Re: spoken & written usage

[Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU>]

Seeing this comment reminded me of an English teacher I had in high
school.  She was a stickler for correctness in class--then I heard her
speak to someone in the grocery store.  Her language was completely
casual--complete with commonly misused grammatical expressions.  Later she
told me that we need to be aware of our audience when speaking just as
much as in writing.  I thought it was an interesting concept.  I wonder
how others feel about this idea.

On Mon, 14 Nov 1994, Rose Wilcox wrote:

> It has been helpful for me to be aware of this, and having heard
> other patterns of speech besides the "correct" way, I can
> set my grammar levels to the appropriate level for communication.
> For instance, in my current job I have to interview construction
> field engineers.  I don't want to come across as a college-educated
> snob, because I already have the cross to bear of being a different
> gender.  I don't want to sound like I don't understand language
> either, since I am a writer.  I usually throw in some bad grammar
> along with good grammar -- I show a range of speaking ability.

> Of course, the most important thing is to be human. :-)

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                RoMay Sitze                 rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu

                Practice makes perfect--or perfectly awful.
                It depends on what you practice.

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