This week, as Christine Badillo passed the baton to me (Jennifer Childress) to take on the daunting task of subbing for the renowned Law Dawg while he is on a well-deserved hiatus, I decided to brush up on my grammar, editing, and style rules. You see, not only does the Law Dawg have a ferocious legal mind, but he is also quite a stickler for grammar. Believe you me (is that okay?), you won’t catch me misusing any of the following as long as I am a Law Dawg sub:
They’re vs. Their vs. There
Your vs. You’re
Its vs. It’s
Did you know that “irregardless” is not a word and that apparently people overuse apostrophes? Now you do! I’d like to think I’m adding value already.
When I was a young attorney working for the Texas Attorney General, one federal district judge in Houston used to return our legal briefing with handwritten grammar corrections in red ink. I learned early on that grammar is important!
As I embark on my effort to not embarrass this worthy publication, I offer homage to the late Bob Dorough for teaching through song. Dorough composed School House Rock! and all the catchy tunes in Grammar Rock, Multiplication Rock, and America Rock, among others. Growing up in Texas, he probably heard his fair share of bad grammar. Through his music, we learned the proper use of conjunctions, interjections, prepositions, adjectives, and nouns. Dorough recently passed, but his songs and the lessons they impart are not forgotten.
As we will see tomorrow, bad grammar may be the main reason for one school district’s legal woes, so says it’s its attorney!
DAWG BONE: LET’S GIVE IT UP FOR BOB DOROUGH!
Tomorrow: Fasten your seatbelts, put your tray tables up, and get ready to enter another dimension!