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Solving your writing problems since 1998! |
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~ The Write Way ~ Friday 17 August 2001 Ayn Rand and ...
Greetings, A number of people have commented that the last couple of issues have been arriving in a rather frazzled condition ... and no, it has nothing to do with my state of mind. All I can think of is that somewhere along the line, I've done some cutting and pasting that has imposed a different system of formatting on the newsletter - so I've selected bits and clicked other bits and added eye of newt and toe of frog for this issue - fingers crossed that the problem is solved (please let me know if your copy arrives in a less than perfect state!) Or you can follow Liz Comeau's innovative lead: "Well, it still came through all scrambled up, but I figured out a solution...I hit the reply button and it looks normal in that window! Thanks!" Some of my comments last week regarding the use of the serial comma, were printed in blue (to indicate that I couldn't take credit for them). I particularly liked these: Examples of silliness caused by omitting the serial comma:
These examples caused a little angst for Jefferson Bales, who wrote: "I couldn't disagree more strongly with your analysis of terminal commas, especially in fiction writing. "On rare occasions, a comma is called for before the last item in a list, but very rarely. "Your examples are deceptive. You must have searched for weeks to find them. In fiction, a comma before the last "and" in a list just slows the sentence down unnecessarily. The comma, itself, does the work required. I'm an English graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, NC. and have attended graduate journalism school there. I deal with this problem everyday helping new writers by editing their books prior to publication. They ARE published. Your views are in conflict with those of the mighty Lawrence Block...The few examples you gave for using commas before "and" in a list were the very rare exceptions to smooth sentence flow." And this, "I agree that the commas in your examples did remove ambiguity, but by citing a few rare examples where commas are called for and not citing the overwhelming number off instances in which they are superfluous, you may be misleading beginning writers." Richard agrees:When I was at school, one of the writing rules we learnt was "never use a comma before 'and'. Like most such scholastic strictures, it is necessary to know when it can be ignored and your own suggestion of using the Oxford Comma even when it is not required has some merit. However, I still believe that its use in common lists (Fred, Charlie, John, and Harry arrived together) looks clumsy and the sentence flows better to my mind without the final comma. (Richard English www.retraining-uk.com ) In response, I agree that in fiction (and other writing), the ",and" combination should not be used unnecessarily since it does slow down the action - but I still maintain the need to use them on occasions such as the first example: "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God." It's obvious that the comma does change the meaning ...just a tad: "To my parents, Ayn Rand, and God." Chuckle ... I still like this example ... The best way to test whether you should whack in a comma, is to read the sentence aloud. Where you would normally pause in speech, is the perfect home for a comma OK - while we're looking at commas and their ilk ... what about another punctuation mark that is frequently abused? Ta-darr...the quotation mark! They seem to proliferate these days - especially on the Internet. I bet you wish you had a dollar for every set of quotation marks you've seen on sites advertising something like this: "Special" offer! When you "buy" one "program," you receive two "free" subscriptions. Tell your "friends" and get an additional "free" bonus. Quotation marks are used to indicate that words are being quoted, or to indicate words used ironically, with reservations, or in some unusual way eg. The great march of "progress" has left many impoverished. It's just not "necessary" to use them "all the time." (I have visions of people waggling their fingers in the air making those imaginary little quotation marks, widening their eyes, raising their eyebrows, leaning slightly forward, pausing significantly and saying the words verrry sloooowly, every time I come across these misused quotation marks.) Here are some great examples sent in and posted on the Gallery of "Misused" Quotation Marks. (Comments are made by those who post the examples and the editor of the site.)
So, please think twice before you over-work these little critters and if you have any questions/comments about their use or abuse, don't forget the forum is there, just waiting for you: http://www.write101.com/letters/fota.htm Remember, even though it's called Friends of the Apostrophe, you can post questions/comments about any language related matter. I posted this in the first edition of the Travelbug newsletter, it's another of The Classics. Before you read it, I just want to say that I know - for a fact - that if you subscribe to my newsletter, you not only share my fascination with language, but also a keen sense of the ridiculous and an ability not to take yourself too seriously ... well, you must, mustn't you? You're still here :) OK ... now you can read on: An
American tourist travelling in Limerick came across a little antique shop
in which he was lucky enough to pick up, for a mere $150, the skull of
Saint Patrick. Definitely a classic! Reading it pricked the conscience of regular subscriber, Frank - an ex-pat Canadian who now lives in sunny Spain: I am ashamed to say this is a true story. Having read your St. Patrick's skull story, I have to send this. Many years ago I was looking for a joke gift for a friend, a would be writer, so I went to a market in London. I do not know London well, but eventually I found a market that had quite a lot of junk, just the place. I looked at three old typewriters. None of them worked well, but I had to select the one that would be the most frustrating. I went from one stall to the others and back again selecting these paperweights until I decided on the one I liked. I bought it for something around a pound or two and took it away. I do not remember if I was approached inside or near a pub, but two American tourists did approach me and asked why I was looking at old typewriters. I told them, inside the pub at this time, and they simply did not believe it. They asked me why I went through the typewriters so carefully, etc. I eventually broke down and told them the truth. I told them that I had good information that this typewriter was owned by William Shakespeare and there was good reason to believe he had typed many of his plays on it. They tried to buy it from me! I am not a complete bounder. I told them I was joking and would not sell it, but a pint or two later, they convinced me to take something like £350 for it. My resolve must have been dissolved. These two then told me how they had robbed me and how much money the typewriter would fetch in the States. I tried again to tell them it was just a piece of junk and even pointed out the dates on the thing, but they were convinced that I was just trying to get it back at a good price now that I knew what it was worth. I do believe they eventually relented and offered to give me a percentage of the auction profits, or they wanted me to find more "bargains" like this for them. Whatever, they wanted my address, so I duly made one up and gave it to them. I am not proud of this event or the way I acted, but £350 is difficult to resist after you are one pint over the limit. It would not surprise me if they really did get what they thought at auction. I use that as a certain consolation. That and £350. Frank Sirett (Barcelona) Aah - priceless! This week's quiz: Back to the normal procedure - match the word from the list with its meaning below: garner, dissemble, quaff, conundrum, denouement, dilatory, sodden, inveigle, perfidious, stolid 1. wheedle, led astray 2. soaked, saturated 3. violating good faith, treacherous, dishonest 4. a riddle, dilemma, enigma 5. an outcome or solution; the unravelling of a plot 6. showing no emotion; impassive 7. present false appearance; deceive 8. causing delay, procrastinating 9. to gather and save; to store up 10.drink large quantities And here's a story that brings a tear to my eye every time: A first grade teacher was reading the Three Little Pigs to her class. She came to the part of the story where the first pig was trying to accumulate the building materials for his home. She read "...and so the pig went up to the man with the wheelbarrow full of straw and said 'Pardon me sir, but may I have some of that straw to build my house?' " The teacher paused and then asked the class, "And what do you think the man said?" After several moments, a little boy raised his hand and said "I think he said, 'Holy Shit! A talking Pig' " The teacher was unable to teach for the next twenty minutes. (Thanks Dave!) Last week's quiz:
Match the word in the list with its ANTONYM below: impractical, taciturn, abundance, invigorate, impatience, co-operative, impropriety, curse, effective, disinclination 1. feckless - EFFECTIVE 2. decorum - IMPROPRIETY 3. penchant - DISINCLINATION 4. truculent - CO-OPERATIVE 5. garrulous - TACITURN 6. beatify - CURSE 7. forbearance - IMPATIENCE 8. pragmatic - IMPRACTICAL 9. paucity -ABUNDANCE 10.enervate - INVIGORATE If you know anyone who would like to subscribe to The Write Way, please send them a personal invitation to join us each Friday, just cut and paste this link and email it to them: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Word of the Week: I thought it was time to put a name to another fear - here's a quirky phobia for those who feel the need for something new: Automatonophobia (n) - Fear of ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues - anything that falsely represents a sentient being. Mondegreen of the week: Two for the price of one this week - because I just couldn't choose: Clown Control to Mao Tse-tung from Bowie's "Space Oddity" is reallyGround Control to Major Tom. It's a hard egg -- Bonnie Tyler,It's A Heartache (Thanks to Ted for these.) This week's Latin phrase will come in very handy: Quando prandimus? (What time is lunch?) KWON-doh pran-DEE-moos? If you received this from a friend, click here to receive your own copy: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Regards, Jennifer |
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