This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called English Grammar Boot Camp: Why Do We Care about Grammar? taught by Professor Anne Curzan, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.
This is an enjoyable lecture for grammar nerds of all ages. Professor Anne Curzan, Ph.D.
opens her course from The Great Courses called English Grammar Boot Camp with a lecture entitled “Why Do We Care about Grammar?” She provides some personal history as to how she became obsessed with grammar and goes on to demonstrate that grammar is more fluid and debatable than we might assume. Professor Curzan is on the usage panel for The American Heritage Dictionary and she provides examples of how she and her fellow language experts weigh in on word usage that is controversial or problematic. This lecture will give you a better idea about how best grammar practices are determined and how they change over time.