I can’t help it. I love all things about grammar: punctuation, parts of speech, syntax, parsing, diagramming sentences. And today is National Grammar Day, which means there are enough of us out there who feel the same way.
National Grammar Day was founded in 2008, so it’s a relatively new addition to the calendar. But if procrastinators and plumbers and police can have a day, why can’t grammarians? Most of the time we have to sneak around listening to others confuse ‘Me’ and ‘I,’ waiting for subjects and verbs to disagree, and generally feeling as if our language is going to pot.
But today there are celebrations and a quote from Martha Brockenbrough who founded the day. She said, “Words can make us laugh, cry, fall in love, fall apart. That so many people care about expressing themselves thoughtfully, respectfully, clearly — it’s kind of miraculous.”
To honor the event I ran across a haiku contest that focuses on grammar, an article in The Chicago Tribune about the day, and acknowledgements of its significance on The Huffington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Facebook, and Wikipedia.
Tomorrow I’ll revert to sneaking around once more. But tonight I’ll go to bed feeling fulfilled.
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