Grunts from the Wordgrump (2)

Some grunts are grudging admission of error by the Wordgrump himself.  Or, in tune with contemporary apologia, “I regret that mistakes were made.”

Because I am rapidly approaching the age when one must make arrangements to have oneself looked after, my keeper, uh…spouse of forty-four years, has agreed to keep an eye on this blog for errata and miscues grammatical or stylistic.  So I have recently had to correct a reference in a post to my grandfather as my “great-uncle”; and more gallingly, to change “affect” back to “effect” despite my innovative defense of “affect” intentionally used as a noun to serve context.  I know many who would have been cowed or convinced by my rationale.  Anita, however, is consistently unimpressed by verbal fandangos and immovable and imperturbable on the principles and practices of grammar.

            In point of fact, a hallmark of our union has been a perdurable mutual interest in the usage norms of Standard English.  We continue to have spirited discussions about the polysyllabic, the pluperfect, the present indicative, the possessive, the periodic; also, whether a particular paragraph is peregrine; or— when alliteration has achieved annoyance.

            I will never be bored or lonely so long as I have my soul mate to debate the right words writ in the right order.