BUT I'm unlearning it.

IMO texting is wreaking havoc with grammar, spelling, capitalization, sentence structure.... A younger coworker's emails look like haiku - extremely short sentences with no punctuation.

It has nothing to do with Mesopotamia?

Well, that helps my reading comprehension!

LOL (I mean, haha)

those conjunctions is pretty common. However, if you're writing a business document, it's not appropriate.

Grammar Girl thinks it's okay. Check this out.
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/can-i-start-a-sentence-with-a-conjunction

We have a winner. And, I am a grammar Nazi! LOL

For creative writing, it is up to the author. For formal writing, it is not acceptable.

Speaking of grammar misuse, exactly what is it with people not using "an" in front of words that begin with a vowel? That drives me nuts. I see it all the time - "I'm going to get myself a apple". Ugh!

with a consonant the other day, in a the newspaper no less. LOL

I was in the "never start a sentence with And, Or, But" camp. Mrs. Williams scared the bejeezus out of me when I was in school, so that's probably why it stuck with me all of these years. I was sure there must be a hard and fast rule against it, but after spending some time looking into it, I found that it was never a formal rule. I still only use it for informal writing that I want to sound conversational, but apparently it's ok whether it's formal or not.

Here's a link with some info:
http://grammarist.com/grammar/conjunctions-to-start-sentences/

Grammar School in the 60's, HS in the early 70's. All i was taught was that you needed the comma after any of those words before the context began, with the exception of connective modifiers. (As in: "And furthermore," where the comma comes after the second word, not the "and".)

I had a couple strict grammarians in my time too, and i've never heard the "don't do that" rule.

But once in a while it's OK.

... they just fade away.

It's considered colloquial/informal, but there is no hard-and-fast rule about it. "And," "or," and "but" are used to introduce dependent clauses, so if they have nothing on which to depend (a primary clause), then why are they being used? That's the rationale, anyway. However, especially in informal communication, it is usual to keep sentences short, with as few dependent clauses as possible. Ergo, those particles (and others, "also," e.g.) are often used to begin a new sentence which is really a dependent clause.

The practice of making dependent clauses new sentences goes hand-in-hand with the decline of the semicolon, which hardly anyone uses properly these days.

-- Mal

Thanks a lot, grammar Hitler.

Olive Garden in Times Square, anyone ?