As Resident in-house grammar grouch...

 ...I occasionally spend some down time at the office honing my sub-scholarly skills --despite the fact that I'm rarely heeded and often embarrassed by our industry's  shameless propensity for (or is it propensity to?) maiming  the mother tongue. Biggest problems arise when  what is commonly used and accepted oversteps traditional boundaries. But some stuff is  just plain wrong. 

The Tagline for the movie Cinderella Man read:  When the country was on its knees, he brought America to its feet.   With that awkward construction, it sounds like they're referring to two different countries, otherwise it would end with "...he brought it to its feet."  But they weren't referring to two countries, which is why they finally came to their senses and avoided the confusion altogether by changing it to " When America was on its knees, he brought us to our feet."  

To this day The 40 Year-Old Virgin title bothers me.  The absence of the hyphen between 40 and Year  makes me wonder if the film makers are concerned about a glut of sexually inexperienced infants. 

Kinda like the old joke: 

Q.What did Lewis Carroll like about 28 year olds?  
A. That there were 20 of them. 

At the office, we've argued  over things like “ He leaned out the window”  vs. “He leaned out of the window”and  "Your opinion is different than mine"  vs.  "Your opinion is different from mine"-- and we spent days arguing over whether  to use Drapes (which some contend is only a verb) or Draperies.  Naturally, we settled on Curtains.  And despite my frequent objections, the company generally goes with whatever the consensus is around the office, or (god help us)  focus groups, and rules be damned.  

But I'm always eager to learn, (or re-learn since I'm often coming across information I  thought I was already in possession of.)  (Prepositions can come at the end of sentences, and if anyone tells you otherwise, just give em what for.)

  What an odd expression.  And seems it may have simply derived from a bit of universally understood dialogue:

Parent:  I'm going to punish you.

Child:  What for?

Parent:  What for?  What for!?  I'll give you what for! 

So I bring you, by way of wordsmith extraordinaire Jay (Figaro) Heinrichs, this link, an entertaining and diverting way to learn the many (and I mean MANY) parts of speech--by diving off the springboard of Springfield  into the wise waters of America's favorite dysfunctional community.

http://inpraiseofargument.squarespace.com/homerisms/


If nothing else, the examples from the link above serve to demonstrate how complex the language can be--which is why the last thing we need are masters demanding mastery of it.

Actually one excetion.  Mayors. 

On the day we announced the principles that would shape the immigration bill, we made it clear that English proficiency would now be required for permanent residency for the first time in American history. This amendment ensures that will be the case.  
--Senator Mark Rubio.