I find language so interesting (perhaps the understatement of the year). On any given day, I might edit the same sentence in two or three different ways, depending on the preferred style guide — or just plain personal preferences — of the client I’m editing it for. And right there is a prime example:
Some clients would fiercely defend their right to end a sentence with a preposition because it sounds more like the real way we speak, while others would insist that it never be done, no matter how pretzel-like the sentence may sound (do pretzels sound? you know what I mean).
I always loved this video — along with many other Schoolhouse Rock selections — so I thought it would be appropriate to share today. Not only does it have to do with grammar — which, as you probably know, I’m all about! — but it also fits because today is our kids’ first day back at school!
I really wanted to post “Billy Joe McGuffrey” from the VeggieTales Jonah movie. If you have kids who’ve watched it over and over, you’ll remember how each verse starts out:
“Oh, Billy Joe McGuffrey was a really clumsy kid. On the first day of first grade I’ll tell ya what he did…”
“Oh, Billy Joe McGuffrey was a really clumsy kid. On the seventh day of seventh grade I’ll tell ya what he did…”
It goes all the way from first to twelfth day/grade of school, but our two boys are in first and seventh. In each of the verses something ridiculous happens and Billy Joe McGuffrey ends up in the hospital:
“You could buy a zoo with all the doctor bills he paid!”
It’s all sung super-fast so you can hardly understand all the words, and it’s done by the awesome Christian rock/pop singer Chris Rice.
Anyway, of course the main thing is that we hope no accidents or mishaps befall our two kids — or any of the kiddos heading back to school these days — because no one I know has the money to buy a zoo, and our lives are probably zoo-ish enough as it is! Better to stick with learning about conjunctions and all that fun stuff!
(And if you need any help with it, I’m just an email away!)
Hey, while you’re still here, do you have any first-day-of-school memories you’d like to share? Leave a comment below. Thanks!
Though, of course, we’re hoping we won’t have to try it for long.
About a week ago, my husband learned his graphic design job was being moved out-of-state (and he was not offered the chance to tag along). Of course, we went through a whole range of emotions — a bit of relief, as things had gotten complicated at that job; but mostly, as you might imagine, anxiety and nervousness, not only about finding a new job but also about the likely need to move and about how close we are now to the new school year (could this not have happened back in May or June? Really??).
“Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat whose former aides say once saw himself as a presidential contender some day, was found guilty…”
To be fair to the writer, this is a really tricky construction. I had to reread it a few times to even sort out whether it was incorrect or not. But, alas, Read the rest of this entry »
This morning, I took the time to follow a few Facebook links posted by people I know. Each took me to a piece of fine writing recently posted in cyberspace. The articles are quite different from one another, but what they all have in common is the high caliber with which they are written. I’ll provide links to the articles — as well as to two other examples of fine writing I came across recently — at the end of this post.
Some people are not convinced that the quality of their writing — correctness of punctuation, accuracy of spelling, smoothness of sentence flow, and so on — really matters. “People know what I mean!” groused one writer for whom I used to proofread. “And if they don’t get it, they’re not the kind of readers I want reading my stuff anyway.” Well! Read the rest of this entry »
The occasion does present the opportunity for a brief spelling/punctuation lesson, however! This festive night is not spelled “New Years Eve,” nor do we celebrate “the New Years.” GAH!! I’ve heard and seen both of those too many times already! Here are our options:
New Year’s Eve (the eve of the new year, thus the need for an apostrophe);
Happy New Year! (we only celebrate one at a time, so there is no “s” on the end);
New Year’s, as in “We’re celebrating New Year’s at…” (I’ll give you this one, reluctantly, but only with the apostrophe included to show that “Eve” is implied).
Just a tip to take with you into January! For others like it, along with a wide range of ponderings, I invite you to stop by this blog throughout 2011. I look forward to sharing new ventures with you!
