The English language is tough! Those of us who have English as our first language probably take it for granted, but for those individuals where English is a second, or even a third language, I have no idea how they do it!? And us English speakers don't make it easy on those that are learning. I mean even having English as my first (and at this point my only language...sorry Sra. Lane) I still get confused by the stupid stuff people say!! There are common phrases in the English language that if we actually broke it down verbatum, like those learning English sometimes do, then they would make no sense to us either! Let's try a couple on for size...
You are giving directions to someone, and you say "Oh its right to the left of the tree!" Hmmm...let's think about this. Is it to the right of the tree? Is it it to the left of the tree? Why do we feel the need to throw in two directional words in the same sentence?
How about "It's a little bigger." This one actually makes some sense. It's not a lot bigger than some thing else; the item is just a little bit bigger. It's just a funny phrase because we put two nouns next to one another that are complete opposites, and yet it desribes the size of the item in comparison to another.
And then there's "It's starting to stop raining." This phrase is garbage (but I may or may not have said it last night). Can you actually start to stop? I mean I guess you can, but the phrase would make much more sense and would be much clearer if we just said "I think the rain is letting up." Instead we complicate the situation with our insane jargon.
But speaking in nonsense is much less comical than reading nonsense. If you say something weird, people make look at you funny, but most of the time they can pick up on what you are saying. However, if you write something down (say, in an email) and it makes no sense at all, you are bound to be haunted by the nonsensical verbiage for life. I know this to be true because I have beared witness to some of the most horrendously written emails ever! And some of you reading this have also been subject to these emails. In my opninion, there is no excuse for a poorly written email.
Email gives you the opportunity to clearly and concisely make your point. If you choose not to engage in this privilege, then you are going to look like a jackass...plain and simple. Emailing back and forth with your buddies is one thing - having perfect grammar and punctuation is not necessary. But if you are writing a professional email and your signature on that email references your company, then you owe it to the business, and to yourself, to make sense when you hit send. Period. You are a reflection of the company you work for, and the fellow employees. If you send an email to an internal or external customer and your email makes no sense, shame on you!! Use spell check. Re-read your work. Slow down!!! All of these things are what make email so nice. Even the worst speaker in the world can have the chance to make a great point in an email. So don't be that idiot. Trust me...if your email is poorly written and down right junk, it will get forwarded and people will see it. If your email is perfect, then it's boring, and no one will pass it on or make fun of you. You can choose your own destiny...so choose wisely!
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