The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar has been mentioned in some of the world's finest publications, including The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. For a news release about National Grammar Day, click here.
Not long ago, an elderly friend and grammar stickler stopped me midsentence. I had just said, “They gave it to him and I,” when it should have been “him and me.”
“You have to keep in mind the object of the preposition,” she gently told me.
I felt ashamed, but also grateful to be corrected.
“And now you won’t embarrass yourself in front of someone else,” she said.
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Group Led by Seattle Writer Promotes Good (Not Perfect) Grammar
13 November 2007
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AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: Martha
Brockenbrough, a writer in Seattle and founder of SPOGG, the Society for the
Promotion of Good Grammar. Five thousand people get her free e-mails about
grammar, usage and what she calls "related outrages," and she has a blog at her
Web site, spogg.org. She's always watching for errors like misplaced modifiers.
MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH: "I found one last week in a letter home from school. They
were encouraging us to have our daughter apply to pre-school and they said
'Believing in a nurturing environment, our preschool is located in a house.'
Well, 'our preschool' is the subject of that sentence. Does our preschool
believe in the nurturing environment, or do the teachers? And so it's the sort
of thing that can be confusing.
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Especially During the Holidays, 'Gift' Is a Verb That Just Keeps on 'Gifting
By Elizabeth Holmes
It's better to give than to receive, but is it even better to gift?
The noun "gift" is a popular word, synonymous with "present." But this holiday season, it's cropping up increasingly as an encouraging verb -- as in, to give something to somebody.
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Ashland Daily Tidings
SPOGG founder Martha Brockenbrough is available for interviews.
To inquire about one, please e-mail info@spogg.org.
Upcoming Events
St. Martin's Press will release THINGS THAT MAKE US [SIC, a hilarious guide to grammar by Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar.
The book is full of advice, history, and hilarious examples of problematic grammar.
![Things That Make Us [Sic]](images/smallcover.jpg)
