In Praise of Grammar

[Suzanne]

"Read" is a verb.

[Dana King]

Actually, not always. It can be a noun:

an act or instance of reading: Give the agreement a careful read before you sign it.

something that is read: Her new novel is a wonderful read.

Also, it's probably an adjective in the phrase, "he was well read."

[I. J. Parker]

Ah, the languages changes as we speak.

I was mildly astonished to see that an English professor friend of mine has replaced "whom" with "who."

Such a cop-out. These things happen when people can't be bothered. So far I resist, although I may try to avoid the construction altogether.

[I. J. Parker]

Make that "language" singular.

[Pepper Smith]

I'm not entirely sure what the point of this post is. It almost reads as if all but one sentence got accidentally deleted.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Suzanne,

Can you provide examples of what prompted you to post this? Was it "onion's two fore 1" at the grocer? An "I seen the tornado and I seen the damage it done" on the television news? Or perhaps it was the ubiquitous "ain't" thrown casually like a dirty sock in the laundry room of chitter-chatter?

I'm with Ms. Smith on this one. The question feels incomplete.

-Ben