Terminalcoffee discussion

I'm scatterbrained. So sue me.

Do you feel badly about it?

But really, I don't know if I should have used "toward" or "towards" there. David? Sarah?

No, my sense of feeling is not deficient, but thanks for asking.

Both "toward" and "towards" are generally considered acceptable.

Edit* But "toward" sounds better.

phew!

I like "toward" better, too.

Ok, I should focus. Focus!

I like Strunk and White, by the way.

brand of tofu?

You like Strunk and White, RA? Did you ever actually read them?

; )

You're a dead man, Mr. K...I'm slipping mayonnaise into your food in the near future.

I'm serious. Strunk and White would've totally put a cap in your ass for that Russ' thing earlier. They were very street about their grammar.

MLA all the way.

How is it even possible to be "very street" about grammar?

I don't know, Sally. Split an infinitive and find out at your own peril.

But they're dead... so they're not quite as assertive as they used to be.

L: A, C, D, I.

I think it depends on the context in which the correction happened. It could be funny, but it could be rude.

Now I'm questioning everything I type. For example, should I have typed, "The context during which...?"

Edit* Should I have said, "...context in which the correction occurred?"

Did I put the question mark in the right place?

Should I have said, "Did I place the question mark correctly?"

No, "in which" sounds better in that context, Boobs.

; )

Thank you.

That's why I asked about the "'s" thing...I wasn't sure and my Strunk and White is at home.

David's going all schoolmarm spaz in this thread. If he had a pointer he'd be whackin' knuckles. Maybe wearing a habit.

And I thought split infinitives were ok now.

You wusses. You can't HANDLE APA.

"schoolmarm spaz"

You can come back inside now RA, that was funny!

It's windy as hell here too, thanks, Sallers...

http://englishplus.com/news/news1198.htm

All y'all can kiss mah muthafuckin' spaz.

Oh, to badly kiss David's spaz...

Yes, RA, but Strunk and White were dead before this grammatical breakthrough came about.

I'd say a bit of all of the above.
My grammar sucks. (I blame it on the years of factory work)
All those goddamn rules!! I quit tutoring for the literacy council because I became so insecure about my grammar being here on Goodreads. Sure, I could teach the people to read, but all THE GODDAMN RULES! I miss it. (tutoring the people, not the rules)
Plus, I spell and type poorly. badly? like shit?

soooooo... there you have it.

How someone corrects the error makes the difference on if they are an arrogant prick or concerned citizen.

I love "irksome."

Am I being irksome if I ask whether or not there should be a comma between "grammar" and "and?"

As far as I know there needs to be a comma there in APA format, but in MLA format the last two items are separated only by the "and".

Here's what I hate: I don't like that period hanging out outside of the parentheses, but it looks weird inside too. I'm often tempted to just skip the period, but in a thread like this ...

Oh god, that one bothers me so much! It can be EITHER WAY!!!! I can't stand that!

I have a friend who worked at a newspaper and she said whatever style newspapers use leaves the comma before the "and" out. I think it has something to do with using the least amount of space necessary. I always put the final comma in b/c that's how I learned it in elementary school. I can't not put it in. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I left it out.

Self-appointed clearly calls for a hyphen, by the way.

You don't mind if we tease you, do you, Charly?

Although it's a matter of taste, I think Charly's second sentence would benefit from a comma rather than a semicolon because the two clauses are so closely related. Also, there should be a comma after the adverbial phrase "If one is asked to be the grammar police," and the compound adjective "self-appointed" is generally hyphenated.

; )

Cross post with Jacks. (High five again, Jacks!)

I have realized in this conversation that it's the punctuation stuff that I'm the most obsessive about. I don't know why those rules stuck with me so firmly or why they please me so much, but it felt like math felt to me as a kid. Deeply satisfying. Everything has its place. The RULE makes it so.

Periods and commas always go inside the quote. Question and exclamation marks go inside the quote if they apply to the words in the quote. If they apply to the sentence that makes the quote (but not to whatever's inside the quote) they go outside the quote.

My head just exploded.

If something is clear, then why point it out?


Just kidding, Jackie. The use of "clearly" and "obviously" were a pet peeve of an old English professor. Personally, I like 'em.

"If they apply to the sentence that makes the quote (but not to whatever's inside the quote) they go outside the quote."

Oops.

I use "clearly" when I'm trying to be extra obnoxious. It seems to work, Shelly. :)

Well, I was teasing Sally, but I think it made her mad at me. :(

I never know which is correct: "farther" or "further"?

EDIT: Wow, lots of cross-posting. I was referring to Jackie's question about teasing Charly.

:)

(I wasn't gonna actually call you out on that, Boobs!)

Oh my gawd, I'm working my way through a pile of freshman "academic argument" papers and they are huge fans of "clearly" and "obviously." (I dunno, Mindy, that looks weird.)

I'm restraining myself, but I just want to scrawl all over their paper If it's so obvious why are you including it as your bullshit evidence?!?!


(I think it might be martini time.)

Farther is used for measurable distances, I believe, but further is used for more abstract, less definite verbs.

Your house is farther from my house than his.

We should explore this issue further.

That's okay, Mindy. I like to know those things.

(Is anybody else afraid to type in this thread? I am.)

I know, but it's the RULE.

(Sally)

Wow, that was the most chronic of all CCPs in history.


I'm not mad at you Sarah! I adore you!

I think a comma after an "and" is superfluous. And redundant. :)

Boob - Nobody should be afraid to type in this thread. It's like a grammar mosh pit!

And repetitive.

I'm not afraid to type b/c we've established that people who correct other people's grammar usage in public are rude.



Haven't we? Well, at least those of us who answered the question the thread posed did.

David doesn't agree, though, I'm sure.

Edit: This was meant to follow my last post!

,

In that case, Sally, I shall teasingly point out that there should have been a comma after "you" and before "Sarah."

I adore you, too.