I have been thinking lately of the things that my fingers do when writing that my brain knows is wrong, but I still want to do them anyway. Let's face it, the English language is all sorts of confusing, but if I ruled the world, I would change the following:
1. Who decide to switch spacing after sentences from two spaces to one? I try to stinkin' hard to remember to only use the thumb once, but when two spaces after a sentence was pounded into my brain, that is a hard dent to get back out.
2. I really want even though to be one word. Look - eventhough. It even looks a little pretty. I don't know why, but every time I type that word, I forget the space. Same goes for kind of - just should be kindof. Not kinda - kindof.
3. A little more on the scholarly side, but why can't all the smart people of the world get together and determine that they all want X,Y and Z information and we can just all format it that way instead of messing with MLA, APA, Chicago, etc....
Your turn - what things of the English language can you just not convince your brain is wrong?
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15 comments:
Haha! I told my sister the other week about it being one space between sentences now instead of two, she was completely baffled :)
I too am a double spacer. It took me a book and a half to get out of the habit.
I also think alright should okay to use. Not this all right business. Grammar girl... why won't you let everything be alright???
I still have to think, "i before e except after c" when I write words like receive. Who decided i and e should be reversed after c? Stupid! It just looks wrong.
Probably the passive is bad rule. What's wrong with passive? I'm passive not aggressive. Let me be!
The one space after sentences is killing me. I used to work as an assistant in the speech/language department of the school district and a phonetic alphabet would really be a good thing.
I agree with you on the spacing thing. It's been very difficult to stop doing it, and I still sometimes do it. Going back through my documents looking for extra spaces is a pain in the...
You made me laugh. I'm with you on the two spaces after sentences. I'm almost over it.
And why can't everyone get together and use the same formatting. RTF, MS word, blah, blah.
I sometimes combine kind and of into kinda, and call it narrator voice.
I grew up being taught the two-space thing, and it seemed to cross over during my uni days. I know better now, but it was pretty touch and go for about a year. When I edit older works now I have to CTRL+R the spacing, ugh.
I wish we had gender neutral pronouns that didn't imply people were things (ie, "it"). Also, singular "they" needs to be official right now. It used to be singular! Then we ruined it. If ever a word needed reclaiming...
Being English what would I change....nothing it's my country;s language and it's all I've every known.
Yvonne.
As for the double vs single spacing, that is something that is easily fixed with find and replace. I have to do it all the time with minutes. What's surprising is the number of times there're more than two spaces. lol I suggest that sometimes our thumbs just hiccup or something.
And, hey, maybe the day will come when eventhough IS one word. It's always fun to read Jane Austen and see words that are together now that weren't back when.
I am a single spacer. I type my kids' homework for them and the school still insists on the double space, so I get lectures from teens that I MUST hiccup the space bar!
@Donna- genius- wonder if I can use that method to add the space?
When listing items a, b, and c, I know the comma after b is optional (right?), but why can't it be required? That's what I prefer, so that's what everyone should do! :)
My kids told me about the single space rule after the period. I told them they are wrong. (Note the two spaces.) I'll give in eventually.
Two spaces seems weird to me! I guess it's being British. English is a crazy, chaotic, quirky language. I love it very much.
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