Bottomline English draws its content from the most common errors of English usage seen on the web, in newspapers, in the writing of college freshmen, and heard from the mouths of actors, newscasters, and media celebrities.
M J Maddox, PhD
Its creator is Dr. Margaret Joan Maddox, aka Maeve Maddox, teacher, freelance writer, and former editor of the language blog DailyWritingTips.
Bottomline English is an instructional site. It is not for readers who want to argue usage. There are plenty of other sites for that. The purpose of this site is to present reliable rules of standard usage in an easy-to-navigate format.
The underlying philosophy here is:
1. everyone makes English errors
2. unintentional English errors are the result of carelessness or insufficient information
3. people who ridicule others for errors of standard usage are–like other bullies–best ignored
4. standard English is just one dialect among many
5. a practical grasp of standard English does not require a college education
6. the ability to speak and write a standard form of English is an employment skill
The Bottomline English site has two main sections:
The instructional part of the site, to which I am still adding, is made up of short articles that explain and illustrate various aspects of standard usage, including spelling, pronunciation, word choice, and grammar.
The BottomlineEnglish blog is called Media English. The daily posts are based on English usage observed in the media.
Bottomline English is for working people and students who are not interested in reading about language for its own sake. It’s for people who realize that the ability to use English efficiently is a business skill worth acquiring. The readers I’m writing for are busy go-getters who don’t have time for lengthy explanations of every possible rule and exception. All they want to know is how to avoid errors of usage that might cause other people to question their credibility or professionalism.
You won’t find all of English grammar on this site. Not only are there already many excellent sites that do that, it’s not necessary to know “all of English grammar” in order to avoid the most common errors that mar the speech and writing of native speakers.
If you notice any dead links, explanations that are not clear to you, or–Heaven forbid!–misspelled words or other errors, please let me know.
My site AmericanEnglishDoctor.com may be of interest to readers concerned with education and cultural literacy.
