The Glamour of Grammar?

What does Glamour have to do with Grammar?

Interestingly, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) says that glamour, a word customarily associated with beauty or charm or a high level of attractiveness, comes from the same root as grammar; a word we customarily associate with ugliness or repugnance or a high level of repulsiveness.

These two words are like two very different looking sisters. While the one is alluring and pleasant, and we want to gaze upon her; the other is dull and unpleasant, and we don’t want to gaze upon her. As with the two sisters, you wonder how two words that arouse such naturally different emotions as glamour and grammar could stem from the same mother.

So it stands to reason that how these two words are connected is a matter of unending discussion and disagreement among linguist. Here is how the OED, which most agree is the supreme arbiter of the English language, explains how this came about:

Before you read this next paragraph, know that your life will not suffer much should you choose to live in ignorance of its content. A more glamorous version will follow this scholarly, grammatical entry.

“In classical Greek (also see) and Latin the word denoted the methodical study of literature (= ‘philology’ in the widest modern sense, including textual and æsthetic criticism, investigation of literary history and antiquities, explanation of allusions, etc., besides the study of the Greek and Latin languages. Post-classically, grammatica came to be restricted to the linguistic portion of this discipline, and eventually to ‘grammar’ in the mod[ern] sense. In the Middle Ages, grammatica and its Rom[an] forms chiefly meant the knowledge or study of Latin, and were hence often used as synonymous with learning in general, the knowledge peculiar to the learned class. As this was popularly supposed to include magic and astrology, the OF. gramaire was sometimes used as a name for these occult sciences. In these applications it still survives in certain corrupt forms, F. grimoire, Eng. GLAMOUR.”

It is probably enough to know that the word glamour came into English by way of Scotland, where it originally meant, the OED says, “Magic, enchantment, spell; esp. in the phrase to cast the glamour over one.” It made its way to beauty by way of magic, since the allure secured by magic was illusory and dangerous.

Now, as Fortune’s wheel creaks along, we appear to be circling back to a Medieval culture in which knowledge of grammar is peculiar to a learned (though neither wealthy nor prestigious) class, and in which mastery of grammar might as well be magic to those unlearned in it.

Careful of that word wizard, my dear, lest he seduce you

One of the surprising and delightful connection in the history of the English language is the relationship between glamour and grammar. The second, says the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), is an altered version of the first. They cite an ancient association between learning and enchantment as proof. In other words, back in the day when only priests and a few educated gentry could read and write it was thought that if you were smart enough to know grammar, the basic elements of language, you might be clever enough to convert that power to allure, amaze, even seduce. Can you imagine the fear the peasantry could have of a grammar?

Grammar has taken a bit of a nosedive since then. Today grammar connotes everything that is unglamorous: absent-minded professors; fussy schoolmarms; grammazons, nagging perfectionists; pedantic correctionists; high school students asleep at their desks with stalactites of drool hanging from their lips. Long lost from grammar are the associations with power, magic and enchantment.

Bone up on your English so you, too, can be a glamorous, successful word-wizard-cum-grammarian

Is that statement entirely valid? Think successful politicians, lawyers, salesmen, or even holier-than-thou evangelists; you get the picture. So in truth, word wizards still have the power of seduction, which means the glamour of grammar is real.

This is another reason for this series. A little grammar, you’ll learn, can go a long way, and may well lead one to a lot of grammar. Good grammar, well used,  can be a very sexy attribute. Is there a single one of you who would not like to be seen as sexy? Before you give a negative response to that question, remember that some synonyms for sex are charismatic and magnetic, as in charismatic or magnetic personality.

Alrightie, tell me this. How come we ain’t teachin’ good English no more? [sic]

Many old timers, dreaming of a Golden Age of learning that never existed. They wonder, why we don’t teach grammar any more. Well, we do, in school after school, classroom after classroom. A better question might be, if we teach grammar, why don’t people learn grammar? The answer is simple; we do teach grammar, syntax, punctuation, and spelling. But all these elements of language are out of context, outside of making meaning as a reader, a writer or a speaker. By doing so, we make grammar highly forgettable.

Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English will offer another way. Every little lesson in this series will point you toward a practical application. I’ll carry that one step farther: There is no need to learn grammar if you’re not going to use it. Good spelling is useless except to represent proper words and avoid distraction of the reader. Punctuation has no value except to point the reader toward the pace, emphasis and meaning of the words. Subjects and verbs are dusty academic terms unless you can join them together with a purpose. Punctuation is the glue that binds together the structure of vocabulary and grammar that we call sentence or a paragraph or a book.

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Related posts:

1. Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English (Part I)
2. Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English (Part III)
3. Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English (Part II)

Introduction to the English Language series

Part one of a three parts of Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English.

This series is about improving the reader’s knowledge and understanding of the various aspects of this superlative wonder we call the English Language. Good English language skills are basic to an English speaker’s ability to formulate clear thought images in their mind and turn them into clearly laid out concise thought constructs in verbal or written form.

Fortunately, English is not as difficult to learn as that last sentence is to understand.

Did that last sentence sound a little deep to you? Did you find it difficult to understand or perhaps even incomprehensible? Maybe you had to read it twice in order to understand it. If your answer to any of these questions is yes; take heart.

It may be that you were so unsure of the validity of all or a part of the sentence that your mind decided not to believe it or to at least suspend judgment. All of that going on in your mind could have made the sentence sound like a first cousin to gibberish; like the writing in the cuneiform script image depicted here would appear to be to most people, and that could have caused you to find it difficult to understand. In any event, it is a difficult sentence.

English is truly not as difficult to learn as that last sentence is to understand. All of us should review the basics of clear English once in a while.

I was thinking of Vince Lombardi as I wrote that last sentence. Maybe you, too, recall the story of how one day, when, as the then new head football coach at Green Bay, Wisconsin, he became so frustrated with what was going on with his players on the playing field that he blew the whistle and said, “Everybody stop and gather around.”

Then, kneeling down, he picked up the pigskin, and said, “Let’s start at the beginning. This is a football. These are the yard markers. I’m the coach. You are the players.” He went on, in the most elementary way, explaining the basics of football.

Like Vince’s players, let’s gather around so we can review how to speak clear English and stop confusion.

I don’t claim to be an accomplished linguist or grammarian

I make linguistic and grammatical mistakes sometimes when I speak and when I write. Even the most learned among us make the occasional error. Ordinarily, however, I speak and write clearer English than most people. Knowing my English is not perfect does not keep me from trying to better my own English language skills, or offering those of you who may need it, the fruit of my research into the writings of those who have a superior knowledge of the rules, acceptable usages, styles, vocabulary, spelling, et cetera.

The English Language files will include posts devoted to: English grammar, usage, vocabulary, etymology, spelling, and literature. An abundance of hyperlinks will be offered here-some might say offered ad nauseam—for words in the English Language files that I think that some readers, may have only a hazy understand of-here—I have in mind ESL readers.

I have already admitted that I make grammar and usage mistakes all too often when speaking and when writing. However, I do not see myself totally lacking in linguistic abilities. In fact, I have no doubt that my English is far better than that of the average college graduate; even those with a PhD of some sort. It was not ever thus, however. To paraphrase a wag, whose identity has been lost in the mists of time, I have come a long way, baby. There was a time when I did not know a verb from a predicate, or an adjective from an adverb, and I wasn’t all that sure of what a semicolon was or how to use it either. You see, I was a high school dropout.

If you have stayed with me and read this far, then you, too, are  interested in how to Stop Confusion; Speak Clear English and, thus, have a better life. Part II is just a click away.

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