Posts tagged grammar
DA KITTEH SITTED ON DA MAT
I made this for work. I’m proud.
Terrific work from thesophie and a wonderful linguistic reminder to us all. If only every piece of writing advice could come in the form of a LOLcat.
Hang on. New Tumblr blog alert.
Word Classes: An Introduction @ The Internet Grammar of English
I’ve been a professional writer for years and a third of my English degree covered linguistics. And yet still I sometimes forget what’s what. Here’s a quick reminder.
Blowing Off Some Grammar Steam
The comma fetish – There was a writer who felt the need to use, like, commas for well, everything that could, be considered a, pause in speech. The thing is, by getting rid of the commas the prose was tighter and read better to my inner ears. If it was only a matter of style, I may have let them be. As it was, they were a major distraction so I kicked them to the curb.
My favourite Tumblemoose post yet.
I get very upset about comma fetish, as George puts it. I think writers often use them when they’re unsure about whether two clauses need to be in the same sentence or not.
My advice is this. If in doubt, go with the full stop (or period to my transatlantic pals).
I can write this sentence. Followed by this one. And you’ll know that they’re connected. It’s no big deal. Both just signify a pause. But the full stop makes things clearer. It keeps it simple. Promise.
In order to write plainly…
I’m a copywriter with a thing for plain English. There are plenty of copywriters (and writers in general) who don’t have a thing for plain English. They think it stifles creativity and brings about uneccesary limitations. But that’s nonsense.
Plain English is about writing for real people. It’s about speaking clearly and concisely to an audience.
Yes, you have to make sure you understand that audience. And yes, sometimes you have to break a few plain English rules to reach them. But essentially, it’s about removing fluff and making life easier.
Which brings me to one of the most overused and pointless phrases in the English language: ‘In order to…’
Here are some simple instructions:
- Find a sentence that begins with the words ‘In order to…’
- Remove those first two words
- Never look back
