I love the English language. I love all languages. I really wish I knew more than just English and a measly amount of Spanish. I am proud of the ability to express myself accurately through the use of words. I love how words can flow together to create a beautiful world in a story. A well-strung series of words can be as artful as a wonderful drawing or painting.
It drives me crazy when I see people abuse the English language. Misspellings, jumbled words, and inaccurate wording galore. I will not lie; there is a "grammar Nazi" inside me that is always trying to claw its way out. I fight it all the time just because I know how annoying it is to other people, but it's there. Granted, I know that my grammar is not always super perfect by any means, nor am I the best at writing. Even when I know certain grammar rules, sometimes I choose to break them just because I like my writing to "sound" similar to the way I talk.
I can't stand the fact that people everywhere are using chatspeak for just about everything. When chatting or IMing, I often avoid capital letters and most punctuation just because it allows me to type faster in a more fast-paced conversation environment. But just because I do that doesn't mean I don't know how to write properly when I'm writing otherwise. Yet many (not all) of the people who use chatspeak use it for just about everything. And the problem with making a habit out of that is, sooner or later, you get so used to writing that way that proper writing doesn't come easily to you. Writing well takes practice, like anything else, and if you don't do it, your skills get rusty.
It's one thing if someone tries to write better, but just struggles with it. Or for those whose first language isn't English, of course. Respect should always be given for someone who tries. But to make the same error in writing over and over, even if you're corrected on it, and even though you've seen it written correctly elsewhere... Just... ugh.
I just feel like the days when legible writing was widely appreciated ended a long time ago. I know that language is constantly evolving, blah blah blah, but is it so terrible to dislike the direction that language is going?
Back when I was applying for colleges, I actually was seriously considering taking up an English major to become a high school teacher. For all of the reasons listed above - because I don't want to see people as a whole forget to appreciate written words. I ended up majoring in Animation instead mostly because I don't really get along with kids. (There were other reasons too, but that would be getting a bit off-topic.) I just love English and language that much.
So I suppose I'll leave you with this. Because these are the things that eat at me the most when I see people misuse them, and I just need to say them somewhere.
"A lot" is two words, not one.
"Peak" = high point; maximum. A mountain peak.
"Peek" = a quick look. To peek around a corner.
"Pique" = to stimulate an emotion. To pique someone's interest.
It's "always", not "allways."
It's "totally", not "tottaly."
And an apostrophe (') shows possession/ownership of something, and it is never used to form a plural word.
Not to mention the difference between they're/their/there, your/you're, and its/it's that everyone ought to know because it's probably the most frequently corrected grammar error on the internet.