Let us Rejoice! ? , * " _ ' [] : : ... () !!!!!!!

[SadieKate]

Celebrate the comma today on National Punctuation Day!

http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/

Down with apostrophe abuse! :D

[tulip]

Yes!

[jobob]

Heh, I heard about that on the radio this morning and thought immediately of you, SK. :cool:

[SadieKate]

Heh, I thought of bikerZ!

[divingbiker]

I loooove me some punctuation!!!!

[Owlie]

But how about some love for the semicolon?

[TsPoet]

I just got an email from a company about a product I ordered. The last line is:

"If we met your expectations tell others, if we didn't tell us!"

missing a comma, right?

"If we met your expectations tell others, if we didn't, tell us!"

This has been driving me nuts.

[Owlie]

I just got an email from a company about a product I ordered. The last line is:

"If we met your expectations tell others, if we didn't tell us!"

missing a comma, right?

"If we met your expectations tell others, if we didn't, tell us!"

This has been driving me nuts.

Shouldn't it be "If we met your expectations, tell others. If we didn't, tell us"?
Comma splices! Eek!

[SadieKate]

But how about some love for the semicolon?

Send one some hugs and kissies from me! :p

[tulip]

Can we work in the difference between less and fewer while we're on the topic?

[Zen]

You go first.
Personally, I have a beef with the use of pick and choose.

[OakLeaf]

I'm still trying to get over "which/that."

[Geonz]

SNORK! Another grammar thread :D

Indeed, that "sentence" needed a period or a semicolon.

I worked with a student last week who thought sentences weren't allowed to be too short. I suspect a teacher had told her that because she was supposed to write more, but I also speculated that children in homes with fewer books (and less emphasis on literacy and love of reading) might have much less experience with simpler sentences in writing, tho' they generally used them in their everyday language.

I need to find _Eats, shoots and leaves_ :)

[Pedal Wench]

Where do imaginary words fit in? Alot and abit bother me every time I see them.

[TsPoet]

Where do imaginary words fit in? Alot and abit bother me every time I see them.

I've been trying to come up with potential names for my next dog.
"Abit" just got put on that list.
Thanks,

[Geonz]

Welp, it was a *very* close vote that kept "alot" from making into the dictionary. Let's face it, we don't mean "a single clump" when we say a lot; we mean bunches of... a big amount... it is a concept that deserves its own word. I am less perturbed by use of a word which has no correct and accurate substitute than one which is being misused or is less accurate. Thus, I cringe slightly more when I see "one less car" than when I see "a car costs alot of money," though even then I empathize with those who question the need to differentiate between smaller quantities of countable items and generally smaller amounts. Using "peddling" for "pedaling" makes me sigh.

[Sadie]

At my school, could we just stop spelling they, thay?

[OakLeaf]

I am less perturbed by use of a word that has no correct and accurate substitute....

Fixed it for ya. ;)

I warned you.



ETA: That rule, which I learned for the first time in law school, probably bothers me more than all the other grammatical rules that we're all taught in elementary school - because it so clearly reflects a deficiency in teaching rather than learning.

[papaver]

A bit off topic but still related:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091007/ap_on_re_us/us_fea_lifestyles_annoying_words

They can add the word 'awesome' to the list too.

[OakLeaf]

http://www.flablog.net/2009/10/in-world-without-punctuation.htm

[SadieKate]

Wonder what the payscale is?

[maillotpois]

You can't expect gators to be paid much above minimum wage.

[snapdragen]

You can't expect gators to be paid much above minimum wage.

I dunno....they may have a pretty powerful union...

[ginny]

Affect vs effect: this is something that I correct in manuscripts all the time. Scientists seem to have our very own and special usage of the English language. I always thought it was completely unacceptable to use "we" in a formal paper, but "we" do it all the time in scientific journals.

[Ja Da Dee]

I can't believe no one posted a link to Bob's Quick Guide to the Apostrophy.



http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif

[Mr. Bloom]

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.

'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

'Well, I'm a panda', he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'

Credit to: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

[OakLeaf]

Trending topic on Twitter today is "youknowyouruglyif"

Someone came up with the perfect tweet:

RT @hotdogsladies :
You know your ugly if you're contractions are f***ing killing me. They're. I said it.