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Archive for Ask the Grammar Geek

Jan 11, 2008

Something new

I promised yesterday that I’d have a new feature today.

I did a little rearranging of my blog. I took out the what I’m reading page, because I never remember to update it and I never seem to be near the computer when I finish a book. But to give you an idea, I have a bunch of the books on the go right now. I’m re-reading Bridget Jones’s Diary, because the CBC ran the movie and the sequel like a million times last week, and I’m part of the way through: Eve Kenin’s Driven, Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, and something else I can’t seem to remember. (Tho, I have Megan Hart’s Broken, which I’m dying to start, but am holding off ’til I finish one or more of the other books I’m in the middle of.) And I just finished Rachel Caine’s Stray, and Jacqueline deMontravel’s Escape from Bridezilla.

And I added a new page. I know I’d initially intended for Fridays to be Ask the Grammar Geek day, but people stopped sending me questions. But what’s funny is that where so many people get random sex-related search words that bring people to their blogs, almost all of my search terms are grammar-related.

So I created a new page… Ask the Grammar Geek. That page is going to be a giant Q&A free-for-all. Post a question in the comments and I’ll answer it. (well, within reason. I obviously won’t answer questions about a specific submission or manuscript. And I may be secretive about personal questions. *grin*) But grammar? publishing? editing? writing? even web design… hit me with your best shot.

1 Comment  •  Posted in Ask the Grammar Geek, Editing, Grammar, News

Sep 18, 2007

Think again

I’ve noticed the expression “if you think xxx, you have another thing coming” in a couple of manuscripts I’ve read lately.

Now, I’ve always heard it as “if you think xxx, you have another think coming” which, really, makes much more sense in my head… It’s a symmetry thing… you’re thinking x, and now another think (a purposely misspelled idiom for, again, symmetrical reasons) is gonna come your way.

And I was all set to do a whole Ask the Grammar Geek post on why you have to use “think” instead of “thing”. I even went Googling to prove me right (crap, considering I work for Yahoo! I really should go yahoo-ing, but it really just doesn’t have the same flow. Shhhh. don’t tell my boss. ;) ) and this is another one of those sayings that has a lot a lot a lot of controversy. Some people are adamant about it being “think”, others are, no, no way, uh-uh, it’s “thing” and think is dumb.

The Pedant’s Revolt: Why Most Things You Think Are Right Are Wrong says that it’s think. Other internet resources argue that it was originally thing, and the saying has morphed over the years to think.

So, what do you think (or thing)? I’d be interested to hear other people’s thoughts on the issue.

I also found, in this same search, that apparently the language has morphed for the saying “I couldn’t care less” making it “I could care less”. I HATE hearing I could care less, and yet it’s all over the TV. Drives me right up a wall. Think about it. If you could care less, then you have more caring you could do, thus pretty much negating what you were trying to say in the first place. Right? Right? :)

4 Comments  •  Posted in Ask the Grammar Geek, Editing

Apr 13, 2007

Ask the Grammar Geek 3

So, rather than answer a specific question, I’m gonna go on a little mini-rant…

Two weeks ago, I talked about how to use the apostrophe with a word that ends in ‘s’. Today, I want to talk about how else to use an apostrophe. Because I see it wrong all.the.time. and it drives me absolutely nuts.

Right now, the apostrophe just seems to show up willy nilly all over the place… the worst is when making any word plural. Please, for the love of all that is grammatically correct, please don’t do this.

Here’s a handy-dandy rule for remembering how to use the apostrophe:
An apostrophe is used for omission and possession.

Omission – if you’ve taken out a letter or two (i.e., don’t (do not), wouldn’t (would not), it’s (yes, it’s – it is, take out the second i and you have it’s) )

Possession – If something belongs to the person/thing you are referring to (Grammar Geek’s rant, The cat’s bowl. One exception… its. Because then it would be “it is”…)

There is one teeny, tiny exception to this… when you are taking one letter (and only one letter) and you’re making it plural, then you use the apostrophe before the s. Why? Mostly to avoid confusion. For example: He got straight A’s, She had to mind her p’s and q’s. Imagine those without the apostrophe. Yikes.

Other than that, please do not use the apostrophe. Want to say something is plural? No apostrophe. There are cats, there are dogs, there are books. Unless you have something that belongs to the cat or the dog or the book, get rid of your apostrophe.
Going to the store to get a new pile of PCs and DVDs and CDs? Yup, no apostrophe there either.

I keep hearing, oh, but I want to separate the thing from the ‘s’. Um. Why? Are people that dumb that they won’t understand what PCs are? or DVDs? or books? I don’t think so. (or, at least, I hope not. :) ) But for me, if I see PC’s, I think, hm, the PC’s what? Which is more confusing than ‘separating’ the word from the ‘s’.

Just remember the rule… omission and possession. And you’ll have a happy Grammar Geek.

Hope that helps!

6 Comments  •  Posted in Ask the Grammar Geek, Grammar

Mar 30, 2007

Ask the Grammar Geek 2

Today’s question comes from Kis, who says:

when using the possessive of names that end in S, is it Alexis’ dog, or Alexis’s?. Because I’ve seen both.

Well, the fact of the matter is, it depends. :) I went to three style guides for this question, because while personally, I prefer the clean lines of just the apostrophe without the extra ‘s’, there is much controversy over this issue.

The Canadian Press stylebook, which is based on the American Press stylebook says:

plural nouns ending in s take an apostrophe alone … singular nouns and names ending in s (or an s sound) normally take an ‘s … but names ending with an -iz sound and classical names often take only an apostrophe … [whereas] names ending in a silent s or x take and apostrophe and s

Heh, confused yet? Let’s look at Essentials of English:

The possessive case of nouns is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s to words which do not end with an s or a z sound: the boy’s room, the children’s school; and by adding only the apostrophe to words which do end with an s or a z sound: the boys’ room, Dickens’ novel. If however, the word ending in s or z is a proper name with only one syllable, an apostrophe and an s are added to the word: Keats’s sonnets, Santa Claus’s reindeer.

And that in some ways contradicts the first one, doesn’t it? Ok, let’s go to Chicago Manual of Style, which is one of the more popular style guides. What’s really interesting, is CMOS uses the Dickens example, only the exact opposite… as it basically says with the exception of a few classical examples (Jesus’, Moses’, Euripides’), always add an apostrophe and an s.

That being said, section 6.30 says this:

How to form the possessive of polysyllabic personal names ending with the sound of s or z probably occassions more dissension among writers and editors than any other orthographic mattter open to disagreement.

So bottom line, two of the guides say it would be Alexis’s and one says Alexis’. So which should you use? As I said, it depends. Most importantly, I think, is to stay consistent. Pick one and stick with it throughout your work. You’ll also find that most publishers – book, magazine, website, etc. have one preferred style guide and will conform completely to that style, so where you may have picked Alexis’, your editor may choose to go with a different style guide, and change them all to Alexis’s.

Hope that helps! :)

6 Comments  •  Posted in Ask the Grammar Geek, Grammar

Mar 23, 2007

Ask the Grammar Geek

Ugh, I’m a little behind after things in my world got turned on their heads yesterday, so I’m still reeling from some news that has much good and much bad all at once… I’ve given myself ’til Monday to wallow and then I have to put new plans and goals in place.

But, ta-dah, as promised, my first edition of Ask the Grammar Geek:

This question came a few weeks ago in the comments and I never got the chance to answer it, so here goes:

Hey, Grammar Geek – I need help! Forgive me for butting into an entry that really has nothing to do with grammar, but your grammar entries are pretty old.

Ok, my question – I need to be absolutely sure about this, so I need total justification.

Should it be:

May your life be as a song, resounding with the dawn, to sing away the light…

or

May your life be like a song… etc etc.

Purely from a grammar standpoint, wouldn’t “like” be correct, since it’s used as a preposition as opposed to a conjunction?

From a purely auditory sense, like just sounds more right. Both as and like are used in similes, and can both be used as prepositions, according to Meriam Websters dictionary, so technically, both are grammatically correct. But, when it comes down to it, I think the flow and sound of your sentence should win out. If it were me, I’d go with like.

Hope that helps! :)

2 Comments  •  Posted in Ask the Grammar Geek, Grammar