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Oh, that would make you nutty, wouldn't it?

<evil cackle>

Well, here's an example: DD brought home a worksheet with a paragraph on it to read. The title was, "If I Was Invisible."

The paragraph went on at some length repeatedly using the phrase, "If I was invisible, I would <fill in the blank>." Now I know that this is acceptable colloquial speech but it still irked me that this worksheet seemed bent on teaching kids the colloquial construction instead of the proper construction, "If I were invisible, I would etc." So I (in what I thought was a helpful way) pointed it out to DD's teacher....who became quite angry with me. In order to mend fences I had to do some major apologizing! So here I am at grammarians anonymous.

Yes, I think a new thread would be needed, "alot".

I'd have gritted my teeth at that one, too, Cathy! It's wrong. It's just wrong. School should not teach incorrect grammar. Period. You weren't wrong if you were gentle with your correction.

I was often tempted to get out a red pen and mark up wrong stuff that came home from school before sending it back. I never had the nerve to do it, but boy, did I ever want to!

I'll be sitting right beside you at Grammarians Anonymous!

My mother was an English teacher and I got corrected constantly on my grammar. I used to say "me and so and so" just to irritate her. (I shouldn't admit that should I???)

LOL Dottie! The teacher wrote that????

Thanks, Kriston! I did circle a lot of things on the worksheet...come to think of it. I didn't think I was being nervy. I thought the teacher would agree with me and submit a correction to the textbook publisher. I wasn't blaming her at all but that was how she took it.

Misuse of its and it's bugs me, too.

It's not that hard to get right. Just check the dictionary before you put it back in its place!

Don't get me started!

I'm reminded of a Cultural Sensitivity Workshop I was forced to go to, where the trainer apologized for the shortage of handouts saying, "Sorry to have gyped you!" We had a little talk at the break and then she got up sheepishly and apologized to the Roma people.

I know the it's/its thing, but when I'm typing, my fingers don't comply. A colleague has a stamp on all her emails that says, "I can spell; I just can't type."