Happy National Grammar Day, fellow word nerds!

The big day goes back to 2008, and its founding by Martha Brockenbrough and the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. SPOGG is “for people appalled by bad grammar in public spaces.” Yup, that’s me.

(Note, that’s “appalled,” not having my blood pressure spiked, as in the chart here shared by my friend and fellow word nerd, Sue. Also, note the “public spaces.” I reserve judgment for public displays of bad grammar by companies/people who should know better, not friends and family.)

National Grammar Day is perhaps not coincidentally smack dab in the middle of Words Matter Week. Held this year March 1-7, the week is celebrated annually the first full week in March and sponsored by the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors.

The day and the week both encourage us to speak well and write well. They also remind us to avoid getting caught “spelling by ear” and making errors such as these real life examples, all of which I’ve found online or in print:

• I have fallen foul of this (afoul)
• All it’s chocked up to be (chalked)
• Loose the weight I gained (lose)
• Temperatures often sore past (soar)
• Take a peak at the table of contents (peek)
• What does it take to be an entrepreneur? Big kahunas (cojones, or manly assertiveness)
• Wala! (voila)

For details on National Grammar Day, check out this year’s host, Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty. Listen to March Forth: the Grammar Song, find out how to make Martha’s Grammartini, and pick up an editing checklist with areas to watch out for, including jargon, “there are” sentences, unnecessary capitalization and sentence fragments.

And of course, go forth and take pride in your grammar nerdiness!

Related reading
Another post on Grammar Day looks at the (mis)use of apostrophes