October 22nd, 2008
“Why Can’t Us?”: Philly Grammar
A Phillies fan asked, “Why can’t us?” on a radio show last Thursday. The Phillies haven’t been to the World Series since 1993, so the wistful, ungrammatical plea was the perfect rallying catchphrase for the team’s fans. Sometimes, “bad” grammar is more effective than “good” grammar. It sounds like blue-collar grit and visits to grandma, which is just fine when we’re talking about good old-fashioned fun like baseball.
We run into problems when we take informal grammar out of context. When people falsely put on blue-collar airs or unnaturally adopt “bad” grammar, they risk sounding incompetent or patronizing.