Resurrection Of The Grammar Cop

(NOTE: This is written in tribute to the late, great Forrest Seymour, Pulitzer Prize winning editorial writer and my first editor at The Worcester Telegram & Evening Gazette.)

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As Passover further morphs into Easter Sunday, now comes a Pedant (who shall remain anonymous for the purposes of this posting) who has fingered Yours-Truly with regard to a certain matter he is very concerned about.

You see, this is a World-Class Grammarian, or to put it another way, one who is a self-appointed Guardian of the English Language and how Correct Grammar is employed -- something, by the way, that I'm all for.

More specifically, he objects to my occasional Habit of ending a sentence with a Preposition, or a word such as "of, with, or on." Because I occasionally "sin" grammatically, he asserts that my writing is something he can do without.

(I have a strong hunch that the World-Class Word Usage Cop is actually a Practicing Evangelical Fundamentalist Grammarian, Professional Parsing Sect, and I've had this notion about him before...)

To which I say, "Right On!"

When one writes, especially when the writer is a Metaphysician such as I, there's only so much one can do to persuade others about the matters I want to get across.

The Grammarian should understand that I have, over the years, attempted to write for others to express their points of view -- about a matter they are either for or against.

As of late, however, I write for myself about issues and topics that I particularly like.

For example, politics and entertainment are a couple of old, standby topics I can really sink my teeth into.

Whether or not another soul gets the point I try to make is not of consequence: it's the chance to make a point (or two) that gets me by.

But let's get back to our Grammarian and what he is concerned about...

With respect to this literary criticism, I make this solemn vow regarding all of the above.

I shall strive never to over employ Prepositions, to end sentences, in future metaphysical ramblings where I want to drive my point across.

But be warned about everything I have written just above: I'll need a lot of Practice before I get this ability down.

I'll grant this: I have lots of new stuff to go over ...