Bring/s (I bring, he/she brings)
Brought (I brought, he/she brought)
Brought (I have/had brought, he/she have/had brought)

What is wrong with this picture? Think about it for a moment.

It just occurred to me, after a 3-mile noon run in the park (heat-stroke delirium notwithstanding), that it is high time to instigate a revolution. No, not Tea Party style. Something much more substantial…verbal communication.

Here is my first suggestion:

Bring
Brang
Brung

Did you bring enough money? Sure, I brang a hundred dollars.
Have you brung an umbrella? Nope, this is Arizona. (You get the idea.)

Look, E.B. White’s style manual, with its vast array of rules on grammar, etc., is just a foil. Old E.B. himself ignored his own rules for the sake of writing more effectively (i.e., communicating better).

So what if 95% of all person to person communication is nonverbal.

I’m just feeling a little rebellious today. I want to start a grammar revolution (grammatical revolution?). Anybody with me? I’m accepting all suggestions. If the dictionary keepers can approve new words every year in response to popular usage (e.g., ‘ginormous’ …yes, really), then the grammar keepers can change, too. It starts with us Grass Rooters, folks.

For the new Grass Rooters Party,

Dennis