Sometimes when reading you meet a passage that so encapsulates the weird tangents of your own thought processes that you feel suddenly validated and understood. And then you want to share this shared weirdness.

However, before I share this shared weirdness, I must confess another. It’s no secret that I love books, but I especially adore books about books. I will, with great pleasure, read books about reading, books about writing, as well as books about collecting books. My weirdness for book-topic related books though, also includes gleefully consuming grammar and style guides. I know, and I see your side-eye, but language is fascinating and the ways we attempt to wrangle it into submission are riveting.

At this point it’s likely you are wondering: 1) why is egads confessing to being a grammar nerd, 2) if she’s such a grammar nerd why are her posts riddled with errors, and 3) why is she not getting to that passage that encapsulates the weird thought tangents?

Because did you also know I adore exploring the myriad differences in English dialects? Today, I will spare you from my long-winded takedown of the so-called Standard American English and its supposed superior correctness over other American English dialects. Rather, the passage I wish to share is a musing about just one of many of the idiosyncratic differences between British English and American English, and the strange manner in which my own brain interprets words seen on a page.

It should also be noted that recently I had an argument over the spelling of the word grey. Notice here I used “grey” and not “gray.” As a citizen of the United States, I lost this argument, because American English, in yet another fit of rebellion, uses the “a” instead of the (better looking, and dare I admit to thinking, better sounding) “e.” Perhaps it is my ancestral roots of English Loyalists forced to flee the war and spend a nearly a century in Canada that makes me stubbornly hang onto grey, or perhaps it is a childhood of reading English literature that makes grey a familiar friend. (My British English speaking friends, are you also cringing over the punctuation inside the quotation marks? Sorry about that, but it is an American punctuation rule I will stand by and defend to the death.)

Here finally, is a lovely footnote from my current read. Which, by the way, has copious chatty footnotes, yet another thing I adore. (Have I used adore too much?)

“Buy me a cocktail or two and I’ll regal you at length with my admittedly crackpot notion that gray and grey are, push comes to shove, two different colors, the former having a glossy, almost silvery sheen to it, the latter being heavier, duller, and sodden.”

This my friends, is the inside of my head on this snowy Sunday morning.

Love, February

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    I know, and I see your side-eye

    There is no side-eye here, only respect.

    Also, when is my copy coming…

    Also also, I love your long-windedness, this post is beautiful, and how is the thing about grey and gray so true?

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      I don’t know @bammsie, but gray is an entirely different color than grey. (I almost spelled color as colour, but even I can’t go that far into Britishisms. Besides, Brits, I do think it might be time to let go of that superfluous “u.”)

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    I adore this <3
    Also, I'm surprised by how much sense this thing about grey and gray being two different colors makes lol. Thank you so much for sharing!

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    I love this.

    As an American who studied in Canada, which appears to have randomly adopted bits of both systems, I feel you. I was once told in my first year of university that I had spelled “color” wrong because I saw no need to add the “u”. I immediately changed my computer language to “Canadian English” and my heathen ways were no longer apparent in the country of my northern brethren. Also, my mother was taught grammar in the European system and while I now place punctuation inside quotations in my formal writing, it hurts a little bit every time I do so. However, I have come to terms with this and am adaptable, which is why my writing often feels inconsistent.

    For me, the “grey” v. “gray” thing comes down to this: with an “a” it refers to Gray’s Anatomy (the anatomy text, not the delightfully soapy American drama) and with an “e” it refers to color. (I will not use the superfluous “u” now that I am firmly returned to my barbaric homeland). I think this is because I grew up seeing Gray’s Anatomy around my home, and was therefore always tickled by the pun in the name of the aforementioned American drama.

    I suppose, in the end, I have a very screwy grammar system which works but is some bastardized version of the American and the English/Canadian.

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      I love your response so so much.

      I would say your system isn’t screwy, rather you are bi-dialectical (more likely tri, as I’m sure the Canadians have their own idiosyncrasies), and are able to code-switch with ease.

      Referring to Gray’s Anatomy, even I will concede that Henry Gray may keep the spelling of his surname.

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        Dare I ask if you give a f*** about the oxford comma?

        (There is only one correct answer. Choose wisely.)

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          I do. I believe wholeheartedly in the clarity of the serial comma.

          However, I will concede that language is an ever-changing and wily beast, and if others feel that they are able to live without it and maintain perfect clarity in their writing, they may discard it. I will still curse them as heathens, and furthermore, will mock them severely when they omit a necessary comma. (Not here Beanies. I only become a judgmental about grammar in formal writing)

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            You have chosen correctly.

            And while I agree with your general premise that language is ever-changing, I cannot help but think less of those who choose to live without abiding by its rules. I still refuse to use the word “irregardless” despite the fact that it has apparently become acceptable and a part of the lexicon. I also had a law school professor whose pet peeve was when people said “In regards to ___” as opposed to the proper “In regard to ___”. She told us that “You give your regards to Broadway”. This is honestly one of the few lessons from law school that has stuck with me. And while the rational part of me realizes that usage changes and adapts over time, my personality is that of a salty old broad who will refuse to share her cookies with grammar heathens.

            However, I’m a full supporter of of the use of slang and colloquialisms and have been known to use both liberally.

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            I was only planning to lurk on your conversation, but I needed to affirm my feelings for the Oxford comma.

            Also, I needed to laugh at @snarkyjellyfish for being a “salty old broad who will refuse to share her cookies with grammar heathens.”

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            @hotcocoagirl Literally my only goal in life is to become a salty old broad who sits on her porch and yells at the youths. The only part I don’t have down yet is the “old” — though some may argue that I’m getting there (they’d be wrong, but they could argue it). I have a few people who I’ve allowed to share my porch of saltiness with — beanies are welcome of course — but my standards are high.

            (Also, while we’re on the topic of grammar, I’m very fond of the em-dash and find it to be a highly underrated tool in the kit of the written language.)

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    Favourite post today.

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    Haha, I love this post

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    Grey vs. gray. So remember my daughter who won the state writing competition last year? She described her character as “grey” and only my husband’s great aunt’s husband caught the “mis” spelling when I let people read her story, and he said, and I quote, “I see she wrote it in the proper English.” I like the “look” of “grey” and started spelling it that way since middle school, when my friend’s last name was Grey, and I learned the English spelling. It reminds me of dark clouds as well. Gosh, I’m beginning to see why I like so many Beanies. Your brains are so similar to mine. Different cultures, ages, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds and we’re all the same.

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      Did you like all my misused commas?

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        I did :). Your use of quotations marks is also “interesting.”

        It’s funny how I can turn off my proofreading brain when reading informal and social media writing, but if there is a misspelling on a menu, or a wayward apostrophe floating in an article, I can’t look away.

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    I struggle whenever I need to write the word grey. My diet is mainly British authors, but my work forces me to write in a severe limited American shorthand, where gray is not one of the prescribed colors of health nor disease (red, blue, purple, pink, pale, yellow, or, if you are trying to be politically correct, within patient’s norms).

    I digress. I love the quote, as I would honestly immensely enjoy sitting down and hearing this gray vs grey argument over a cocktail or two. ☺️🧐🤓

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    But what is the title of the book?

    The only book I can remember I’ve read about about a life of reading is 84, Charing Cross Road.

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    Thanks for the info @egads I just love it 💛💙💚💛💙💚💛💙💚

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