Daily Post. WordPress Photo Challenge: Night time
Even though literary critics sharply criticize this line as clichéd, I still like it. Even a dark and stormy night can be exquisitely beautiful.
It was a dark and stormy night. Janice Heck, photo
Read this post reblogged from Julie Glover who tells us why grammar does matter! Well done, Julie.
I’ve been called a Grammar Nazi, a grammar geek, a grammar freak, a grammar nut, the grammar police, and a stickler. What they say behind my back, I don’t know.
I’m not that bad. I don’t critique tweets, personal emails, texts, slang, or other informal communication. I am, however, concerned about proper language usage when it comes to published works.
Before you think I’m here waving a red Sharpie and poised to attack your misspellings, mispronunciations, or mistaken word usage, you should know that first and foremost, grammar geeks are word lovers. Just like writers.
I spend one day a week talking about language on Amaze-ing Words Wednesday. Those posts range from grammar advice to etymology to word games. Language is fascinating. The human ability to communicate a wide range of emotion, information, and ideas sets us apart and allows us to accomplish together what we couldn’t…
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This excellent post was written by Therin Knite of Knite Writes: The Official Blog of Therin Knite. I’m eagerly waiting for part 2!
After church services most summer Sundays, our little bunch of Margate-by-the-Sea (NJ) choir members (one soprano, one female tenor, two basses, and two choir groupies) goes out for breakfast.
We gather around the shiny black piano after services and begin our conversation.
Gary owns the restaurant so it is called Gary’s Restaurant, or just Gary’s for short.
Well, where share we go today?
Sal’s? Gary’s? Fitzpatick’s? Ozzie’s? Isabella’s, Jon and Patty’s?
Fitzpatrick’s, Sal’s, Ozzie’s, Isabelle’s, and Jon and Patty’s get nixed rapidly. The shoobie crowd (summer visitors to the shore) pack out these places on summer Sunday mornings.
That leaves Gary’s, our favorite offshore breakfast place.
Not only does Gary serve good breakfasts, his quaint, offshore restaurant is far away from the madding beach crowds. And, best of all, Gary knows how to use apostrophes correctly! Five stars for him.
Common Writing Error: Substituting Plurals and Possessives (Apostrophes)
Although it seems like a simple matter to a grammar geek like me, people constantly confuse words that need or don’t need apostrophes. Facebook, Twitter, other social media sites abound with this apostrophe atrocity.
And greengrocers? They thrive on making this common error. But don’t let sign makers or bumper sticker printers off the hook. They help to perpetuate this mistake. Check out this especially egregious example of incorrect apostrophe use.
Apostrophe abuse found by Tina in Naples, Florida. Posted on Apostrophe Atrocities dot com
Most common writing errors lists include the notoriously abused, misused, or totally ignored apostrophe. Blogs dedicated to finding and posting pictures of blatant misuse of apostrophes ridicule this particular writing error. (See Apostrophe Catastrophes and Apostrophe Abuse.) The misuse of the apostrophe is high on the list of a grammar geek’s pet peeves.
Strunk & White, in The Elements of Style, list the possessive apostrophe on nouns as the first item of importance on their list of “Elementary Rules of Usage.” In fact, apostrophes are taught in school at about the third grade and reviewed every school year after that, ad nauseum. (See Are You Smarter Than a Third Grader?)
Yet apostrophes are still frequently misused, much to the horror of Lynn Truss. This author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves (2003) calls apostrophe errors
satanic sprinklings of redundant apostrophes that cause no little gasp of horror or quickening of the pulse…
Her book is about stuff we grammar geeks love but non-geeks and grammar-phobes don’t care about.
Two Questions Solve the Apostrophe Problem
When it comes to apostrophes, ask two questions.
1. Are there more than one? If so, just add -s.
Two or more of the same thing = plural.
Two copies of one noun.
Two aardvarks, three curmudgeons, four geezers, five egomaniacs, six gastroenterologists, seven hyenas, ten apes, eleven orangutans,
…and last, but not least, twelve grammar geeks…
You get the idea. Two or more copies of one noun. Just add -s.
If you can count it, just add -s.
2. Does someone own something? An apostrophe shows ownership, possession, or connection of some sort.
When two distinct nouns have a connection, the first noun is the owner and earns the apostrophe. See Abbey’s Alphabet for a quick review of possessives.)
Gary owns his little breakfast money-maker, so he calls it
Gary’s Restaurant.
Same with Fitzpatrick’s, Sal’s, Ozzie’s, and Isabella’s.
Fitzpatrick’s Deli
Sal’s Coal Fired Pizza (yes, they serve breakfast and pizza)
Ozzie’s Luncheonette
Isabella’s Ventnor Café
Here’s Where It Gets Tricky: Possessives with Two Owners
What about restaurants that have two owners and both want their personal names in the restaurant name?
What should Jon and Patty call their restaurant? What should Steve and Cookie call their restaurant? How about Chickie and Pete?
The rule is that only the second owner’s name gets the apostrophe, so the restaurant name should be written like this:
Jon and Patty’s Coffee Bar and Bistro
Steve and Cookie’s (Restaurant) By the Bay
Gary gets his apostrophes right on his kid’s menu as well. Five more stars.
Of course, you will see this rule broken from time to time:
Chickie and Pete couldn’t agree on who got the apostrophe, so they both (incorrectly) claimed one.
Personally, I wouldn’t want to make this error in neon lights!
Instead of going to that crab house next time you want a good breakfast, go to Gary’s. You’ll love his omelets. Or, if you’re not so hungry, have a grilled cheese sandwich from the kid’s menu. And thank Gary for getting his apostrophes right!
Your Turn:
What are your English grammar, usage, and punctuation pet peeves?
If you are a grammar geek, or just a person who wants to be sure that you use the best grammar and punctuation in all writing situations, then consider following this blog. Just click on the link on the sidebar to the left of this post. Thanks.
This post is one in a series on Writing Quirks. More Writing Quirks can be found on my other blog: Janice Heck
During the course of my weekly Mahjong game with Linda, Suzanne, and Cathy, the conversation shifted to our English language error pet peeves.
Linda said, “I hate it when people misuse apostrophes. Don’t they learn about apostrophes in third grade?”
Well, no, in third grade the kids just want to get outside for recess to play ball. You don’t need apostrophes out on the field, just a good pitching or catching arm and fast running. With those three key ingredients, you can be a star.
Plurals and Apostrophe Confusion
It’s around third grade that apostrophes start their mischievous and devious lives.
Plurals come easily to young children, that is, until about third grade when they half-learn about apostrophes. Apostrophes look so grown up in writing that children begin to use them everywhere, forgetting what they have learned earlier about plurals. Many children get plurals and apostrophes straightened out after some patient teaching, but alas, many get stuck in third grade using apostrophes on plurals or omitting them on possessive nouns.
There’s Hope!
Teachers use an old rhyme to help children decode words with double vowels (rain, brain, pea, speak, teach, boat, coat, glue, and so on).
graphic credit: tiedupwstring.com
When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.
Thus in words like speak, teach, coat, and glue you pronounce the sound of the first letter (long vowels say their own name) while the second letter remains silent.
We can make up a similar rhyme to help us remember how to use apostrophes:
When two NOUNs go walking, the first one gets the apostrophe.
The Apostrophe’s Function
The apostrophe answers this question: Who owns this (book, ball, pen, house, car, whatever)?
Who? A person = Noun Owns what? A thing = Noun
Blaze this in Your Memory Banks:
When two NOUNs go walking, the first one gets the apostrophe.
To use the possessive apostrophe correctly, you must have two nouns.
Here’s Abbey’s Alphabet to help you check out this guideline.
Check. Does every example have two nouns? (a person and an object)
Possessive Nouns and Apostrophes. Graphic by Janice Heck
Alas. Of course, there are more apostrophe rules. We will talk about them in future posts. But for now, just remember that you need a possessive noun and an object noun to use an apostrophe to show possession.
Your Turn:
What writing quirks do you find in writing? What’s your pet peeve in writing?
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Who’s on your list of Twitter Followers? Look carefully and you might find a few surprises (shocks?):
Twitter Fight
a porno queen or two
a foul-mouthed jock
a beggar (asking you to follow, pleeeeease)
a person boasting about how many followers they can get for you
people with very strange names
a person who may be calling you or your mother names in another language
other surprises.
I like Twitter, but the speed of its message flow disrupts idea continuity. Still I check Twitter fairly regularly, and I always find something interesting or funny. Kristen Lamb is one of my favorites. She gives lots of advice on writing, blogging, and jumping into the social network. She always has something amusing to say.
Kristen Lamb@KristenLambTX
Been working since 7 this morning. Can I have back all those naps I didn’t want when I was a kid? #MyWANA#naprebates Best-Selling…
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Neat quotes collected by E. on A Sign of Life.
R-Day in the A to Z Challenge. The month is winding down, and the remaining letters are thinning out. Let’s see. Eight more letters after this, but who’s counting?
Reflexive Pronouns Cause A Ruckus
Grammar Girl, a popular grammar and writing blog found on the Internet, says that she receives a lot of questions related to proper and improper use of reflexive pronouns.
People seem to have strong opinions on this topic. One group sees or hears mistakes in using reflexive pronouns, and they get bent out of shape. Another group doesn’t even notice the mistakes. And some think the improperly used reflexive pronouns are used correctly and look down on those who don’t use them the same way. What’s the truth? Who is right?
One theory is that people get confused on when to use I or me in sentences, so they use the reflexive pronoun myself instead. Another theory is that using…
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We should all be this curious!
In previous posts, Serial Commas and Compulsive Behavior and Serial Commas, Parallel Structure, and Zombies for Hire, we learned: use a comma before the conjunction and in a series (list) of three or more grammatically similar words, phrases, or clauses (even though journalists, Brits, and Aussies do not follow this convention). And remember to check the style guidelines of the publishers for whom you write to see which way they want you to use the serial comma.
The classic example using the serial comma before the conjunction:
The American flag is red, white, and blue.
But you know writers. They like to mix it up a bit. Once they master this basic rule of using a comma and conjunction in a series (list), they proceed to make variations on the rule.
One Variation: The Ghostly and.
Instead of using a final conjunction before the last element in the series (list), the writer simply drops the conjunction and.
Eliminating the and in a series in a sentence can be an effective style choice. Let’s go back to the Unnatural Quarter and see what Zombie Private Investigator, Dan Shamble is investigating now. (Kevin J. Anderson, Death Warmed Over, 2012)
List of Nouns and Noun Phrases with the Ghostly and
Note: The parentheses indicate the placement of the ghostly and.
I look pretty good for a dead guy, or so I’ve been told:
well-trimmed dark hair,
striking eyes accentuated by bold eyebrows, ( )
just the right amount of “rugged.”I like the bustle and little distracting noises around the office:
the ringing phone,
the slam of file-cabinet drawers, ( )
the clacking of a keyboard as Sheyenne’s ghost types up reports.In the back room of the flat, behind a closed door, I could hear
a whimper,
muffled screams, ( )
the sounds of a struggle.
List of Verb Phrases with the Ghostly and
The ghostly and with a series of verb phrases builds tension in the story.
I spotted the silhouette of a large hairy form
loping among the graves,
sniffing the ground, ( )
coming closer.Without me in the office Robin threw herself back into her cases,
filing more briefs and appeals,
appearing in court, ( )
speaking with fiery vehemence on behalf of her clients.
List of Independent Clauses (complete sentences in a series) with the ghostly and
Businesses sprang up that catered to the specialized clientele:
Commercial blood drives commissioned fresh supplies for vampire customers;
processing plants developed seasonings and treatments to make chicken “taste just like human”; ( )
restaurants and bars served the proper food choices.In order to live peacefully together, unnaturals had learned to control their base urges and get along with one another…
Werewolves no longer killed human victims each full moon,
vampires gave up drinking all but voluntarily donated blood, ( )
zombies and ghouls foreswore eating human flesh.
The Fragmented Spirit: The Serial and, the Ghostly and, and the First Word of Sentence and.
Why not throw in another way to use the word and in a sentence (or not)?
Our grammar school teachers frowned when we innocently began sentences with a capitalized And. But writers nowadays regularly use that capitalized And to begin sentences, thumbing their noses at their grade-school teachers, I guess.
In this next example, Kevin J. Anderson throws in three different ways to use the word and:
I’m dead, for starters—it happens.
But I’m still ambulatory, and I can still think, ( ) still be a contributing member of society (such as it is, these days).
And still solve crimes.
Thank goodness for P. I. Shamble. What would this world be like if all those zombies, vampires, werewolves, ghouls, succubi, and other assorted created had no legal assistance to solve their life’s problems?
Restless unnaturals instead of placated unnaturals? Let’s not go there! Keep up the good word, Shamble. In the meantime, the rest of us may borrow some of your writing stylistics using the conjunction and.
(Note: While zombie books are not especially a favorite of mine, I do believe it is important to read widely across all genres. Sometimes we can learn new things when reading in a genre that is not familiar to us. And, these books are funny!)
Educator, Writer, Editor, Blogger, Photographer;
Co-leader (with Kathryn Ross of The Writer's Reverie) of the Cumberland County Chapter of New Jersey Society of Christian Writers
Janice Heck Writes 