Who said you
can’t use red pens? Have you heard parents want to ban red ink for grading? What
do you think? Were you stressed out by the comments in red ink from your school
days? Urban Dictionary has defined two types of red pen conditions:
Red Pen Syndrome: “The sufferers
of this syndrome have an irrepressible urge to correct any and all grammar
mistakes that come within their sight. At times this can be helpful, but at
other times, it can be downright inappropriate and mean.”
RedPen Police: “People who preoccupy themselves with
correcting the spelling and grammar of others - normally out of some
self-esteem issue or desire to prove some value from their otherwise useless
thirty-grand education. (November 9, 2012 Urban Word of the Day)”
Are you offended by or proud of these definitions? Do you
have “an irrepressible urge to correct any and all grammar mistakes” that come
within your sight? For those of us
who do, are we doing it for the right reasons?
John Berman, host of CNN’s “Early Start,” told a story on
air about a buddy of his who received a rejection letter from Princeton; his
friend returned the letter with corrections. Perhaps a case of sweet revenge? I
hope he used a red pen!
Someone I met told me an incident about her friend who
returned her three-year-old daughter’s pre-school application with corrections
in red ink. As she gave the application to the clerk, she said, “Sorry.” Do you
think she did anything wrong?
Be careful, though; there may be a consequence to your
critical eye. Have you heard of Muphry’s Law? Did you think I meant Murphy’s
Law? Certainly, that’s what I thought when I saw Muphry’s Law in an e-mail subject line.
“Muphry's Law is
the editorial application of the better-known Murphy's Law. Muphry's Law
dictates that if you write anything criticizing another person's editing or
proofreading, you will inevitably make a mistake of your own. Note that by
definition, pointing out an example of Muphry's Law makes you in turn subject
to it.”
Hmmm. I think I'll keep using my red pen because I
can’t stop my passion for helping people to communicate better. Would you like
to confess a Red Pen Syndrome moment?
