Episode #225: The Legend Of The Grammar Cowpoke

Pic was taken on the second to last road trip vacation that I had partook in back in the late 2000's (last road trip/vacation was in 2016). I think this was at the US Civil War Museum, Harrisburg PA. Cool museum if you're into American military history. One of a few places I would like to revisit before my health declines to the point of not being able to drive anymore.

Grammar is such a fascinating concept at times. I've always enjoyed the word play that I used to partake in when I was a young'un in the 1980's & 90's (e.g. parodies) and the creative insults that I used to throw around in the chat rooms of the mid-2000's, but I never really got serious about exploring the various parts of grammar until I started writing in the late 2000's. At that point, I went down that Mariana Trench rabbit hole and to this day I have not really left it.

Which brings us to the present. The present involves writing sometimes witty, sometimes sarcastic but always acerbic dialogue and descriptive scenes. The present also involves examining with a tighter discerning eye when it comes to songs.

It's only been the past few decades when I really started to examine the lyrics to the various songs that I listen to, because I now view them through the eyes of a writer, as opposed to a listener. Viewing a song through the writing lens allows me to interpret a song as a piece of flash fiction, which in turn allows me to pick up the nuances of the meaning behind a particular stanza. A lot of the time it's very subtle, which becomes easily missed on the first listen through.

One example of this kind of subtle change is the song "Wonderwall" by Oasis. The first half of the song starts very upbeat, like the person being sung about is going to do great things. Then, with a few simple word changes: is, gonna, gotta, was, never, shoulda, are and were, the entire second half of the song changes to a very downer of story, like failure was the only viable option to pursue. Again, very subtle, but poignant.

Another example is the song "Figured You Out" by Nickelback. This time, the first half of the song goes on about loving/admiring certifiably sh!t behavior in a person. But with one word change: like & love to hate, the sentiment changes to despising the same certifiably sh!t behavior in that same person.

Yes, I proudly admit to liking the two most hated bands of the 90's and 2000's. I own at least four c.d.s of each.

While those are the two most notable examples of audio word play that I've managed to come up, I think my forte is inflection. Changing the infliction of a word, or even the word order in a sentence allows someone to read it in a whole new context. This is something that I actually enjoy doing with my storytelling. Inflection, subtle tonal changes (e.g. witty to sarcastic), gives my writing a level of pizzazz that hasn't been experienced before.

I still can remember an insult that I used a lot in the chat rooms, that was mocking and sarcastic in tone, which was, surprisingly enough, very easy to pick up on: Arrgh! Skewered by your rapier-like wit! I am wounded! Oh wait, it's just a mosquito bite. Never mind.

Now, I do so enjoy laying out my protagonists and antagonists with biting repartee in my stories. I mean, my storytelling landscape is littered with people who have suffered the verbal equivalent of a death by a thousand paper cuts. I haven't used it as much in my social media outlets, simply because one, I've weeded out all of the pages/people/adverts that I don't care too much for, and two, I have a very low tolerance of censorship, so I studiously avoid saying things that would get me censored by the bots/admins on those platforms (and no, I'm not on "X").

So, what say you, how do you feel about reading, writing and playing with grammar, to the point that you've become your very own grammar po-po? Do you like it, hate it, or pursue it with a sadistic glee that can make people really wonder what kind of writer you really are?

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