Two people who share my disdain for the sorry state of grammar and usage in the English language happend to e-mail me on the same day, both inadvertently inspiring me to write.

Leigh (of Flipper and Me and TriangleMom2Mom) is dumbfounded that the confusion of homonyms and similar words has become practically accepted. We commiserated on the use of "loose" (rhymes with "goose") for "lose" (rhymes with "chews"). I was recently doing some work that required me to read college entrance letters from high school seniors and I found that the loose/lose confusion was rampant. It bothers me that the confusion exists in the first place. But what bothers me more is that these kids didn't feel it necessary to have their letters proofed before sending them to people they should be trying to impress!!!

Another friend, Amy, sent me an article from The Amateur Gourmet concerning dress codes in restaurants. I think she thought I would be inspired to weigh in on the matter, but what I ended up noticing was the poor usage in this phrase in one of the comments: "If you'd like to be apart of what they are trying to convey, be apart of it." It should be "a part" instead of "apart."

This got me thinking about the people who use "alot" or, worse still, "allot" in their writing when they mean to convey "many." First of all, when I was growing up, I was taught that "a lot" was OK for the spoken word, but in writing, one should explore other words to convey the same meaning. Obviously, this was a rule that went the way of the serial comma, and I can handle that. But if you are going to use "a lot" in your writing, please bother to spell it correctly.

Maybe my concerns about the status of grammar and usage of English put me in the same category as the commenters in The Amateur Gourmet's Anti Dress-Code Violation article who insist that men wear suits and women wear dresses to certain restaurants. Maybe I am headed toward becoming part of the new older generation, steadfastly embracing the "old days" when good writing skills were required and people cared enough to proof their work before sharing it. Maybe I need to lighten up.

What do you think?

Diane appears every Saturday on TriangleMom2Mom. Read more about Diane at Live and Let Di.