Happyness

For those of you who attempted to correct my spelling of the word happiness...cough...Joel...in my post titled "A date for Josh and I," I'd like to note that "Happyness" is the spelling used in the title of the movie.

If you don't believe me, click here:

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=587209

On a similar note, a wonderful and very literate friend of mine sent me an e-mail recently that asked me for my opinion on the subject of correcting people's grammar. And here is what I said in reply to her.

Correcting someone's grammar must always be handled delicately as the act of doing so will no doubt make the person who you are correcting feel like you think they are stupid.

So, here are some rules that I always try to follow:

1. Never correct a stranger's, your boss', or fellow employees' grammar usage unless you are very close to them.
2. Feel free to correct friends', spouse's, or any relative's grammar when you feel that their mood allows for it.
3. Always correct a child's grammar usage, they are still young and it needs to be "beaten" into them somehow. We know that schools don't do a very good job at it.
4. Feel free to write a letter to the editor of any publication to inform them of incorrect grammar usage. They'll probably be happy to be corrected and happy that you read their article.On a personal note, my husband corrects my grammar usage weekly, if not daily sometimes. And even though the act of the correction sometimes puts me in to a sour mood, I am happy to be corrected. I know that there are plenty of people who don't understand or care about proper grammar. An argument for the other side could be that the act of talking is to communicate. A message must be correctly relayed from one party to the next for communication to occur properly. And whether you say "He and I went to the park," or "He and me went to the park," I still understand the message you are trying to relay...you went to the park with him.

However, speaking properly in your day to day language use helps you to be a better writer, and if you want to convey any message in writing, proper grammar is necessary for others to be able to read what you wrote without stumbling through your words to figure out what your message is.

I could go on and on, but I won't.