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Category Archives: Grammatical Gripes

Grammatical Gripe #5

There’s little left but gloom and doom
For proper use of “who” and “whom.”
Those using “whom” to show they’re bright
Can never seem to get it right!
The admin, cheerful yet appalling,
Asks politely, “Whom is calling?”
A few applied themselves in school
And say, “Who’s there?” (unlike a fool),
But oh!  What angst the cases cause
When “who” is in a non-main [...]

Grammatical Gripe #4

From supermarket circulars
  to little private notes,
There’s a rampant epidemic
  of unnecessary quotes!
 Beware of “dog,” the placard warns.
  No “Loitering.”  ”Wet” Paint.
The coffee’s “Fresh ‘N’ Tasty.”
  (Are they hinting that it ain’t?)
For those who find it “difficult”
  I’ll “try” to make it “plain.”
Quotations aren’t for emphasis.
  Now get that through your “brain!” 
 

Grammatical Gripe #3

“Women, who are pregnant,
  shouldn’t use the thermal tub.”
So reads the helpful warning
  at the local fitness club.
So every woman everywhere
  is soon to be a mama?
Unless that’s what you meant to say,
  then LEARN TO USE A COMMA!
 

Grammatical Gripe #2

My wife and I may work or play.
My wife and I may loaf all day.
But dude, no matter how you try,
You’ll never see my wife and I! 
When I’m the subject, “I” is right.
“I need a drink.”  (I think I might!)
So why is it so hard to see
That as an object, I am me? 
You see me [...]

Grammatical Gripe #1

I’d rather shave a feral cat
  or eat a roach soufflé,
I’d rather tell a biker dude
  his skull tattoo is gay.
I’d rather birth an elephant
  without an epidural
Than see a damned apostrophe
  disfiguring a plural!