Grammar Culture
I’ll get to the cartoon above in a moment, but first, this:
I would not call myself a “grammar nazi,” though I have been called one. I’m not the kind of person who will correct someone’s grammar on the fly, without being asked (and who asks others to correct their grammar?) but I admit I would like to. It isn’t that I think it is of great importance to speak or write exactly correctly, it’s just that my mind is wired to want to scratch that itch. I think it comes from being raised in a family that valued being correct perhaps a little too enthusiastically. (My wife might say that’s an understatement.)
I bring all of this up because I’ve had some amusing experiences with grammar nazis recently. Wayno’s recent Bizarro cartoon about grammar, shown below, inspired a number of people to write to me to say that it should be “your,” not “you’re.”
As a more keen observer will immediately notice, the incorrect grammar is intentional and is part of the joke. In fact, you could say it is the joke. And “you’re” isn’t the only mistake in the man’s speech'; there are TWO MORE in the SAME SENTENCE. (As Wayno pointed out in his post last week about this cartoon, the fact that the cashier would have to be able to see his words as well as hear them is also part of the joke.)
So my question is if you’re the sort of person who will correct a stranger’s grammar—as quite a few folks attempted to do with me—but you’re not good enough at it to notice the other two mistakes in the same sentence, do you qualify as a grammar nazi? Or are you something less serious? Perhaps “cameo grammar gnat” would be more appropriate.
And here’s where today’s cartoon about culture canceling comes in; I know I will get comments correcting the wording to “cancel culture”. To those tempted to do that, let me say that I used “culture cancel” intentionally because it is the logical verb form of the expression. “Cancel culture” is a noun. It’s a thing you can be the victim of but not a thing you can do. If you do it, you are culture canceling; the verb form. Yes, I know no one uses it that way, but that’s part of the joke. That, and the cliche “accident” part, of course, because the whole point of cancel culture is that it is a public shaming and never an accident.
Now, I don’t mean to be too hard on grammar nazis; after all, if Wayno and I weren’t both similarly inclined and bothered by these kinds of mistakes, we wouldn’t be writing jokes like these. I mostly just wanted to write all of that out so I could link to it when I get these comments, instead of explaining it each time. Thank’s four Indulging “me”!
Now let’s find out what controversial-causing “mistakes” Wayno will appear to have made in his Bizarro cartoons this week…
I love Wayno’s art in this one and I especially love the dashboard figurine detail.
Imagine the chaos if they’d hit his “bowler” instead.
So do people think he’s “cool” when he wears culottes?
On his own weekly cartoon blog post, Wayno has some fun things to share about how he arrived at this drawing of a young Stephen. Check it out and come back or save it for when you’re done here.
When I started publishing cartoons in the mid-80s until relatively recently, words like “damn” weren’t allowed in the funny pages. Nowadays, standing up for that level of civility seems pointless in the face of what the Orange Menace fills the world with hourly. (vote)
This gentleman’s case of dueling face gerbils brings us to the end of our humor safari this week, Jazz Pickles. I hope you found a chuckle or two hiding in the jungle along the way.
I also hope you’re following my new graphic novel, Peyote Cowboy. It’s free to read for anyone with an Internet connection, no sign-in required. If you enjoy the story and find yourself looking forward to the next episode, please consider tossing a buck or two a month into my Stetson. Bizarro hasn’t made me independently wealthy and the newspaper industry is shrinking daily so, regrettably, I still find myself in need of an income. If enough folks send a couple dollars a month, I’ll be able to afford to continue to illustrate my story down here in Mexico where things are still reasonably priced.
To thank you in advance, here’s a preview from a near-future episode!
Thanks, Jazz Pickles. Until next time, keep a daily journal of things you’re grateful for, then tie it to a brick and throw it through the window of someone who annoys you.
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