Mind your Grammar!
Or lose your civilisation.
I was accused of pedantry recently; of being one of the grammar police. I had to think why that could be so. This little article is where my thoughts led me.
Reasons
Firstly, I asked myself why do I think it so important to correct others’ use of grammar? I thought - easily enough - of three reasons. The first two dripped of my pen - or tripped off my tongue - with more ease than the third.
Precision. The point of language is to communicate. It exists for no other reason. If to communicate well, one must be precise - whether speaking or writing. The precision is provided by grammar. In information theory, efficient, low error-rate transmission between A (the sender) and B (the receiver) occurs when A and B share a common set of rules. That common set of rules is called grammar.
Second: Engagement. If I have something I think needs to be said or that I would like others to listen to, or to read, then grammar provides the necessary framework which induces others to engage; to want to listen to. To seduce them. Grammar provides the tools to create oratory and eloquence. In so doing it demonstrates, covertly, that you respect your reader or your listener.
The third. reason took me a little longer to untangle.
Historical Respect. There was a time when there were no systems of grammar, even centuries after writing had been invented. As the need for complex communication increased, some clever people developed sophisticated systems of grammar - tense, case, mood, syntax - all the machinery to express conditionals, futures, dependencies, nuance etc. These ancient grammarians weren’t pedantic. They were engineering the systems of grammar that we use today. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their heavy lifting. We should respect the legacy they bequeathed to us.
I had thought that would be it. But I thought more. Something still itched. I needed to scratch it. It occurred to me that the development of grammar paralleled the development of civilisation. That a system of grammar was indeed a necessary defining characteristic of civilisation.
Hard Won: Easily Lost
The ancients understood something, and viscerally so: just how difficult it is to build a civilisation and just how easily it is lost. All ancient civilisations developed two traditions which they wove into their cultures. The first was a deep respect for their ancestors - ancestor worship: a recognition of their forefathers’ contribution to the civilisation inherited. The second tradition was the idea of the eternal flame - a fire that must not be allowed to die. It required constant attention. The fire was civilisation.
Grammar too, requires constant attention. It was hard-won. It took centuries to build. It represents the accumulated wisdom of countless people who created a structure which allows us to make human thoughts durable and transmissible. It is a gift from our forebears - like civilisation itself.
To respect grammar is to acknowledge that we are standing on the shoulders of giants. Yet, we wipe our muddy boots on their shoulders. We treat grammar with contempt. We dismiss it as pedantic or elitist. We act as though caring about it is somehow unenlightened.
We are being negligent with something irreplaceable. We are letting the flame go out.
Keeping the Flame Alive
Like using good manners, using grammar well is a courtesy. it is what defines us as civilised people. It is what separates misunderstanding from meaning - chaos from order,
To write well, to speak well, to use grammar properly is to keep the flame alive for the generations yet to follow. It is to say: we received this gift from you. We will not squander it. We will keep the flame alive.
That is the real reason grammar matters.