Interesting article, Joel. My take on "rules" like this is that they're not prescriptive (ie, how something should be done) but descriptive (how they generally are done). Dolphins swim, politicians tell lies, and English speakers put size before colour when listing adjectives. To break the rule isn't necessarily to be wrong; it's to break with a norm. I'm with you - "correcting" someone who does that is counterproductive. There's nothing to correct and, like you say, you'd have to be a bit of a shit to do it most of the time anyway. Keep up the great writing!
Interesting article, Joel. My take on "rules" like this is that they're not prescriptive (ie, how something should be done) but descriptive (how they generally are done). Dolphins swim, politicians tell lies, and English speakers put size before colour when listing adjectives. To break the rule isn't necessarily to be wrong; it's to break with a norm. I'm with you - "correcting" someone who does that is counterproductive. There's nothing to correct and, like you say, you'd have to be a bit of a shit to do it most of the time anyway. Keep up the great writing!