Grammar Pulis

When it comes to grammar, I find myself sweating the small stuff too much too often. For instance, in a yahoo group I am part of, I always cringe when I read, "We are in need of accountants." I admit this is grammatically acceptable, but if one wants to arrest verbosity and write clearly and concisely, one should just say, "We need accountants." You save two words. To me, that is a big deal. I don't understand why people can't just go straight to the point in the least number of words as possible.

"In need" sounds to me more applicable in desperate or in impoverished situations. "The typhoon left the community in need of relief goods." "He is so obnoxious; he is in desperate need of a self-help book."

And this tirade is brought about by reading new twists to this pet peeve. Take these subject lines I just read: "Still need of accountants," and "Need of help." Arrrrghhhh! Be still, my raging heart. What's with this superfluous use of the preposition of? Do they get reward points for frequent use? And in these intances, I can no longer say that these are grammatically acceptable. They are reprehensible. Criminal. And this angry vigilante has kept still long enough. I just want to call them out.

Okay, okay. I am usually not this vicious. I just needed to get that out of my system. Whew.





I feel better now. Thanks.