H
ad
I
owned
a
laptop
in
early
high
school,
I
probably would’ve had one
of those text bubble “*you’re”
stickers smugly displayed on
it, announcing to the world
how grammatically superior
I was to those who dared
to write “your welcome.”
Luckily, I didn’t have a
laptop, and luckily, my view
of grammar has changed
since then.
Grammar has always been
something I thought was
both fun and important,
particularly
as
someone
who considers themselves
detail-oriented.
Having
parents
who
routinely
pointed
out
misplaced
apostrophes
or
quotation
marks on signs and menus, I
became a grammar stickler
myself
and
had
proudly
written my first email to Ford
Motor Company criticizing
their use of the phrase “less
stops”
[COPY:
fewer]
in
one of their commercials
by age 13. A source of
pride for me became my
knowledge of language and
grammatical
structure,
from
understanding
the
difference
between
a
subject and a direct object to
noticing dangling modifiers
and misused commas.
However, I have also
become a lover of shorthand
texting. In my everyday
communications,
I
often
don’t have to worry about
the
difference
between “your” and
“you’re”
because
I have come to
replace them both
with
“ur,”
and
I
now find myself even
avoiding
grammatically
correct structures to be
more casual with my
friends.
It
would
seem that my love
for
“correct”
grammar
and
disdain for those
who
didn’t
use
it
would
contradict
my frequent use of
shortened words and
texting
acronyms,
which
raises
a
question: How could I
reconcile loving both?
The
answer,
I
found,
is
that
both
styles
are
valuable
because of their ability
to accurately convey
information, regardless
of
whether
they’re
recognized
as
“standard”
or
not.
After
taking
a
cultural
linguistics
class,
I realized that language,
and
more
specifically,
grammar, exists to allow for
effective
communication
between people, and really,
its only failure is if it’s not
understandable. As long as
I write with a consistent
style to someone, even if it’s
not standard English, my
grammar is doing its job.
For instance, my friends
are accustomed to my use
of “lmao wtf” and “rn,” and
therefore
my
shorthand
style is perfectly acceptable
for that context, as long as
I don’t change the meaning
of these acronyms without
telling them.
At The Michigan Daily,
we use our standardized
stylebook
for
the
same
reason: We want our writing
to be understood. Largely
based on AP Style, The
Daily
Stylebook
follows
grammatical
guidelines
similar to the ones many
other newspapers use, as this
uniformity allows readers
to understand us, while also
making sure our paper looks
precise
and
professional.
While many probably think
copy editors’ nitpicking and
subtle changes are largely
inconsequential,
using
the same style for every
piece
allows
for
clarity
of our writers’ messages.
For example, we use “the
University,” with a capital
U, to refer to the University
of
Michigan
on
second
reference. If we were to edit
an article that discussed
“the struggles of a university
student,” there would be an
important difference if we
capitalized the U, as it would
change the meaning from
“the struggles of a college
student” to “the struggles
of a University of Michigan
student.”
If
we
started
capitalizing
“university”
arbitrarily,
the
intended
meaning from our writer
would be lost.
The importance of our
style, I believe, is not that
it is standard English, but
that its uniformity conveys
the correct meaning of our
writers’
words.
Realizing
this is true with all styles
of speaking and writing,
whether lingo or standard
English, has allowed me to
still do what I love to do: pay
attention to small details.
Now, luckily, I do it to make
sure I understand or convey
the
precise
meaning
of
something, and not simply
to show off my grammatical
dominance via laptop sticker.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 // The Statement
2B
Copy That:
What do U mean?
BY MADELINE TURNER, COPY EDITOR
The answer, I found, is that both styles
are valuable because of their ability
to accurately convey information,
regardless of whether they’re recognized
as “standard” or not.
ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY KOFFSKY
Managing Statement Editor:
Brian Kuang
Deputy Editors:
Colin Beresford
Jennifer Meer
Editor in Chief:
Alexa St. John
Photo Editor:
Amelia Cacchione
Designer:
Elizabeth Bigham
Managing Editor:
Dayton Hare
Copy Editors:
Elise Laarman
Finntan Storer
statemen
t
THE MICHIGAN DAILY | NOVEMBER 7, 2018