Ableist, Racist, Elitist, Classist
That’s what I was called a few days back when I commented on changing “your” to “you’re” in a tweet someone made regarding homophobia. Yeah, I didn’t need to do that. And yes, it did not substantively change the message of the text.
That said, the deprecations made by the Facebook poster were for my temerity in correcting someone’s English.
Words have power. Without the right words, the power of expression is perverted, diluted, or rendered nonsense. It is none of the above to correct someone who otherwise seems to be able to create clear sentences.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
That pesky comma, misplaced, misunderstood, possibly an artifact of the many variations on the text written and edited by congress, copied imperfectly for ratification by states, recopied by scribes such as Adam Lambert, is causing Americans palpable, immediate grief.
Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens suggested that the addition of five words would resolve the conundrum of ill-phrased English: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the Militia shall not be infringed.”
So yes, words, and punctuation, have meaning and power. And no horde of “Social Justice Warriors” can reduce the important of correct language in support of clear communication.