Get smart for Grammar Day

National Grammar Day is tomorrow, March 4, and its sponsor, the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, has a website offering T-shirts, advice, and the new book by SPOGG founder Martha Brockenbrough.

But your homework will be a pleasure: Hotfoot it over to John McIntyre's blog, You Don't Say, and give the up-and-down to his tale of deadly doings in the usage world. Brockenbrough is cast as the sweet-seeming dame in dire need of a copy editor; it's a terrific yarn, and I'm thrilled to have a cameo as a tough-talking descriptivist moll. (Read to the end, so you don't miss it.)

I. "Down those mean sentences I walk alone"

2. "'What are we going to do now?'" she asked

3. "The Fat Man chuckles"

4. "The rule you don't break"