I’m feeling a little punch-drunk after a 36-hour mock accreditation marathon so thought I’d share something that fits my mood. The Onion recently published a great little piece about gang violence and the Oxford comma.
Enjoy!
In my very first post (now the Pros Write About page), I stated how bizarre I find it that teachers who like to read literature are tasked with teaching young people how to write. I’m not the only one who has noted the ensuing — and negative — consequences. It turns out that many industry people agree….
Like to play with words? Need a diversion today? I suggest a visit to the Oxford English Fictionary. From their About page: Have you ever read a book and come across a word and said to yourself, “Hmmm, self, I wonder what that word means?”, and then gone to a dictionary to look up the…
Thanks to Christopher Trudeau, law professor and plain language champion, I just viewed the Terms of Service for CodePen. Proof that the company takes its consumers and its legal risks seriously! I especially like the clear version of the copyright and content ownership clause: The things you make on CodePen are yours, “CodePen” is ours. …
Purpose is unchanged. But the blog has a new look and organization. Feedback is welcome!
Pros know that chunking related text in their documents makes it easier for readers to get their message. Writers have been using visual signals to create textual chunks since the ancient Greeks. The photo is a page from Ælfric’s Grammar, written in the second half of the 11th century, with large initials and both Latin and Anglo-Saxon script. I found it…
If this music doesn’t get you into the holiday spirit, nothing will! Watch (and listen to) the Blind Boys of Alabama sing “Go Tell it on the Mountain” with Stephen Colbert, which aired on The Colbert Report last week. The original recording on their Grammy-winning 2003 album is available on iTunes or on their online store. If…