Author Topic: Grammar Nightmares  (Read 9153 times)

Emily

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #30 on: February 24, 2007, 06:03:55 PM »
ha. that's cool. sounds like a fun read.

jane

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #31 on: February 27, 2007, 07:11:00 AM »

Bonus (unrequested) response:  Though recently more and more people split infinitives, this is one rule I hardly ever transgress.  Usually, if push comes to shove, I will rewrite rather than allow an infinitive to be split. 

Yes, Sarah.  However, at times, there can be a certain accoustically satisfying resonance to a negative adverb of frequency inserted into an infinitive.  For example, when saying to a lying and cheating ex: 
"I thought I told you to NEVER CALL me again."

Sarah

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #32 on: February 27, 2007, 08:31:35 AM »
Of course, jane.  Rhythm and intent will sometimes demand that the infinitive be split.  But mostly it's unnecessary.  I, for example, think that "I thought I told you NEVER to call me again" works just fine.  It's a matter of personal style.

Josh

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #33 on: February 27, 2007, 09:29:26 AM »
Of course, jane.  Rhythm and intent will sometimes demand that the infinitive be split.  But mostly it's unnecessary.  I, for example, think that "I thought I told you NEVER to call me again" works just fine.  It's a matter of personal style.
And a matter of how much it hurts.


Also, http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/


Finally, on the matter of acronyms, where do you land on the use of punctuation and capitalization?
N.F.L. or NFL or Nfl?
U.N.I.C.E.F. or UNICEF or Unicef?
"Alright, well, for the sake of this conversation, let's say the book does not exist."

Emerson

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #34 on: February 27, 2007, 11:13:55 AM »
Different stylesheets say different things.

Usually, UNICEF is preferred. U.N.I.C.E.F. is acceptable. U.N.I.C.E.F isn't, nor is UNICEF's if you're talking about more than one UNICEF.

Also, it's the '00s, not the 00's.

~EmD
"You said it. I didn't."

Sarah

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #35 on: February 01, 2008, 04:29:41 PM »
In the latest Chicago Style Q&A--a fun and informative read to which I look forward every month--there was a link to a nice rant on a subject dear to my heart.  The author's grief struck even more of a chord than it normally would because I had just received an e-mail from an author who told me to feel free to use my "digression" when inputting his changes to my edits and because the author of my current project is a great fan of the yob's comma, the name for which I learned from Jason's fine Christmas present, Eats, Shoots and Leaves.

In a world where even so-called scholars/professionals have such a loose grasp of grammar, what place will there be for me?  I'm a-scared.

dave from knoxville

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #36 on: February 02, 2008, 04:52:21 AM »
Doesn't anybody want to be in my "Math is Cool!" club?

Joe Don from Astoria

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #37 on: February 02, 2008, 07:30:02 AM »
Hey dave.  I used to be quite the mathlete, myself, back in high school.

See, that's how you have to sell it:  mathletics.  Watch the kids come running!

jane

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #38 on: February 03, 2008, 10:33:00 AM »
the author of my current project is a great fan of the yob's comma, the name for which I learned from Jason's fine Christmas present, Eats, Shoots and Leaves.



Yeah, it seems everyone and their dog ran out to buy Lynne Truss's book.  It's seen as the last word on punctuation by so many people... except, maybe, this guy:

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/06/28/040628crbo_books1

I think he makes some good points, namely, that she doesn't take her own advice when punctuating her writing, and that her own use of punctuation isn't consistent .

Sarah

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Re: Grammar Nightmares
« Reply #39 on: February 03, 2008, 03:17:12 PM »
Yeah, I've noticed she often doesn't practice what she preaches.  And I disagree with her on several points.  But her book is a good bathtub read when I want something small and light.  It gives me a chance to recover when my arthritic thumbs rebel against holding whatever 700-page tome I'm reading for pleasure at the moment.  (I don't know why so many of the books I choose to read are so godawful long, though I think it may be because I dread having to choose the next one.)

P.S.  Just read the article.  I certainly agree that English punctuation tends to be more quixotic than its U.S. counterpart.  There's a kind of laissez-faire attitude to punctuation and citation all over Europe, in fact.  In Italy, for example, I was accused of having no soul because I want notes to refer to books that actually exist and just generally wanted things to make sense and be reasonably consistent, and there was a widespread feeling that the reason Americans cared so much about consistency is that they have no  creativity and so focus their energies on the most basic building blocks..  And, more recently, I had to battle with a German author at some length about using a consistent format in citations.  It was only when I explained that it was so readers wouldn't have to struggle to figure out where they could go to check sources, not because I'm a stubborn bitch who just wants her own way at all costs, that a light bulb clicked on above his head and he began to answer my questions.