01 Dec 2005 - 20:52

what is the biggest blunder, anyway?

I find it hard to choose just one.


review here

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That's easy.

The biggest blunder is ...

The entire public schooling system.

We need a do over.

-- KDeRosa - 01 Dec 2005

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Do over!

I love it!

boy, that's what I wonder.

I'm a fan of the concept of path dependency, and the path dependency of public schools is so bad I'm not sure we're going to be able to kick it out of its wheel grooves....

-- CatherineJohnson - 01 Dec 2005

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Now I'm obsessing over commas.

Is there supposed to be a comma after blunder?

Or not.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

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And...is there supposed to be a question mark after not?

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

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I was never taught a lick of grammar.

I picked it all up incidentally....

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

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(That was an exaggeration. I was taught some grammar. But not much.)

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

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Yes and yes, but "what" should be capitalized.

FWIW, I'd call "anyway" an intensifying non-restrictive clause that takes a comma, and the sentence is clearly a question.

Now, should the second "yes" above be followed by a comma or a semi-colon?

(I think the answer is, "...either expression is used.")

Bonus points for recognizing the literary reference.

-- DougSundseth - 02 Dec 2005

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I am a big fan of commas that allow the reader to more readily parse the sentence or emphasize a thought. So, my informal rule is unless it is clearly wrong, most commas are ok.

Your comma is ok; it's not strictly necessar,y but it does benefit the sentence IMHO.

-- KDeRosa - 02 Dec 2005

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My other rule is that experienced writers know when they can break the grammar rules, so they are allowed to break the rules if they break the rules correctly. I have lately become a big fan of sentence fragments for informal writing to break up the pacing.

-- KDeRosa - 02 Dec 2005

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"I have lately become a big fan of sentence fragments for informal writing to break up the pacing."

This is really big in The Magic Tree House series. I have seen cases where you could take out the period and you would have a perfect sentence. It's almost as if they have the rule that after so many words, you have to have a period. What do kids think when the teacher says that all sentences have to have a verb?

I'm not against sentence fragments. However, I do think that you have to know the rules before you begin to break them. I also know that I would be the last one to judge others on their grammar.

-- SteveH - 02 Dec 2005

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"I am about to — or I am going to — die; either expression is used." Last words of Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian

Many parts are optional.

(Another "literary" reference.)

8-)

-- DougSundseth - 02 Dec 2005

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My other rule is that experienced writers know when they can break the grammar rules, so they are allowed to break the rules if they break the rules correctly. I have lately become a big fan of sentence fragments for informal writing to break up the pacing.

I love sentence fragments.

It's true that I use punctuation entirely to make the words read on the page the way I'm hearing them in my head.

I am to punctuation what Grandma Moses was to paint.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

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I am to punctuation what Grandma Moses was to paint.

That's one for KT W&W!

Bernie, by the way, says my writing style is getting to be more and more like yours! It's catching!

-- CarolynJohnston - 02 Dec 2005

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Bernie, by the way, says my writing style is getting to be more and more like yours! It's catching!

Oh that's funny!

How so?

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005