Someone rightly pointed out that I put a grammatical error in Skybloom #2, and it got me thinking about language and our journeys so I’m turning it into a blog post! (This blog isn’t really about grammar, don’t worry.)
On page 39, the phrase “There was a naturalness to Sophie and I ….” should be “… to Sophie and me …”
Correct! According to the ‘rule’!
Now, I’d be the first to admit my comics are surely riddled with typos (in OHB 6, apparently Steph enjoys ‘hot noddle soup’ – that’s a particularly tasty little typo!) – but I do have to disagree with the grammatical issue mentioned above. The language we speak represents who we are, because we all have slightly different vibes – Marcus is very well educated and polite, so he uses phrases to suit, like his piece understated English; “… quite”:
From my experience of people like Marcus, I think he would say “Sophie and I” – no matter what the rule is, because he’s narrating in his slightly posh English and is not Samwise Gamgee saying “Mister Frodo and me”. Grammatical rules like ‘object of a preposition’ try to make sense of English, but they only tell the framework of facts, not the beautiful maelstrom of truth that lies within.
Our language should reflect who we are, not the other way around.
So when we try to make rules to describe the English language, they can only go so far. As Churchill said of grammatical rules, “This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.” – that isn’t to say all grammatical rules are all wrong, just that they are limited in focusing on the ‘technical’ usage …
So yeah I’m sticking with murky English because it’s better at telling the fullness of our humanity, and that’s what I’m interested in conveying.
Marcus also says ‘plepping’ (page 100) … and that’s not even a word! He does that because he’s learning to be less professional, and his language reflects his own journey from facts towards … truth.
That’s what my stories are all really about.
I have always preferred ‘and I’, it seems more elegant. Language constantly evolves, innit, so as long as it communicates the desired effect it is functional. My daughter is dyslexic, a word created by wordsmiths to confuse its subject methinks, and tends to spell phonetically but it’s not less understandable. So do your damndest Sindy, speak your truth to grammatically ignant masses.
Totally agree with Jason! As long the idea or emotion comes through clearly, we, ‘duh iggerunt masses’ could care less about how ‘properly’ it’s communicated!
Agreed. Language is a tool to convey ideas and emotion. A communion of bodies sharing essence of separate minds and experiences. Rules can be useful to learn the basic foundation but should never be a solid unbreakable wall for real human interaction. Slang, dialect and even meaning of words can change even within one country.
The rule breakers are where shift, evolution and transformation originates. Change seldom comes from those stuck in the dogma of the past, in fact, it is often resisted by them. Grammar matters little to the creatives and explorers going beyond the mindset of the known and accepted. Or lovers lost in passion.
Which brings us nicely back to….boobies! 😉
I grew up in an area that is considered here in the US that is cleanest speaking US accent or lack of. I will tell you that apple’s siri can’t understand me at all and jumbles my words up…. But when I speak the same words with an accent… Siri is perfect. Gah 😩 fml 🤦
But I also don’t sleek the speech very well and I slur my sssssss’s. I even had to have speech therapy through my whole grade school… aka I don’t speeek well pet people.
Thank goodness for autocorrect…. Well sometimes… but we all are human and language is just weird… just need hugs and ❤️