The Sacramento Bee reports on an amazing new trend: the sexy grammarian. This article quotes a number of
experts who explain why so many people are determined to gain mastery over grammar, punctuation and spelling: because it makes you more attractive.
"I think people who use grammar correctly are sexy because it means they're smart," says Laurie Rozakis, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style.
While Rozakis often has been a lone grammar gendarme - she notes that her children may need serious therapy for the embarrassment she's caused them with her compulsion to correct - she sees others joining in her mission. Her book, published in 1997, has sold more than 100,000 copies and is in its second printing.
She believes it is part of a societal shift.
"I think there's going to be a return to more formal styles of dressing ... and we're moving away from sloppy grammar," she says. "There's more of a return to traditional values."
The cause? The tightened economy and increased competition in the workplace, she says.
"You whiten your teeth, you get laser surgery on your eyes, and you learn how to speak and you learn how to write," she says.
Rozakis, a former high school English teacher and now an English professor at Farmingdale State University on Long Island, N.Y., has a penchant for correction.
"I live and die by the red pen," she says.
Indeed, she has been known to pull it out to fix a sign at the grocery store. She once knocked on a stranger's door to tell him he should demand his money back because his wrought-iron address sign said "ninty-nine" instead of "ninety-nine."
