Not the most exciting day, though I did get a really really cool shirt that almost fits me. Would I starve myself to wear a T-shirt adorned with punctuation-related cartoon characters? I suspect you already know the sad, sad answer.

I also rushed to order this T-shirt mere minutes after it went on sale. My estimate of how many people it would appeal to was, in hindsight, very, very optimistic.

So, language. I shouted out "language belongs to the people" last month, and I would agree with the descriptivists on this. Dictionaries are not lists of words we've been given permission to use. Dialects, and even ideolects, are acceptable as long as you can express yourself in them smoothly. Etc.

Assuming, of course, that actual English language usage descriptivists exist, they would probably accept all this as given.

Where we would differ is in my recognition that, due to differences in correctness conditions, you can still make a lot of mistakes in English, and Edited English still belongs only to the editors, employers, admissions staff, and various recognized authorities.

Language Log readers should be familiar with the kind of rhetoric I'm parroting.

Anyways, as a lowly and yet nonetheless full-time professional proofreader, I've been gradually becoming more aware, more proud, of my membership in this imagined community of Reactive Grammar Movement adherents, people who hold something like this middle view. I don't think it makes me a worse editor — in fact, nowadays I find myself not enjoying English usage guides like I used to, because most of the information is either old hat or demonstrably misguided — but reactive grammar does help me "punch out" when I'm done working.

As much as is possible, anyways. While waiting to pick up my T-shirt at the UPS store, I was disturbed to find myself proofing the various posters. Not editing, proofing: I was even using exactly the same procedure I've used on hundreds of products at work. The posters felt familiar.

I've known for a while that punching out is key: the smug grammar nanny is just as annoying as the smug atheist (a.k.a. "bright"), and the temptation to knock the dastard down a notch is, I would imagine, nearly irresistible in both cases. Essentially, I don't need that in my head or my life. Superiority and snark is best reserved for lousy acquaintances, terrible movies, and reality t.v. show contestants.

And it's like I said: outside of Edited English, language really does belong to the people. We cede authority too often.

Tomorrow: sleep and the last of my library books from Monday. Wonderful.