I hate when people say "you" when they mean "I".

1 wrote:I hate when people say "you" when they mean "I".

The other way around is worse for me.

phatj wrote:

1 wrote:I hate when people say "you" when they mean "I".

The other way around is worse for me.

?

Never mind, I'm drunk. Not really.

Misread that as "me" instead of "you."

phatj wrote:

Drugs Delaney wrote:

MrsVox wrote:Also, "his", "hers", "theirs", and "ours" -- all posessive pronouns, like "its".

I don't like commas and periods on the outside of quotation marks.

My recollection of what I was taught was that the punctuation should go inside the quotes, however I have come to understand that today's rules are such that the punctuation should go inside the quotes when it applies to the quotation itself. If the punctuation is for the sentence as a whole, it should go outside.

This usage would be the latter case, except that really the words in MrxVox's list should be in italics rather than in quotes.

Unfortunately, there seem to be differing schools of thought on this subject. I had a minor in journalism in college and was taught the rules of the Associated Press Stylebook. I have two versions of the Stylebook, one from 1992 and another from 2002, and both versions have the exact same entry on this subject.

PLACEMENT WITH OTHER PUNCTUATION: Follow these long-established printers' rules:
- The period and the comma always go within the quotation marks.
- The das, the semicolon, the question mark and the exclamation point go within the quotation when they apply to the quoted matter only. The go outside when they apply to the whole sentence.

I know it's become acceptable for both uses, but I was taught that quotes should always be outside the period and the comma. It's a grammar annoyance for me when I see it the other way.

AP style is only one style though. And they don't like serial commas, so fuck them

Woody wrote:AP style is only one style though.

You're absolutely right. It's just the particular style I learned and use. It is one of the most popular styles, but there are certainly others that are in common use. My book publisher uses The Chicago Manual of Style.

Your book publisher? Tell me about that

It's not a big deal, but you don't need "or not" after whether.

But "Whether or not he's gonna go to the movies to see Dark Night or not," for example, irritates me.

Woody wrote:AP style is only one style though. And they don't like serial commas, so $#@! them

Oh I hate that, too. I went without it at my first newspaper job, but after eight years of Chicago and then AMA, a lack of a serial comma burns my eyes

Woody wrote:Your book publisher? Tell me about that

My publisher:

http://scarecrowpress.com/

My book:

http://www.amazon.com/Year-Hitchcock-Weeks-Master-Suspense/dp/081086388X/

Grotewold wrote:

Woody wrote:AP style is only one style though. And they don't like serial commas, so $#@! them

Oh I hate that, too. I went without it at my first newspaper job, but after eight years of Chicago and then AMA, a lack of a serial comma burns my eyes

Yet a lack of a period at the end of a sentence doesn't? <eye-winky thing>

I learned on the AP style too, so I ditched the serial comma long ago. Though at work, I write for about 12 different clients and all seem to use something different. I wish there was a universal stance on it.

Oh, and I really really hate "Whare are you at?"

For the convenience of the reader I put all my punctuation at the end of the sentence,. That way it doesnt matter if a reader is more accustomed to APS CMS or any other style,',(,).


(,) denotes optional serial comma

CrashburnAlley wrote:It's also annoying when people use Internet shorthand in face-to-face interactions. I used to work with a guy who'd say "lol" (rhymes with roll) instead of laughing.

I thought it rhymed with doll.

I use way too many parentheses (I guess I have too many asides due to my manic nature) when I write.

Three things:

1) What's a serial comma?

2) How would you write, "in their mind's eyes?" If, for example, the sentence was, "Hitters wish to fulfill whatever statistical goals they have in their minds' eyes," would it be..

their minds' eye
their minds' eyes
their mind's eyes
their mind's eye

3) What is the plural of mac and cheese? As in, "I need two mac and cheese."


I'm mostly interested in the second question, but figured I'd ask the other two while I'm at it.

Thanks in advance, grammar nerds.

An historic/A historic

"An historic event" doesn't sound right.

"A historic event" does.

Many will disagree.

Monkeyboy wrote:Three things:

1) What's a serial comma?

2) How would you write, "in their mind's eyes?" If, for example, the sentence was, "Hitters wish to fulfill whatever statistical goals they have in their minds' eyes," would it be..

their minds' eye
their minds' eyes
their mind's eyes
their mind's eye

3) What is the plural of mac and cheese? As in, "I need two orders of mac and cheese."


I'm mostly interested in the second question, but figured I'd ask the other two while I'm at it.

Thanks in advance, grammar nerds.

1. The serial comma follows the second-to-last item in a list, e.g. "Dogs, cats, and fish are common pets." Many prefer to omit the comma, e.g. "Dogs, cats and fish are common pets."

2. Minds' is the correct plural possessive form, and eyes is the plural form, so "minds' eyes" is correct.

3. Good question. If you were writing it and worried about grammar, I'd go with "two orders of mac and cheese". If you're giving an order to the kitchen, who cares about perfect grammar? "Two mac and cheeses" probably gets your intent across easier.

Forget about the serial comma. I used the internets to look it up. For the record, I almost always use it, since I'm accustomed to APA style.