Posted in Chickens, Grammar, etc., tagged Chickens, Facebook, Signs, Trish (the chicken), Twitter on March 6, 2010| 1 Comment »
Trish wasn’t just a chicken. She was a cottage industry. She had a Facebook page, was the theme for my Twitter account, and the star of this blog. So I’m struggling with how to proceed.
For now, she will remain as the inspiration and theme.
And today, I’ll return to a popular topic: signs.
At a sushi place in the Mall of Georgia, I spotted this bit of loveliness:
Does that “sause” get you soused? Sigh.
Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged Bright ideas, Bureaucrats, Peeves, Signs on February 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »
I know I haven’t posted in a few days. Too much going on. I apologize. Let me make it up to you with the following photo.
Why is “one” in quotation marks on the sign? Is it because they are trying to be cute with counting?
OK, then what about the other sign up the road:
God wants “full” custody, not just weekend visitation.
Why is “full” in quotation marks? Perhaps this blogger can explain.
Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged Facebook, Peeves, Students on February 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Thank you to Kristina, a SCAD writing student, for providing tonight’s subject. She reports that the writer of this Facebook status update may be “the dumbest person on the planet.” I don’t know about that, but this person’s post is pretty great in a horrible way.
It is nice to know they give you plants in the emergency room.
Seriously, though …
There are many things I could say about this item, but I like two aspects overall:
Moral of the story: Don’t butcher the language, even on Facebook.
Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged Peeves, Signs on February 16, 2010| 1 Comment »
I’ve been saving this New York gift from Shane Marshall Brown. Today is the day I will share.
You see why I’ve been saving it. It is just so wonderful, I wanted to build up to it. Yesterday’s post was the appetizer.
Every sign in the photo has multiple mistakes. I think that middle sign says, “Match Boox’s.”
This makes me want to take a trip with a red pen — and a dictionary to offer the sign maker.
Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged Bright ideas, Bureaucrats, Peeves, Signs, Students on February 15, 2010| 2 Comments »
Today’s topic and photo are courtesy of Travis, a student in the SCAD writing department. He discovered this sign on a printer in the Jen Library. Some students say it has been there for a couple of weeks.
Here’s my beef with this sign: the word “utilize.” What did the word “use” ever do to anyone? “Utilize” is like pearls on a pig. Pointless. “Use” is a fine word; there is nothing wrong with it. That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do.
And don’t get me started on “supersize” as a verb. Damn you, McDonald’s.
Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged Apostrophes, Definitions, Passive vs. active voice, Peeves, Signs on February 8, 2010| 1 Comment »
I love the show “Hoarders.” I hate the written chunks between segments. Not only are they unnecessary recaps, but they usually feature passive voice. I hate passive voice.
On the last episode, I was shocked to discover something I hate even more: an egregious error. Take a look:
Despite how people may want this to work, and expect it to work, the possessive form of “it” is “its.” No apostrophe. “It’s” is always a contraction for “it is” or “it has.” Those are the rules.
To the “Hoarders” production crew, I say, “Please stop hoarding apostrophes.”
Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged Media, Peeves, Pronouns on February 6, 2010| 8 Comments »
I’m not happy with the copy editor of today’s issue of the Savannah Morning News. In addition to allowing Arlinda Smith Broady to get away with using an ampersand in SCAD’s name on the front page of Exchange, the editor allowed an improper use of “I” on the front page of Accent. In a short about her new column, Christine Lucas wrote, “It’s just that he’s got my husband and I a little bit Rattled.” I’ll overlook the random capitalization because that could be a typo. The use of “I” however is ignorance. She shouldn’t have written it, but the copy editor should have caught it.
I don’t understand why this is so hard. As I explained in an earlier post, “I” is a subject pronoun and “me” is an object pronoun.
If you are doing something to someone or something, use “I” because you are the subject. If something is being done to you, use “me” because you are the object.
People incorrectly use “I” all the time. Why is “me” so frightening?
Eddie can’t stand watching television with me sometimes because I will mutter the correct version. And then sigh loudly.
So let’s go over it again. Here are some examples: Eddie and I are watching television. Dominic and Gideon watched television with Eddie and me. I said, “Dominic, give the remote to your father and me.” Eddie said, “Gideon, you and I are going upstairs right now because you can’t sit still.”
When in doubt, leave it out. Then see if the sentence makes sense. So Christine Lucas’ sentence without the other person would be, “It’s just that he’s got my husband and I a little bit Rattled.” That’s certainly not right. So use “me” instead: “It’s just that he’s got my husband and I me a little bit Rattled.” THAT makes sense. So the sentence should read, “It’s just that he’s got my husband and me a little bit Rattled.”
Copy editors should know these kinds of things. Now all of you do too.
Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged Definitions, Peeves, Requests on February 4, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Perhaps I wasn’t clear in my last post. At least, I wasn’t clear enough for new people visiting my blog from the Broadway discussion board. And for that, I apologize.
As “jmi” points out: “She didn’t really say anything in the blog other than that her friend found this thread. What’s interesting about that? We all found this thread too. ;-)”
Yes, indeed.
Here is why I posted the link to the thread on my blog:
1. Because I love it when people have in-depth discussions about grammar, punctuation and style
2. Because “gusto” posted (with gusto) that he/she had the only correct answer (“These are the rules”), when he/she was quite wrong according to a number of stylebooks. My favorite, the AP Stylebook, allows only quotation marks for composition titles.
3. Because Shane Marshall Brown saw the thread and thought of me. I love that people think of me when they see language mistakes or language discussions.
So thank you, “jmi,” for reminding me of the importance of considering my audience.
Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged Definitions, Peeves, Requests on February 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Today’s post topic comes from my good friend Shane Marshall Brown. (He has one of those names where you just have to say the whole thing — like Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Anthony Michael Hall or Billy Bob Thornton. I’ve never referred to him as “Shane.” That would be weird.)
Anyway, he is a publicist for Broadway and off-Broadway shows, and discovered this thread about the show “ENRON.” My favorite part is the post where “gusto” asserts, “These are the rules.” It is a good thing “FleetStreetBarber” was there, or I would have had an AP canary all over that thread.
It is also a good thing I have this blog as a place to vent.
Posted in Grammar, etc., tagged Academics, Bright ideas, Peeves, Signs, Students on February 2, 2010| 5 Comments »
I must thank Jacque, a student in the SCAD writing department, for providing the subject of tonight’s blog post. She reports that the image below was on the desktop of the college’s computers.
Ordinarily, I’d ask you to avert your eyes at such hideousness, but not tonight. Tonight I want you to look. Focus on it in all of its glory. And then let’s talk about it.
WHAT is going on here? Do people in these departments not know that there are people at SCAD who can help them write and design marketing materials? Is Montgomery Hal any relation to Shallow Hal? How many fonts are represented overall? And the colors! The colors! GAH!
Please make it stop.
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Observe and report 