Comments on: Publishing biz insider: Don’t trust line editors under 50

By: Garson Poole

Garson Poole — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 01:52:17 +0000

The MSNBC column by Michael Rogers states that “Today’s young people are not able to read and understand long stretches of text simply because in most cases they won’t ever need to do so.” The intense aversion toward long texts is certainly not new. I have always enjoyed the following quote from 1781, “Another damned thick, square book! Always scribble, scribble, eh, Mr. Gibbon?” said by Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, upon receiving the second volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire from the author.

By: Quinn Anya Carey

Quinn Anya Carey — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 21:14:47 +0000

Garson,
I’ve never been a fan of the hard-core prescriptivist grammar types. Myself, I never use “whom”. The problem with this guy was that he insisted on using it– presumably to make his writing look more sophisticated– but he never figured out how to use it right. I find the use of “whom” (in American English, anyway) rather pompous, but finding it used wrong is downright grating.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 20:56:58 +0000

QUINN: Thanks for your candid observations.. Yes, I'd agree with the reader: Things are worse. Of course, my position is that everyone needs a copy editor---I commit my share of atrocities. I am a rotten proofer. EVERYONE--especially those outside the U.S.: Quinn is at one of America's best schools. Imagine what writing is like at Podunk University. Is this mess one more sign of America's decline in the world? Writing can't be separated from thinking, and vice versa; and the it/it's issue is just one symptom of far more troubling problems. GARSON: Oh, well. The fewer the options, the less chance people will go astray. David

By: Garson Poole

Garson Poole — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 20:38:15 +0000

The progressive loss of the distinction between “who” and “whom” is both tragic and inevitable. But this is only a modern manifestation of an insidiously pervasive verbal decay. Indeed, the literacy of the English speaking people completely collapsed when the pronouns “thou”, “thee”, “thine” and “thy” were dropped from the main dialects. The crude vulgarization of expression in our native tongue must be stopped. Wouldst thou help me to resuscitate these delightful words? (Yes, this is intended to be humorous.)

By: Quinn Anya Carey

Quinn Anya Carey — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 19:34:08 +0000

Not having the perspective of age, I can’t really say whether things are getting worse, but I must admit that I’ve found the grammatical state of my peers’ writing rather depressing. The University of Chicago puts a lot of emphasis on the essay portion of its application, but the writing I saw in my first-year humanities class (i.e., from the students who were admitted) left a lot to be desired. Even a friend of mine, who recently got an MA, has never gotten the hang of it’s vs. its, or who vs. whom.

Even if you accept the quote from Michael Rogers that “[t]he nation’s leaders must be able to read; for those who follow, the ability should be strictly optional,” even the people being groomed to be the nation’s leaders aren’t doing so well from the writing side of things.