A Grammarian’s introduction that people would remember forever.

Having walked on the moon, Neil Armstrong, the American astronaut said a quote that has since than become historic. Can anybody recall that quote?

Yes, to quote Neil Armstrong, he said “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Soon after, there was an uproar among his countrymen for two reasons. One was of course for the successful accomplishment of the historic mission. But the other was for a seemingly funny issue – a grammatical error in Neil Armstrong’s Quote. Any guess what was the error?

Technically speaking, it should have been “that’s one small step for A MAN, one giant leap for mankind”

Predictably, Neil Armstrong claimed that he had in fact said “a man” but the poor microphone failed to pick it up. The issue gained so much importance that the microphone recordings were analyzed with sophisticated instruments and software till as late as 2006 only to confirm that Neil Armstrong had in fact missed out on saying “a man.”

So Toastmasters, this is what a grammatical error can do to you – overshadow an accomplishment as big as walking on the moon.

So I am here to help you not let your accomplishment be overshadowed whenever you happen to walk on your moon.

As a Grammarian, my role is to note all the good usage of English, phrases, idioms and the not so good usage as well.

I am also supposed to give you the word of the day and the word of the day is Penchant.

It’s a noun and it means a strong or habitual liking for something.

Examples are

All Toastmasters have a penchant for noticing filler words in other people’s speeches.

Banks don’t finance my penchant for the finer things in life.

I hope you will use this word to the fullest in your speeches today and in days to come.

Over to you the General Evaluator.