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The Grammar & Usage Thread

julie_m said:
Not to challenge, but are you sure on that one? I was pretty devastated to find out I was doing it wrong back in k-12, I'd feel gyped if I turned out to be right (period, close quote).
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I'd pull out my Strunk & White, but it's across the room.

From this web site: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_quote.html

Put a dash, question mark, or exclamation point within closing quotation marks when the punctuation applies to the quotation itself and outside when it applies to the whole sentence.
Philip asked, "Do you need this book?"
Does Dr. Lim always say to her students, "You must work harder"?
Sharon shouted enthusiastically, "We won! We won!"
I can't believe you actually like that song, "If You Wanna Be My Lover"!
​
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​
 
I'll do it Claire's way sometimes; in my opinion though, the sentence LOOKS better when the close quotes mark is at the end. Granted, it may not READ correctly. Usually I'll do whichever way I feel like at the time. I have to say that I think Claire is right, but just because it's right, doesn't mean it looks good!
 
Smallville said:
I'll do it Claire's way sometimes; in my opinion though, the sentence LOOKS better when the close quotes mark is at the end. Granted, it may not READ correctly. Usually I'll do whichever way I feel like at the time. I have to say that I think Claire is right, but just because it's right, doesn't mean it looks good!
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I'm always right--just ask me!:good:
 
ClairefromClare said:
I'd pull out my Strunk & White, but it's across the room.

From this web site: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_quote.html
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I absolutely adore this. I mean, thanks for the info and all, but the post is hilarious! "My book is across the room, so I'm going to Google it instead." (LOL, love you Claire :love:)

What if there are multiple punctuation points in use? For instance:

I can't believe Jessica Simpson asked, "is this chicken or fish?"!

Do I just choose what's more important, the question mark or exclamation point? Or does one have superiority? I'm sure they don't go together.
 
julie_m said:
I absolutely adore this. I mean, thanks for the info and all, but the post is hilarious! "My book is across the room, so I'm going to Google it instead." (LOL, love you Claire :love:)

What if there are multiple punctuation points in use? For instance:

I can't believe Jessica Simpson asked, "is this chicken or fish?"!

Do I just choose what's more important, the question mark or exclamation point? Or does one have superiority? I'm sure they don't go together.
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Too late to respond to all of this, except that Harry said the same thing last night (about his new rules book being across the room so he wasn't going to get it). S&W is at work, and I'm not. Maybe I can be more coherent then--I'm on my third glass of wine right now.
 
Nobody is safe!

Nobody is safe!

Are you sure it's not going to be around 11PM EST today? Sure as heck ain't gonna be at 11 PM in the morning! Or is it?
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Hacker said:
Around 11 PM EST tonight I will be taking the Forum offline for a software update.

Hacker
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Today's laugh - I debated where it should go, but I decided it fits great here. I don't know to laugh or be disturbed. :dazed:

This is a REAL employment ad:

"Part time (EXPERIENCED) Bartenders Needed to Bar tend in a Bar."
http://austin.craigslist.org/fbh/906355300.html
 
julie_m said:
"Part time (EXPERIENCED) Bartenders Needed to Bar tend in a Bar."
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I'm wondering if they ever found a bartender who would lower their standards to actually tend bar in a bar.
 
Use of the word "literally"

Use of the word "literally"

One of my pet peeves is the increasingly incorrect use of the word "literally". I swear, 90% of people in the U.S. seem to think that it means "very" or some other unknown word that means "you aren't paying enough attention to me on this point so I'm going to try to be more emphatic."

Last night I saw a TV commercial for a gizmo that blocks drafts on doors that are not well sealed. The tag line was something like:

If you don't buy this product, your money is literally flying out from under the door.

Really? "Literally" flying out under the door? That pretty amazing. How did it even get out of my wallet on it's own, much less hurdle through the air and under the door into the street without me knowing. I mean, could someone tell me when it's happening because I could probably sell tickets to that.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
One of my pet peeves is the increasingly incorrect use of the word "literally". I swear, 90% of people in the U.S. seem to think that it means "very" or some other unknown word that means "you aren't paying enough attention to me on this point so I'm going to try to be more emphatic."

Last night I saw a TV commercial for a gizmo that blocks drafts on doors that are not well sealed. The tag line was something like:

If you don't buy this product, your money is literally flying out from under the door.
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Even the words "out from under" are cumbersome. As for the overuse of "literally", I have my Strunk & White open & the heading to part 17 says it all "Omit Needless Words".
 
OMG!

[YOUTUBE]_w-XQ6MVAsM[/YOUTUBE]
 
Found this one, which isn't as funny as yours, but still fits within the grammar parameters of this thread.

Is this show on BBC America, because the clips on YouTube are hilarious.

[YOUTUBE]pnPVDknzbIg[/YOUTUBE]
 
Harry Longshanks said:
Really? "Literally" flying out under the door? That pretty amazing. How did it even get out of my wallet on its own, much less hurtle through the air and under the door into the street without me knowing. I mean, could someone tell me when it's happening because I could probably sell tickets to that.
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Harry, Harry--I'm so sorry to do this to you. Maybe I should start keeping track of when you do it correctly and dispense food pellets or something?

Smallville said:
OMG!
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Smallville, I absolutely ADORE Stephen Fry. If only he liked girls. :sad:

So instead, you get my adoration. :love::flowers4u::in-love:

Has anyone ever come across an old BBC radio program called "My Word"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Word!! Hysterical, and it always ended up with the two regulars--Denis Norden and Frank Muir--telling shaggy dog stories to explain how famous sayings came to be coined. For instance:

The tragic lawn maintenance accident: "Ones mower into the bridge, ones mower!"

The group of impressionist painters who jointly owned a hilltop chicken farm: "There's Manet asleep 'twixt coop and leap."

And so on. The first time I was in London, I was lucky enough to see a taping. Totally hysterical.
 
ClairefromClare said:
Harry, Harry--I'm so sorry to do this to you. Maybe I should start keeping track of when you do it correctly and dispense food pellets or something?
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Okay, hurtle/hurdle was just a stupid typo, but the incorrect apostrophe in "its" issue is really starting to concern me. I mean, it's not like I don't know the difference between the contraction of "it is" and the possessive of "it" or which one I'm using. So why isn't my brain making my fingers type it correctly?

I know why I'm not catching it (because I've become to reliant on the Google toolbar spell checker), but that's no excuse for not getting it right in the first place.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
Okay, hurtle/hurdle was just a stupid typo, but the incorrect apostrophe in "its" issue is really starting to concern me. I mean, it's not like I don't know the difference between the contraction of "it is" and the possessive of "it" or which one I'm using. So why isn't my brain making my fingers type it correctly?

I know why I'm not catching it (because I've become to reliant on the Google toolbar spell checker), but that's no excuse for not getting it right in the first place.
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If it helps, I just remember his hers its. "It's" works as well as "hi's" or "her's." :smile:
 
julie_m said:
If it helps, I just remember his hers its. "It's" works as well as "hi's" or "her's." :smile:
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Hi's? Or do you mean his' :wink:
 
907golfer12 said:
Hi's? Or do you mean his' :wink:
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I mean, you write "he lost his lustre," not "he lost hi's lustre." So in the same vein, you would write: "it lost its lustre," not "it lost it's lustre."
 
julie_m said:
I mean, you write "he lost his lustre," not "he lost hi's lustre." So in the same vein, you would write: "it lost its lustre," not "it lost it's lustre."
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Oh okay gotcha. I got a bit confused :confused2:
 
I need a little help from my Northern Hemisphere colleagues as the Hollywood movie dialect of the English language has me a little confused. Can someone help me with the meaning of (1) Booya & (2) Hoa (pronounced - hoo ah)?
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TheNewBrad said:
I need a little help from my Northern Hemisphere colleagues as the Hollywood movie dialect of the English language has me a little confused. Can someone help me with the meaning of (1) Booya & (2) Hoa (pronounced - hoo ah)?
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"Booya" is simply a greeting that's supposed to sound cool and street smart. Popularized by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Cramer Jim Cramer, the entertainer who poses as an investment guru.

A quick Google of "hoa" gives you a choice between "Home Owners' Association" and an ethically Chinese minority in Viet Nam. Neither definition is likely to be of much help to you--I'll let someone trendier than I give you the definitive meaning.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
Okay, hurtle/hurdle was just a stupid typo,
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Sorry to beat the proverbial dead horse; I thought it might have been usage--I pictured your dollar bills doing their best Edwin Moses routine. If I had been certain it was a typo, I wouldn't have razzed you.

From now on, I shall watch for correct apostrophe usage and send you flowers. :flowers4u:
 
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