September 4, 2007

Help me

Y'all, I'm in an ethical grammar jam.

Over the past, well ... forever, I've had a friend who uses your when it should be you're — just like, oh, approx. 97 million other native speakers.

In the interest of protecting identity, I don't want to go into how I know this ... but I know he or she will inevitably impart this incorrect usage to a sizable group of impressionable people and/or become embarrassed in the misuse of these words in the near future.

I've never said anything, but I'm feeling conflicted now. [cue Dennis Hopper "Speed" voice]

What do you do?

1 comment:

Alex Headrick said...

Being that this is a friend, I'm assuming violence is out of the question. Also, nagging is never appreciated and brings bitter accusations of Grammar Nazism.

Therefore, I recommend the gratuitous correct use of "you're" and "your" in all written communications with this friend. Give lots of unsolicited advice such as: "You're right; your actions were correct."