just used one of them incorrectly.” I do know the difference, and though I couldn’t remember what I said, I agreed with her anyway, dizzied by the sudden altitude of the conversation. Lynne then proceeded to conduct a sobering mini-symposium on grammar: subjective and objective cases; “begging” versus “raising” the question; parts of speech. “It’s all about using the proper pronouns,” she asserted with the calm authority of a linguistics maven promoting her latest book on NPR.

Labels: bringing, grammar, New York Times, Shelby Lynne, taking

My pal Theo pointed me to this WSJ Law Blog piece on Sharon Nichols, founder of the "I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar" Facebook group. The group's stated mission is to document bad grammar, and to date almost 5,000 photos have been uploaded for that purpose. One example: a rather large tattoo claiming "You Bleed Just To Know Your Alive."

Nichols, a student at Alabama Law, was also covered last week in The New York Times Fashion & Style section, which I found a bit odd--does good grammar ever go out of style?

* See crappuccino. And don't forget your unlimited edition crappuccino mugs.

Labels: crappuccino, grammar, sharon nichols, theo, wsj