Lili Krakowski on fri 17 aug 07
I almost never go to web sites. But I was intrigued
by a post from a Clayarter whose name was not familiar to me...And I went to
the web site.
The site was beautiful, put together with much care. The pictures were
glorious! BUT no one had bothered to check spelling or grammar!
Quelle horreur!
I gotta tell you. As a writer I proofread automatically--as a matter of
fact even people not in the word trade do. (Right, Joyce?) So it was like
a bumpy
road....as nice sentence....bump...nice phrase...bump---like going
over a road under construction..The scenery is gorgeous, weather
perfect, pickup humming like a bird--but every minute I smash my head
against the roof.
I endorse misspelling intentionally. Lettuce agree some famous writers
have done it , not famous ones too, for effect. For a laugh.
But websites are serious. Many of you use them for business purposes.
Spill czech is no gouda. It does not pick up many typos. .
Furthermore the spell check lets PC ruin the
grammar. "Potter", "artist" , "student" are singular nouns.
Representing ONE person. (Or ONE thing.) PC messes
this up, because those anxious to play PC get hysterical when
saying "the student", "the patient". So "they" is used to
represent a singular noun.
The phrase"the potter who wants to sell their wares" grates on the ear.
You have choices. You write "Potters who want to sell their
wares" --noun and pronoun in agreement--or opt for changing gender
throughout your piece, or, simplest, you pick the gender that suits your
copy best, and head into the storm.
This PC hoohah must go! In an effort
to encourage girls to go into previously "all male" trades, and boys
to go into "female" ones it was decided to fudge and fuddle
pronouns to make it clear that the "welding student" could be "she"
and the kindergarten teacher "he". Well, of course, as soon as the brakes
were off and employers hiring by qualifications not sex
(ambiguity intentional!) men and women flocked into appealing trades
regardless. No need to ruin grammar.
So. PROOFREAD. Stop being afraid of 3rd person singular pronouns!
If you are writing about your customers and most are women, you may
WANT to speak of a customer as "he" to tell men it is ok to buy pottery.
Maybe if you
sell power tools you want to use "she" to tell women--no that any ClayArter
needs to be told== every woman wants her own radial arm saw.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
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