Expert Grammarians: a rant.

Do you remember the WORD paperclip?

It was a hideous thing which used to pop up whenever one wrote Dear Someone on WORD. A bubble would appear in which would be written the words it looks like you want to write a letter. And then it would offer to help with grammar and spelling etc.

Well, if that was the standard of its written grammar (it looks like you want...) then, no, one didn't want its help. And actually most people must have felt the same way, for the paperclip vanished long ago from WORD.

WORD, as I wrote last week, is still trying to muscle in on matters of style, but nowadays there is pressure from other sources, too.

This popped up as a comment on this blog a little while ago: 

The blog has a few minor grammatical errors which can be corrected by the expert professionals offering affordable Assignment help. Visit *******tutors.com and know more about the ways the professionals can leverage your grades. Feel free to contact... 

What's wrong with that? 

Let me count the ways.

The blog should, I think, be this blog. The phrase by the expert professionals shouldn't contain the word the. (Can these people speak English?) Assignment should not have a capital letter; and know more about the ways should be to discover more about the ways. As for leverage your grades a) this is a blog: it isn't graded; and, b) leverage your grades should, as far as I can see, be spelled cheat.

Yes, there probably are minor grammatical errors in this blog. One can hardly write a simple declarative sentence without someone picking holes in it, and, anyway, I'm human and am bound to make mistakes.

But, you know what? 

Suddenly I feel quite nostalgic for the paperclip.

Word To Use Today: any you like, even if they contain what some people will dismiss as minor grammatical errors, as long as they make proper sense.