Words Fail Us: Good English and Other Lost Causes

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Blackburn has made a career of word-watching. Sometimes what he sees
amuses him; more often, it gives his anguish, for we persist in ignoring
the rules of grammar and in demonstrating carelessness in our choice of
words. Do we commit these sins continually or continuously? Blackburn
would make the correct choice, support his decision with references to a
room full of reputable dictionaries and usage guides, and point out the
consequences of ignoring the distinction: nothing short of the death of
our ability to communicate. Blackburn’s own style makes this tirade
against sloppy word choices both easy and entertaining to read.

He describes his work as a “lament about linguistic anarchy.”
Journalists, politicians, advertisers, television reporters, writers,
editors, and just plain folks share his blasts for sins as diverse as
misusing punctuation, misplacing modifiers, selecting the wrong word,
scrambling the Queen’s grammar, using jargon, and failing to recognize
an “infelicity.” His tone of righteous indignation is precious.