Lest you think editors and English teachers are too picky
This article just made my day.
First, the red-pen-wielding word nerd in me delights in seeing this sort of thing called out. (Now if only people would stop using everyday as a noun and stop putting scare quotes around words like ladies and gentlemen, particularly on the doors of public bathrooms, then I'd be happy. Mostly.) Second, the professional wordsmith in me has yet another argument in my "So you don't think editors are needed? Oh, yeah?" arsenal.
So take that, all you anti-editor "ladies" and "gentlemen" out there who write poorly everyday and think comma placement (and spelling and grammar and other punctuation and style...) doesn't matter. Take that indeed.
First, the red-pen-wielding word nerd in me delights in seeing this sort of thing called out. (Now if only people would stop using everyday as a noun and stop putting scare quotes around words like ladies and gentlemen, particularly on the doors of public bathrooms, then I'd be happy. Mostly.) Second, the professional wordsmith in me has yet another argument in my "So you don't think editors are needed? Oh, yeah?" arsenal.
So take that, all you anti-editor "ladies" and "gentlemen" out there who write poorly everyday and think comma placement (and spelling and grammar and other punctuation and style...) doesn't matter. Take that indeed.
3 Comments:
Uh-oh, I'm a big comma abuser!
I've never thought you were bad with commas. And even if you do let some slip every once in a while, that's not a big deal. I'm mostly ranting about publicly/professional published stuff--news articles, advertisements, books, etc. Stuff that is designed to communicate to a wide audience. These are the situations where people ought to know better...and hire an editor!
Have you read Eats, Shoots & Leaves? Great book about punctuation and grammar atrocities.
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