I was on a committee reviewing the bylaws of an organization.  I missed a meeting

and received the final ballot for voting on changes.  Noticing a new change, I asked

how that change had gotten on the ballot.  The obvious response was, “The

committee voted it on.”

 

In dealing with “between you and I”, I use the double object of the preposition and

always put ‘between’ in with the other prepositions.  Because I always start a

course with an introductory lecture outlining, I use double objects of a preposition

to show how easy the class will be.  Frequently, some student will ask, “you mean

you can’t say “between you and I”?  The other students laugh and I respond that

one may say ‘between you and I’ or ‘Me and John is going to town.’  No one forces

you to use correct English when you talk.  You may be evaluated by your speech if

you apply for a job above manual labor in many cases.  Your writing will almost

certainly be evaluated when applying for college or even clerical positions. 

 

The level of literacy has dropped so low that fewer applicants are excluded by poor

English today and even literate reviewers tend to drop their standards when reviewing

an application from a non-native English speaker.

 

In looking at the number or errors that I make in typing on line, I wonder whether even

lists as fascinating, entertaining, and helpful as ATEG are not contributing to the

problem: I an one of the many who have difficulty in catching errors on screen—and

the grammar checks are ridiculous—they have even declined in quality since the

early WordStar products.

 

Scott Catledge, PhD/STD

Professor Emeritus

history & languages