Outdated Words, Grammar, and Formatting, Oh My!

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My husband was reading me a bio from a magazine and it mentioned that this individual was “an ombudsman.”  “Isn’t that kind of an outdated term?” I asked.  That led to a whole discussion of how words become obsolete, and even get ditched from the dictionary.

And then, of course, there are the neologisms—words that are in common usage but haven’t made it into the dictionary yet.  (No accident that neologisms are also defined by psychiatrists as nonsensical words made up by the disturbed!)  And just in case this isn't enough, we have tons of emerging words to go along with e-everything and social media.

After painstakingly learning all the basic grammar back in 1968, I thought that I was done.  Finished.  Complete.  Grammar has always been emotionally loaded for me, since I was taught by overzealous nuns who were convinced that correct rocket diagramming was part of their spiritual experience.

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And now I find that the rules have changed.  When I sent the first draft of my book in for editing recently, I found out just how much!  Even formatting is different.  When I learned typing from my hero, Dan Wortham, I was taught that there were two blank spaces after every period.  No more.  Now only one is acceptable.  But see, I can’t quit doing it!  I even read recently that editors and recruiters can correctly “age identify” a writer by how they use grammar, and yes, by how they type.  Accccccccck!  (But we’ll save ageism for another blog post--if I can remember, that is.)

 Vocabulary, grammar, and formatting are difficult enough without having to constantly adjust to new trends and rules, or the lack thereof (Oops, I believe thereof is now obsolete!).

So what’s an old curmudgeon (also dropping out of the dictionary soon) like me to do?  I’m constantly consulting with Grammar Girl, Grammar Monkeys, and other sordid (another archaic word?) characters.  The nuns would NOT approve.  But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.  Unless of course, she could find an ombudsman.

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Have you had similar experiences with changing language and grammar rules?  I’d love to be less alone.  Please feel free to leave a comment with fresh words J.

Marianne M. Smith
Writer At The Ranch
Making You Look Brilliant One Word At A Time
http://writerattheranch.com
wordsmith@writerattheranch.com