ABSTRACT
One way to understand any designed thing-for example, a bridge, a computer, or a building-is to "reverse engineer" it. Grammar tells us the brute construction of language-in-use, much like the physical parts of a bike or a building. Speakers and writers must ask themselves questions and answer them in order to use grammar to design what they want to say and do with language. Speakers most often ask these questions unconsciously and in real time, as they speak to and respond to others. Writers often, but not always, take more time and conscious thought to deal with these questions. Activities are conventional ways that people with certain identities have developed to get their "work" done, to function to do what they are interested in, such as birding, doing physics, gaming, gardening, lawyering, engaging in gang activities, teaching in school, and so forth.
