{"id":1119,"date":"2012-11-16T10:53:47","date_gmt":"2012-11-16T08:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teachenglishtoday.org\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2012-11-28T15:14:38","modified_gmt":"2012-11-28T13:14:38","slug":"the-very-model-of-an-amateur-grammarian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/the-very-model-of-an-amateur-grammarian\/","title":{"rendered":"The very model of an amateur grammarian"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_pdf\"<\/a>\"image_print\"<\/a><\/div>

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

<\/h1>\n

The very model of <\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

an amateur\u00a0grammarian<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

(With apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan)<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am the very model of an amateur grammarian
\nI have a little knowledge and I am authoritarian
\nBut I make no apology for being doctrinarian
\nWe must not plummet to the verbal depths of the barbarian<\/p>\n

I\u2019d sooner break my heart in two than sunder an infinitive
\nAnd I\u2019d disown my closest family within a minute if
\nThey dared to place a preposition at a sentence terminus
\nOr sully the Queen\u2019s English with neologisms verminous<\/p>\n

I know that \u2018soon\u2019 and not \u2018right now\u2019 is the true sense of \u2018presently\u2019
\nI\u2019m happy to correct you and I do it oh so pleasantly
\nI\u2019m not a grammar Nazi; I\u2019m just a linguistic Aryan
\nI am the very model of an amateur grammarian<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure people appreciate my pointing out their grammar gaffes
\nAnd sorting out their sentences and crossing out their paragraphs
\nWhen you crusade for good English, it\u2019s not all doom and gloom you sow
\nThe secret of success is: it\u2019s not who you know; it\u2019s whom you know<\/p>\n

The standards of our language are declining almost every day
\nDown from a peak in 18\u2013 or 19\u2013 I think \u2013 well, anyway
\nPop music, TV, blogs and texting are inflicting ravages
\nUpon English and unchecked, this will turn us into savages<\/p>\n

I fear that sloppy language is a sign of immorality
\nFor breaking rules of grammar is akin to criminality
\nSo curse those trendy linguists, lexicographers and anyone
\nWho shuns the model English of the amateur grammarian<\/p>\n

Conjunctions at the openings of sentences are sickening
\nI wish that the decline of the subjunctive were not quickening
\nAnd that more people knew the proper meaning of \u2018anticipate\u2019
\nOf \u2018fulsome\u2019 and \u2018enormity\u2019, \u2018fortuitous\u2019 and \u2018decimate\u2019<\/p>\n

I learned these rules at school and of correctness they\u2019re my surety
\nI cling to them for safety despite having reached maturity
\nSome say that language changes, but good English is immutable
\nAnd so much common usage now is deeply disreputable<\/p>\n

My pedantry\u2019s demanding but I try not to feel bitter at
\nThe fact that everyone I meet is borderline illiterate
\nWhen all around are wrong then I am proud to be contrarian
\nI am the very model of an amateur grammarian<\/p>\n

Souce:<\/strong> http:\/\/stroppyeditor.wordpress.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The very model of an amateur\u00a0grammarian (With apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan)   I am the very model of an amateur grammarian I have a little knowledge and I am authoritarian But I make no apology for being doctrinarian We must not plummet to the verbal depths of the barbarian I\u2019d sooner break my heart […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1119"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1230,"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions\/1230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachenglishtoday.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}