Inner grammar warrior speaks out

There. Their. They're.

Three different words, yet often, I see them used interchangeably. From reporters on staff to those who pen Letters to the Editor to New York Times best-selling authors, the three words are often mistreated.

It makes the inner “Conan the Grammarian” within me cringe.

Also on the list to make me crazy: switching “then” and “than,” or “further” and “farther,” (which occasionally gets switched with “father,” which just makes me giggle).

I often see “desert” when someone really means “dessert,” too. An English teacher once told us that dessert is fattening, so it needs two of the letter “s” to help it along, which has always stayed with me.

I think my grammar obsession stems from a professor in college who would give us an automatic “F” on a project if we weren't spot on with our language.

Were we perfect? Of course not. But she gave us a whole new perspective on dotting our Is and crossing our Ts.