With my luck, I've probably made some stupid mistake now, too...

One of the fashion bloggers I follow recently stated, concerning a dress of hers, "It's very subtle, but this dress has rabbits on it." When I complained to Patrick, he said "It's very subtle, but these are socks," to which I replied, "It's very subtle, but I'm wearing jeans."

Another, a French model who posts her fashion blog in both French and English, translates the site herself. Her most recent update had her giving thanks for retaining old clothes: "This is when I’m really pleased I never sold one single thing of from wardrobe."

Please don't misunderstand. I'm fully aware that I am being a snob. I am also fully aware of the difficulties in speaking and writing articulately in a foreign language. Please see the Gauchedroitegauche backlogs from all of 2008 and most of 2009 for details about how I express myself with the sophistication of a five year old in French. And not a French five year old. Just a five year old.

But what baffles--and infuriates--me about these ridiculous mistakes, misuses, and general lack of attention paid to language in these blogs and others is that people are making their living off of this. Many of the fashion bloggers out there--and kitchen bloggers, and craft bloggers, too--are being paid, in advertising, sponsorships, and schwag, and they do not understand how to use the word subtle, let alone the English language.

And, not to be more than a little self-important, there are bloggers like me, who know how to craft a sentence and put together an outfit. Or bake a pie. Or emboss the shit out of something.

Honestly, I know that if I wanted to, I could make some sort of living this way. But I don't have the marketing background or interest to do so. I don't want to write about a scarf because I'm paid to (although I would take a paid position to travel & write up hotels and restaurants. Just saying). What I do want, however, is to see the people who are getting paid to write online do so with the same respect for language that writers in the print world have.