Grammar nazis are alive and well
This Embarrasses You and I*
One of my Bama colleagues sent me this link to a recent Wall Street Journal piece on grammar in the workplace. It’s generated 671 comments as I write this. Whew!
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Judge Wilken tells NCAA attorney to “use actual, meaningful words”
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken is running the antitrust trial against the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) on behalf of Ed O’Bannon. The Wall Street Journal reports the judge is not knowledgeable about sports. ESPN’s W site (devoted to women and sports) says she has been direct, civil and understated during the trial, which ended last Friday, and that,…
The video tutorial on punctuation
Research has clearly established that the vast majority of US business readers notice only two punctuation infelicities — even in formal documents. Today I am sharing a video tutorial to help those amateurs who struggle with the two issues that elicit the most negative attention: comma splices: using a comma to mark a sentence boundary sentence fragments:…
Amateurs suffer from directile dysfunction
The prevalence of directile dysfunction in men is well established, at least by women in North America. (I’m talking about the inability to ask for directions when traveling in unfamiliar locations.) But, while working on a lecture-tutorial devoted to transitions (e.g., “however,” “because,” etc.), it occurred to me that amateur writers also suffer from a version of this malady. Except their…
Friday Fun with a Grammar Nazi
Thanks to one of the readers of Lingua Franca, where Lucy Ferriss weighed in on the buzz about “Word Crimes” last week, I happened upon this video. Perfect for a little Friday fun! Visit Arnold Zwicky’s X Nazi for a little discussion of the use of “nazi” to signal hyperbole. Check out Know Your Meme for more fun with grammar…
The video tutorial on parallel structure
The fact that the people in this photo are arranged with similar visual structure (in rows with the same color and design of clothing) is one of the main reasons you can quickly pick out a “team.” (The other reason has to do with spatial proximity.) The use of similarity to impose order the chaotic…
Amateurs accept platitudes about passive voice
“Passive voice is bad,” cry self-proclaimed (but undereducated) writing experts. I’ve known lots of these folks who can’t accurately identify a passive. And very few folks who can accurately define it. And even fewer who can provide amateur writers with more useful advice than this platitude. (In fact, I can’t accurately call it a platitude since…
When writing for public consumption, if you follow standard usage (e.g. “for you and me”) and punctuation (e.g. “those buildings’ windows), you’ll always be safe. If you deviate (e.g. “for you and I” or “those building’s windows”), you run the risk of being perceived an illiterate.
A prudent person doesn’t jeopardize his or her future.