Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Stickle. Even though I find myself making mistakes, or worrying about making mistakes.

iamiliana said:

Or should we be sticklers about their formal use?

We should be sticklers about formal use in communication venues where formal register is expected (prepared speech and most writing that gets committed to paper). One has to realize, though, that in extemporized speech, people often make errors of form that they may or may not realize as soon as they hear the misused elements roll off their tongues. There's no point in trying to get people to engage in real-time editing when conversing in informal register. Unless the meaning of the message is confused, accept these minor ungrammatical chafes as being within the allowable tolerances of spontaneously composed speech. We all make them.