Grammar Battle - Whom Are We Kidding?

In spoken English, I admit, I will still tell people I was "laying" around the house, and it takes a vigilant colleague to correct me.  In fact, it's become a bit of a joke, made all the more amusing because I am generally the grammar guru of the department.  I never make the mistake in written discourse, and I am the go-to-guy for questions on grammar instruction and assessment materials.  Yet, I still have a few mental blocks on grammar issues, which is surprising after growing up with a writer for a mother who never mis-spoke.

In The Chronicle a couple professors comment on and trace the development our our modern lexicon with all its confusion and misuse.  Katherine Blanchard asks Who Do We Think We Are, reflecting on her frustration with all the mistakes in written English that have been exacerbated by the dominance of social media.  Lucy Ferris adds to the discussion, wondering Who Says Tomato? which links to the fascinating visual graphics/map put together by NC State student Joshua Katz drawing on the recent Cambridge survey of English dialects.

Plenty of discussion to be had in the world of grammar and dialect.