It's National Grammar Day—a pseudo-holiday that originated in 2008 when Martha Brockenbrough (author of Things That Make Us [Sic]) was looking for a way to make learning grammar more fun and engaging for her high school students. An interest in grammar is (hopefully!) not about correcting others or feeling superior. It may seem that grammarphiles are drawn to the rigidity of grammar rules. But for many people, myself included, the fun of learning and thinking about grammar is that it's not fixed and rigid—like language, it's fluid and evolving. And, it's fun to debate! (Is it ok to start a sentence with "but" or "and"? Is "grammarphile" even a real word? Let's not get started on the serial comma!).

For our fellow grammar enthusiasts,  we've put together some fun "would you rather" conundrums to ponder. Feel free to share your choices in the comments or, of course, lie awake in bed tonight agonizing over these hypotheticals. 

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Would you rather...have "there," "they're," and "their" always be wrong in your writing or have "its" and "it's" always be wrong in your writing?

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Would you rather...never be able to use an em dash again or never be able to use a semicolon again?

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Would you rather...always mix up "affect" and "effect" or always mix up "then and "than"?

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Would you rather...never be able to use an exclamation point or never be able to use a contraction?

Looking for a great grammar read? Check out 9 Books to Delight Your Inner Word Nerd.