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The Grumpy Grammarian

Apparently, the misuse of common words is spreading, and hardly anyone is noticing – or hardly anyone cares.  What else can one conclude when these errors appear in banner headlines, display advertising, signs in business establishments, professional articles, and even wire service releases that appear in hundreds of newspapers?

In a December 26, 2006, article in the New York Times, we spotted this:  "Verizon said their initial foray [into advertising on cell phones] would be a cautious one . . . and thus may invite greater demand to place ads then they can accommodate" (our underline).  "Greater then"?

Surely even the most inexperienced writer for the Times knows the difference between then and than, so how do such obvious gaffes make it into print?  I suggest the following reasons, none of them very encouraging.

> Electronic publishing has eliminated or reduced editorial review of what authors write.  Articles go directly from the writer's computer into publication, without review by an editor.  Indeed, even if writers do look over their own work before sending it to the composing room, they probably do so on screen (where it is easy to miss typos and other obvious errors), not on printed copy.

> Many writers apparently think that spell-check will catch any blatant mistakes, forgetting that spell-check does not flag words that are incorrectly used if they are spelled correctly.   For example, if the author of the Times article misspelled accommodate, spell-check would catch that; however, it will not catch the use of then for than because then is a correct spelling.

> A rather cavalier attitude exists toward these mistakes.  It is argued that the reader knows what the intended meaning is, so a wrong word here and there doesn't matter.  The people in charge of the publication are more interested in speedy production than in quality, so the writer who does take time to check his or her work may be penalized for not writing fast enough – or for not producing enough copy in the allotted time.

> The basics of correct usage are not taught (or are taught only in the early grades and not reinforced thereafter), so many people really do not know what the right word is.  It is hard to believe that many individuals who have completed twelve years of formal education and have read and spoken English for years cannot distinguish between there and their, its and it's, then and than, and other simple words with distinctly different meanings; however, this is the case.

The only possible debate here is not whether incorrect use of common words is rampant but whether it matters.  Unfortunately, quite a few people feel that it doesn't.  Whenever I grumble about the pervasiveness of these common errors, someone always accuses me of making a big deal out of something insignificant.  Indeed, one of my colleagues, who has taught college-level composition for decades, says that he doesn't even bother to correct these types of mistakes.  "I know what the student means," he argues, "so I mark only those errors that affect understanding."  I suppose there's no point in arguing that the student may never learn that he or she is using wrong words:  "it doesn't matter as long as we can deduce the meaning."

Okay, confusing common words is hardly a problem that ranks with global warming, hunger, and overpopulation as a theat to the future of civilization.  The species and language will survive even if we discard all conventions of usage and grammar.  Verbal language is more forgiving than mathematics, where a single erroneous digit can wreak havoc.  However, imprecision can have dire consequences, especially when it becomes a habit.  While one misused word by itself may have little or no effect on communication, the cumulative effect of several of them, coupled with other violations of traditional grammar and usage (as is often the case), is incomprehensibility.

Workers in the manufacturing industry learn that every nut and bolt is important.  They learn that, while a loose screw may not immediately cause a machine to malfunction, a minor oversight or faulty part may ultimately result in the breakdown of the entire apparatus.  Manufacturers of superior products place considerable emphasis on quality control and on the need to pay attention to the smallest detail, even if that detail by itself seems inconsequential.  Let's apply the same principle (not principal) to language.