Grammar debate to death

[Honest]

On an unrelated note, I like where this thread went. <3

[Benito Mussolini]

Awesome...

Although I still don't see how being educated and using commas are related.
It just shows how much of a douche you can be, if you use way too many, or how you can't organize your thoughts, if you don't use enough.

On an unrelated note, I like where this thread went. <3

<3

[Surf314]

AP style on lists are as follows: if it is a simple list the comma before the and is not used, if the list is complex then the comma before the and is used. A complex list is one where one or more of the things you list has an and in it. So if you wrote benito's sentence in a journalism class you would get a minus 10 for AP style error.

[copulatingduck]

Who made the AP king of grammar and let them change my language?

[K2]

Honest is good looking, strong, sexy, and extremely macho.
WHY IS THIS                              ^   FUCKER HERE?
THERE IS NONE OF THAT IN FRENCH.

I love Oxford commas.

If anyone else is a grammar dork, I highly recommend this book.

[Surf314]

Who made the AP king of grammar and let them change my language?

AP style is supposed to be used in all journalism writings. There are seperate style guides for other fields. My wife has to follow the MLA style guide.

[HeK]

Title: Grammar debate to the death.
Since my wife was is an English major and I was briefly in journalism, we approach language from different angles. Since we are nerds, we argue about it. Our latest disagreement is about sprinkling your writing with lots of commas and unnessecary unnecessary clauses. I think it makes things harder to read and serves no purpose other than to show that you are educated. The writing should stand on its own. She thinks it shows that you are educated and challenges the reader to get on your level. What say ye?

General corrections:

• Unless your wife has changed her major, she still is an English major.
  
• You cannot be journalism. You can be in the field of journalism, but you cannot be journalism.
  
• Misspellings
  
• General errors.
  

I hope the irony is not lost.

Edited: I corrected several errors that I missed on my initial post.

[Sponson]

[quote author=Surf314 link=topic=3418.msg104469#msg104469 date=1249669156]
Title: Grammar debate to the death.
Since my wife was is an English major and I was briefly in journalism, we approach language from different angles. Since we are nerds, we argue about it. Our latest disagreement is about sprinkling your writing with lots of commas and unnessecary unnecessary clauses. I think it makes things harder to read and serves no purpose than to show you are educated. The writing should stand on its own. She thinks it shows you are educated and challenges the reader to get on your level. What say ye?

General corrections:

• Unless your wife has changed her major, she still is an English major.
  
• You cannot be journalism. You can be in the field of journalism, but you cannot be journalism.
  
• Misspellings
  

I hope the irony is not lost.
[/quote]

I'm in an art.

[copulatingduck]

[quote author=Surf314 link=topic=3418.msg104469#msg104469 date=1249669156]
Title: Grammar debate to the death.
Since my wife was is an English major and I was briefly in journalism, we approach language from different angles. Since we are nerds, we argue about it. Our latest disagreement is about sprinkling your writing with lots of commas and unnessecary unnecessary clauses. I think it makes things harder to read and serves no purpose than to show you are educated. The writing should stand on its own. She thinks it shows you are educated and challenges the reader to get on your level. What say ye?

General corrections:

• Unless your wife has changed her major, she still is an English major.
  
• You cannot be journalism. You can be in the field of journalism, but you cannot be journalism.
  
• Misspellings
  

I hope the irony is not lost.
[/quote]

I was taught dep. clauses that were 4 words or less don't require commas (edit @ SPooooonson: "don't require" and "shall not have" have subtle yet important differences). Dunno why 4 is the threshold but, y'know:

[B]ITT: WANKERS

[Sponson]

[quote author=HeK link=topic=3418.msg104549#msg104549 date=1249680404]
[quote author=Surf314 link=topic=3418.msg104469#msg104469 date=1249669156]
Title: Grammar debate to the death.
Since my wife was is an English major and I was briefly in journalism, we approach language from different angles. Since we are nerds, we argue about it. Our latest disagreement is about sprinkling your writing with lots of commas and unnessecary unnecessary clauses. I think it makes things harder to read and serves no purpose than to show you are educated. The writing should stand on its own. She thinks it shows you are educated and challenges the reader to get on your level. What say ye?

General corrections:

• Unless your wife has changed her major, she still is an English major.
  
• You cannot be journalism. You can be in the field of journalism, but you cannot be journalism.
  
• Misspellings
  

I hope the irony is not lost.
[/quote]

I was taught dep. clauses that were 4 words or less don't require commas
[/quote]

Yes, well, maybe true.

[Surf314]

This thread is amazing for finding out who I will never be friends with.

[HeK]

This thread is amazing for finding out who I will never be friends with.

Now you are just taking responses personally. You asked a question, expect critique.

[Luinbariel]

[quote author=Surf314 link=topic=3418.msg104558#msg104558 date=1249681793]
This thread is amazing for finding out who I will never be friends with.

Now you are just taking responses personally. You asked a question, expect critique.
[/quote]

This is exactly how I feel.

You posted a poll about grammar and I'd say this is exactly what you should have expected.

[SBCrystal]

You know what I love about the English language? That it is always evolving. I enjoy reading sentences that are interesting but not confusing or overly complicated.
To sprinkle your sentences with "big" words and overused punctuation shows that the writer lacks confidence, in my opinion. Someone who is simple and to the point knows their meaning doesn't need flowery punctuation and cliches to impress anyone.

I know I hate to be forced into any kind of grammatical rules because I like experimenting with my writing. Being told that you lose marks because you didn't put a comma in the right spot defeats the purpose and that is, quite simply, what you're trying to say.

[SBCrystal]

Can everyone just please stick to the point of this topic? That would be nice.

Surf just asked what we preferred. The English language is a tricky bitch full of stupid and redundant rules.

Let's get back to a friendly and mature discussion here.

<3

[Surf314]

[quote author=Surf314 link=topic=3418.msg104558#msg104558 date=1249681793]
This thread is amazing for finding out who I will never be friends with.

Now you are just taking responses personally. You asked a question, expect critique.
[/quote]

I'm not taking anything personally I was joking about how anal everyone here is. And as far as your critique thanks for cleaning up my language but for me there is a differencE between writing for a forum and in a professional/educational capacity.

[Benito Mussolini]

The English language is a tricky bitch full of stupid and redundant rules.

Your a trick...
Oops.


It's you're.

<3

[cakegirl]

This reminds me of a mild debate I found on Amazon over a book called The Blue Book of Grammar (the comments are near the bottom of the page). Untill I saw this I had no idea that grammar was debated.

My big annoyance is when ppl over use "...." between everything they say.

Example:
I was at the store.... and suddenly.... my butt exploded.... and everyone was there..... everyone... I was soooooooooo....... embarrassed.

Oh and currently I am reading Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

[SBCrystal]

[quote author=SBCrystal link=topic=3418.msg104564#msg104564 date=1249682375]
The English language is a tricky bitch full of stupid and redundant rules.

Your a trick...
Oops.


It's you're.

<3
[/quote]

YOU'RE A TOWEL!

[Honest]

[quote author=HeK link=topic=3418.msg104561#msg104561 date=1249682087]
[quote author=Surf314 link=topic=3418.msg104558#msg104558 date=1249681793]
This thread is amazing for finding out who I will never be friends with.

Now you are just taking responses personally. You asked a question, expect critique.
[/quote]

I'm not taking anything personally I was joking about how anal everyone here is. And as far as your critique thanks for cleaning up my language but for me there is a differencE between writing for a forum and in a professional/educational capacity.
[/quote]

Can we still be friends Surf?