Grammar Is Important
Grammar is important (as my high school English teacher used to drill into my head), and one missing syllable can do a great deal to impair meaningful dialogue. WARNING: This post has nothing to do about birds, birding, or birders.
In One syllable of civility, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus comments on the propensity of Republican leaders of late, including President Bush, to refer to the Democrat Party rather than the Democratic Party (as it is officially known), a usage that Democrats find disparaging. This issue, the improper use of the noun Democrat as an adjective, has also been addressed at mediamatters.com. My personal recollection of its use dates to Bob Dole, but Marcus traces its usage all the way back to the Harding administration.
Marcus’s article prompted this letter by Robert Brantley, and Brantley’s letter prompted this response from Scott Rogers. I side squarely with Marcus and Rogers on this one—let’s hope that proper English grammar prevails.
In One syllable of civility, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus comments on the propensity of Republican leaders of late, including President Bush, to refer to the Democrat Party rather than the Democratic Party (as it is officially known), a usage that Democrats find disparaging. This issue, the improper use of the noun Democrat as an adjective, has also been addressed at mediamatters.com. My personal recollection of its use dates to Bob Dole, but Marcus traces its usage all the way back to the Harding administration.
Marcus’s article prompted this letter by Robert Brantley, and Brantley’s letter prompted this response from Scott Rogers. I side squarely with Marcus and Rogers on this one—let’s hope that proper English grammar prevails.
posted by John L. Trapp at
12/05/2006 12:45:00 PM
2 Comments:
As always, you are right. Besides, people who say "the Democrat party" just sound stoooooopid.
Gee. I don't know. You're kind of being a pooper party, aren't you?
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