I have writer's block.
Maybe it's because I'm not inspired to write anything. Maybe
it's because I can't concentrate. Or, maybe it's because the English language
is so damned hard.
Honestly, have you ever stopped to think about this? In the
past, some people have referred to me as a grammar Nazi and this is ridiculous
for two reasons. The first is that for reasons I will outline below, I mostly
make it up as I go along. The second is that usually I am merely picking up on
the fact that they are simply using the wrong spelling of the correct word for
their sentence.
I don't think we are in any position to blame them, we own a
language that can have three words that sound exactly the same but have
different spellings:
There; their and they're.
Two; too and to.
We also literally have words that are EXACTLY the same (homonyms - feel free to try and make jokes) but
mean completely different things depending what context they are used in:
"A solitary tear ran down my face."
"I have a huge tear in my dress."
"She left."
"It's to the left."
Seriously?
We wonder why people struggle? I can completely empathise
with newcomers who can barely grasp our ridiculously complicated native tongue.
Hell, half of the deep rooted locals here can't grasp it either!
Oh, and add to that the widespread sarcasm that is almost
impossible for people to pick up on, coupled with your basic, run of the mill
words being scooped up by the youth and spat out as colloquial slang, then the
whole language becomes a veritable minefield for anybody to wander. How is
someone who is new to the language possibly to know that saying "It's cool
in here!" without slipping in a "nice and" means you're
basically bragging about your awesome surroundings and not commenting on the
temperature as they probably intended?
This is why I have so much respect for writers and
wordsmiths, and why I can't call myself a proper writer because at times, I
can't even grasp what is deemed to be 'basic English'!
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