In Other Words

The main matter of words is to communicate. While usage rules  make language meanings clearer, they don't necessarily need to be followed slavishly in order to get a message across.  There was a time when spelling was phonetic, thus however people heard a word, they wrote it down and no one worried whether it was the same way that anyone else did it or not. There must have been some confusion because scholars came along eventually and said, we have to apply rules, if for nothing else, safety. They didn't want a grocery list to be interpreted as a beheading. Thus came out a tome that insisted we all spell and use words the same way to be correct. Teachers of language and writing, finally had something solid to follow, and follow it they did. Remember the Spelling Tests of yore? Words of the week were dictated and went onto long strips of foolscap (interesting word in itself), neatly numbered down the side and what the teacher called out, you wrote next to the appropriate number. While this might seem ungainly, it worked pretty well since you studied the same old words five days each week to prepare for Friday's test. It seemed that writing out the word five or six times was the thing to do. Of course, we had to put them into sentences at some point. Then came the rules of usage or Grammar.  These were usually generated through Work Books in which you filled in blanks with the appropriate part of speech that was supplied on the top line.  Punctuation was supposed to assist one to make expression clearer. It took me a long time to determine the comma, the colon and the semi-colon and exactly where they should be placed and when, but the period was a cinch. Even today the best scientists or engineers are not necessarily great spellers. Then again, some of the worst folks are excellent writers. The bottom line is ideas and how to get them into someone else's head. Those who use sign language seem to have the best grip on that. Their whole body performs the task exquisitely while their mouths get into it as well. You have the idea and with dramatic expression to boot: something the written word doesn't always convey.