I first encountered the Grammar Sins Tumblr when they started following me on Twitter. From the name, you probably know what to expect: a catalogue of venial sins being treated as though they were mortal. Someone misspelled something; this means English is dying. Someone used a comma splice; that distant humming you hear is Charles Dickens spinning in his grave.
Whereas normally looking at this would set me down a road you’ve no doubt grown as sick of as I have, talking about the silliness of the obsession with minor errors and the look-at-me nature of correcting these everyday missteps, today I’m going to calm down and focus before I rant.
So let’s talk specifically about the presence of non-native English speakers and their mistakes in these peeveblogs. It was this recent post that galled me, describing the misspelling of veggie as vegi as “unforgivable”.
![[Fresh vegi salad]](https://i0.wp.com/25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6vklfJip31rr7w32o1_500.jpg "vegi")
The indefensible offense.
Now, that’s cheap hyperbole any way you slice it — frankly, I’m not sure of many offenses that are more forgivable than a comprehensible misspelling on a corner-store sign. But the thing that really ground on me was that the next post revealed that the sign was up in a bodega, which, assuming the author is as careful with words as she expects others to be, suggests that the signmaker’s native language is not English.
Is this what we have become as a society? Are there no more pressing concerns in this world than whether non-native speakers make minor spelling mistakes? This isn’t some one-off whine, either; it’s something of a trend both at Grammar Sins (see here, here, here) and for peevebloggers in general (here, here). Unforgivable is making fun of mistakes in a second language, not making the mistakes.
Isn’t this the sort of thing that Americans have traditionally accused our mortal enemies — the French — of doing? In my youth, it was a standard belief that the French were real jerks, because if you went there and spoke in broken French, instead of switching to English, they’d supposedly just complain that you weren’t speaking French right and turn up their noses. This was viewed as incredibly rude; unfairly, of course, because it’s even ruder to assume that people in another country ought to speak your language.
Nevertheless, we Americans got quite self-righteous about the supposed language snobbishness that this represented. Now, it seems our self-righteousness has been supplanted by the very judgmentalism that we once condemned. And it’s surprisingly cross-class. It’s difficult not to sense a connection between the impulses that drive these blogs begrudging the second-language greengrocers their apostrophes and those that drive English Only legislation.
I’m just touchy about this kind of thing because I know how strong a barrier language can be. Learning a second language is really damn hard, and it’s a bit rich to mock people for their imperfect acquisition, especially in a society that’s so monolithically monolingual as ours. I’m even touchier about this because I have school friends who are far smarter than me, but lack my casual intimacy with English and thus seem dumber, and are frankly screwed if they want to get a good job here. And I’m touchiest about this because I have a lot of first- or second-generation immigrant friends whose older family members are borderline shut-ins because their limited English skills make it nearly impossible to participate in American society.* So I get pretty hot when people’s analysis of this problem amounts to “Ha ha! They spelled something wrong! *facepalm/derpface*”
Just in case it’s not obvious, I don’t mean that spelling and grammatical errors should be given carte blanche. Stores should try to get proofreaders for any signs that are going to be up awhile, and I would be happy to correct any store’s signage for a small fee (hint). But being a prig about it and making fun of people behind their backs is childish. This is a social sin far outstripping that of even egregious language errors — especially when the error is in a second language.
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*: Combining those last two into a single anecdote, my friend’s mom was an electrical engineer in China, and is a waitress in a Chinese restaurant here.
20 comments
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July 17, 2012 at 9:39 am
NicePostThough
“Combining those last two into a single anecdote, my friend’s mom…”
That’s a dangling participle. I’m pretty sure that you and not she did the combining.
July 17, 2012 at 9:42 am
Rachel
It’s even more ridiculous when you realize they are being so harsh over an ABBREVIATION. This store owner should really be ashamed he/she hasn’t learned every ounce of slang/shorthand in our language. Cripes.
July 17, 2012 at 9:46 am
John Bagnall
Thanks, Gabe—quite the most enlightened post I’ve read in recent weeks on any grammar-related topic.
July 17, 2012 at 10:41 am
Stan
“Vegi” makes immediate and obvious sense in the context; to call it unforgivable suggests a lack of tolerance and perspective. I don’t understand this compulsion to sneer at other people’s usage.
July 17, 2012 at 1:29 pm
Shannon
Thank you!!!! ARGH. This has been one of my peeves (I have a degree in Spanish and I minored in Linguistics). I was treated so graciously in both Mexico and Peru when struggling to communicate. To not treat others with the same courtesy…
Anyway. Good on ya’ for pointing this out :)
July 17, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Will
On the topic of spelling, I’ve used just enough German in my life that I have trouble remembering how to spell common English words, usually cognates and compound words. I can only hope American society will one day graciously gloss over my grievous error when I inevitably spell “grand mother” instead of “grandmother”.
@NicePostThough This article may as well have been titled, “The Pitfalls of Criticizing Perfectly Understandable English”. Criticizing a dangling participle (while admitting that you fully understand its context) is like being surprised by the lack of meat in your “fresh VEGI salad”.
July 17, 2012 at 9:12 pm
Gabe
NPT: First, I don’t think it’s as dangling as you suggest; my friend’s mom is the one that forms the coherent anecdote, at least as much as I do. Second, I really don’t see dangling modifiers as the dreadful error so many others do — see Will’s point.
Everyone: Thanks for the comments — I was somewhat reluctant to post this because I’m trying to be kinder & gentler and worried that I was being overharsh. But this kind of thing really bugs me, especially when I think about (as Shannon was saying) how kind the various Spanish speakers have been to me as I’ve butchered my way through their language.
And, as you’ve all said, I still don’t see why so many people think that simply pointing out an error and maybe adding some hyperbole counts as intelligent commentary.
July 18, 2012 at 3:49 am
Victoria
Thanks for writing this. I have just recently discovered your blog, and I have enjoyed every post so far.
I often struggle to find the balance between prescriptivism and descriptivism and find myself frequently correcting grammar, but I also think it’s unforgiveable to criticize someone’s mistakes in a second language. It hurts me to know that some of my friends’ English is often the brunt of jokes.
I am currently living in Barcelona for the summer, and I am grateful for those who graciously correct my Spanish (and Catalan) instead of writing a blog post about “All the stupid shit Victoria says.”
Thanks again. Good post.
July 18, 2012 at 4:31 am
Stan
@NicePostThough and others: this analysis of dangling participles, by Geoffrey Pullum at Language Log, might be of interest.
July 18, 2012 at 6:33 am
Marc Leavitt
I was stationed with the U.S. Army in France for three years, before President DeGaulle kicked us out. When I got to France I already had five years of French under my belt. Proust and Corneille were no problem; I just had trouble asking for a pack of cigarettes in idiomatic French.
While I was there, I spent as much time as possible off base, speaking to, and interacting with the locals. I was invariably complimented, sometimes to the point of my embarrassment, over my “wonderful” command of the language. I also speak two other languages “wonderfully,” and have been the recipient of equally gracious and undeserved compliments.
We anglophones, with our boringly monolingual approach to the world, have no right to nitpick over these matters, It needlessly belittles the object of the derision and shows the complainer for what he/she is: an oaf.
July 18, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Jenny
Gabe, on being kinder and gentler: I think a subject like this is absolutely in that spirit. The way we (as a culture) criticize imperfect speakers of the language is appalling. In fact, if you take note of times when you hear someone say, “Learn the language!” (or some other such nonsense) you’d most often find that they were speaking of someone who had learned the language, but still spoke with an accent or turned a phrase strangely now and then. We’re so “monolithically monolingual” that we reinforce our own monolinguism by making ourselves afraid to try a foreign language for fear of making the same mistakes we critcize others of, even though many other cultures are far more tolerant than we are (I’ve struggled with that fear myself). Foreign speakers of our language are so often treated as second class that many of us don’t even think to imagine that in their own language they’re engineers and professors and civil rights activists and doctors. We criticize others for knowing only 75% of the intricacies of our language without even considering that it means that they know three quarters of a language more than most of us in this country do.
My point is that attempting to open people’s eyes to the deeper implications of criticising foreign usage IS in the interest of a kinder more tolerant populace that understands that it’s difficult enough to adhere to the shoulds and should nots of a language you are comfortable and confident in. Dealing with the shoulds and should nots of a language that is not your own, and which bahaves differently that your native tongue can be a monumental undertaking, and can take more than a lifetime to master.
Excellent post!
July 18, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Ado_Annie
Spent several days driving the back roads through France (couldn’t afford the tolls) from La Harve to the Mediterranean and on into Spain with no more French than ‘please’, ‘thank you’, and ‘coffee with milk’ and was treated with nothing less than courtesy and hospitality. One confused man at a petrol station watched my charades in front of the car engine and finally figured out that I was asking for an oil rag to check the dip stick. I just hope that I would be that patient with a visitor to my neck of the woods. And almost everyone I met spoke, at a minimum, 3 to 4 languages. I was embarrassed at my own lack of language skill, especially when I found later that my Tex-Mex Spanish is considered crude, yet no one ever criticized my willingness to keep plugging away at butchering their lovely language.
We should be so kind.
July 19, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Z
Incidentally, it’s kind of odd that “vegetable” (one g) is abbreviated as “veggie” (two gs). “Vegi” is perhaps more logical. I guess one could argue that “vegi” looks like the first vowel should be pronounced [i:], but overall, I think that expecting the abbreviation would be spelled the same way as the full word is a very venial sin indeed. (That expectation makes it difficult for me to remember to spell “refrigerator” with no d.)
July 20, 2012 at 9:35 pm
Benjamin Lukoff
This is a great piece. However — I was very, very disappointed to see this sort of thing at a post office. Should I not expect better from a branch of the federal government? http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukobe/7607659652/
July 22, 2012 at 2:10 pm
medrecgal
This post made me laugh, as I remembered my years at a store where I used to go through and correct the various spelling and grammatical errors on the handmade signage regularly. These were not foreigners, mind you; this was in a spot where 99%+ of the people were native English speakers. I always said I should have taken a job on the side as a sign maker, because there wouldn’t have been nearly the number of errors. But if it’s foreigners, you’ve got to give them some leeway; English isn’t exactly the easiest language on the planet to learn. (I’ve heard that it’s second only to Chinese in difficulty to learn when it’s not your native language.) If you can understand the premise, what’s the difference? (I certainly expect most people would know what she meant by “vegi”.)
July 26, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Gabe
Stan: Thanks for that link! I always like when people draw parallels between language and etiquette, and when it’s Pullum, doubly so.
Z: Agreed. Perhaps this is part of my personal fondness for British “veg”.
August 1, 2012 at 8:49 am
Nichole L. Reber
While overall I dig this post, I do take umbrage at two points. First, I certainly hope you don’t think most Americans are hasty to point out the linguistic flaws of those speaking ESL. Most don’t. We’re generally happy enough just that the other person is making an effort and, seemingly reflexively, we slow down our own language to accommodate the non-native speaker. Second, the US is far from being monolithically monolingual. Pick up a phone. Go to an ATM. You won’t find one without instructions for speakers of English and Spanish. After all, it is an educational requirement in grade school to study another language, yes?
@NicholeLReber
August 1, 2012 at 11:45 am
Gabe
Nichole: Of course. Most Americans aren’t so peevish as to complain about ESL speakers’ errors, at least not unless errors impede communication. I’m talking here about a vocal minority. This is also not a distinctly American complaint; I just find it more galling for us than other countries, given that our traditional philosophy was supposed to be that we were pragmatic and cool with people.
As for the monolingualism point, I’ll admit that “monolithic” is hyperbole, but we’re pretty monolingual. Here’re some 2009 numbers saying that less than half of all high school students are taking second language classes in high school: http://www.voanews.com/content/a-13-foreignlanguage2006-06-27-voa74/320302.html Now, that’s a number of uncertain provenance, but even if we suppose 2/3 of all HS students take at least one language class, that’s still not much. I took five years of French in high school, and I was pretty much incapable of carrying on a conversation afterward.
And I don’t think it’s a requirement to take a second language in most states. It’s a de facto requirement only if you’re planning to go to a good college.
Lastly, I should point out that the finger of blame should be pointed as much at me as anyone; here I am a linguist, living in a city with a substantial Spanish-speaking community (including many of my closest friends), and I remain essentially monolingual.
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