Sue Shellenbarger writes in this article in Wall Street Journal that grammar is fighting a losing battle in the workplace. I remember the time when I joined as a rookie in a publishing house in 1980 (32 years ago) that the publisher went through every letter and blasted us if there were grammatical mistakes. His opinion was that if you aren't careful in your personal communication, you will be careless in what appears in print in your publications. Very true. Also the receiver of the letter would get a bad impression since the letter comes from a publisher. Correct, on that score, too. Therefore even his stenographers and typists had to watch out and refer to dictionaries while typing a letter. Who does these things in this day of Facebook and Twitter where thoughts have to be expressed in 140 characters, that too, at a speed rivaling the speed of thought? Where smartness of repartee gets the "comments" and "likes".
To quote from Sue Shellenbarger's article, Bryan Garner author of "Modern American Usage" and a usage expert, "Twenty-five years ago it was impossible to put your hands on something that hadn't been professionally copy-edited, today, it is actually hard to put your hands on something that has been professionally copy-edited."
I am @johnwriter on Twitter and John.Matthew on Facebook. I blog here. View my Youtube Channel Page. Read about my novel Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard.
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