So Scalzi is talking about commas, which warms my cold copyeditor heart. I still vividly remember my first months (okay, all 41 months) copyediting for a company that published tax treatises, where my mantra was "I have no idea what it means, but the commas are in the right place." I even, I wouldn't say mastered, as no one masters the semicolon ( Read more... )

The title of an article in today's Metro:

Warmer Temperatures May Soon Stop Cold

I thought it was an article about global warming. Admittedly, the Metro is a free paper, but would it cost them that much more to use Warmer Temperatures May Soon Be Stopped Cold?

Wow. According to this article, a misplaced comma cost a Canadian communications company $2.13 million. I don't know whether to be grateful that this shows that my job is really important or worried that I might someday find myself in position to make a two million dollar mistake.

(Note: Look, ma! No gratuitous exchange rate jokes!)

ESPN.com offers as information the following link title:

Kent extends career with $11.5 extension

This link title brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.

I'm not sure if this sentence is good or evil:

With representatives of what organization have I been corresponding this morning?

It's the most accurate way to ask the question, but the construction is so backward that the question might be rendered incomprehensible. If there are Geneva conventions for grammar, that question just might break them

I really need to write a letter to the Board of Standards and Practices in English Grammar demanding the creation of a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun that can be used to describe people. Imagine the disgust if I started using "it" in place of "he or she." I don't like using "he or she" and I absolutely loathe "he/she." I could get ( Read more... )

Heavy content day for me, with my third entry before noon, but what are you going to do ( Read more... )

So Bill O'Reilly's making a list of all his enemies and posting it to his web site. Here's the relevant quote ( Read more... )

but only because it was written by skzbrust, also known as author Steven Brust, who is cool. And if Steven Brust says I'm knowledgeable about grammar, it makes me feel a little better about my career.

( Meme below the cut )

I am also strongly in favor of expanding the role of the ndash wherever possible.
( Below the cut, a little punctuation geekery and a cheap shot at W )