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The—Problem—With—Em—Dashes
A punctuation plague is raging through contemporary prose, indulged in by ordinarily excellent writers and hacks alike. It’s the “em dash,” writes Lionel Shriver for Standpoint —that punchy, aggressive...
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RIP, Mix Tapes, Porn Age Limits, Typewriters, and More
Word processors, dot-matrix printers, rotary phones, and other formerly state-of-the-art technologies are just about gone and nearly forgotten. Carrying the torch for the likes of holding up a...
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'Fake AP Stylebook' Well Worth a Peek
It's not the likeliest of Internet sensations, but the Fake AP Stylebook on Twitter is well worth the buzz it's getting, writes Mark Peters. Anyone who's been tormented by such rulebooks on language,...
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Punctuation Fans Pour Their He@rts Out
Curious? Excited!? Thrilled to see @ move from obscurity to virtual omnipresence? Tell your favorite punctuation mark how you feel. "We’re combining two of our top-ten passions in life and challenging...
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Dear Writers: 'Leave the Damn Em Dash Alone'
Might one overused punctuation threaten the integrity of modern prose? Noreen Malone thinks so, and she points to the em dash as culprit. But wait, "doesn't a dash—if done right—let the writer maintain...
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Comma Drama Ends: Oxford Rule Stands
Grammar fiends took a ride on an emotional roller coaster this week on news, erroneous as it turned out, that Oxford University was ditching its famous comma rule. (It requires a comma before the word...
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Stop With Those Awful Exclamation Points
Who could hate a friendly little punctuation mark? Steve Macone could, and does, even though he's addicted to using it. "I've come to hate" exclamation points in texts and emails, he writes at Salon ....
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Obama. Slogan. Infuriating. Grammar. Dorks.
President Obama's re-election campaign slogan isn't just "Forward"—it's "Forward." And that little period is causing quite a bit of controversy, the Wall Street Journal reports. First of all, there's...
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Jimmy's or Jimmys? Feds Wage War on Apostrophes
Residents of New York's Adirondack Mountains have a bone to pick with the federal government. At issue: punctuation. A nearby mountain known to many as Jimmy's or James' Peak, but US officials won't...
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149-Page Dissertation Has No Punctuation
Architect Patrick Stewart's doctoral dissertation has 149 pages, 52,438 words, and, except for a few question marks, no punctuation. As Canada's National Post reports, it also isn't much concerned with...
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Missing Comma Saves Woman From Ticket
An appeals court has agreed with an Ohio woman who said her parking citation should be tossed because the village law was missing a comma. Andrea Cammelleri says she shouldn't have been issued a...
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The Secret to Sincere Texts? Lose the Period
Don’t end your texts with a period. Period. After all, that’s what jerks do, New York magazine opines, with a new study out of SUNY Binghamton lending scientific credence. Researchers showed 126...
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Bad Punctuation May Have Hindered Murder Case
A newly discovered punctuation error regarding a piece of evidence may help British police zero in on accomplices in a notorious murder now 23 years old. The case is that of Stephen Lawrence, a black...
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Dairy Drivers in Maine Are Celebrating a Missing Comma
For instilling in us a love of language, we offer a shout-out to our English teachers, William Safire and Mary Norris . In that sentence, we're trying to thank our teachers plus those two grammar...
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$5M Lawsuit Over an Oxford Comma Is Settled
Maine dairy drivers who p icked a court fight over grammar have an extra $5 million to show for their geekery, reports the AP . Oakhurst Dairy drivers settled their 2014 lawsuit last week for a...
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Stop With Those Awful Exclamation Points
Who could hate a friendly little punctuation mark? Steve Macone could, and does, even though he's addicted to using it. "I've come to hate" exclamation points in texts and emails, he writes at Salon ....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Obama. Slogan. Infuriating. Grammar. Dorks.
President Obama's re-election campaign slogan isn't just "Forward"—it's "Forward." And that little period is causing quite a bit of controversy, the Wall Street Journal reports. First of all, there's...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jimmy's or Jimmys? Feds Wage War on Apostrophes
Residents of New York's Adirondack Mountains have a bone to pick with the federal government. At issue: punctuation. A nearby mountain known to many as Jimmy's or James' Peak, but US officials won't...
View ArticleClik here to view.
149-Page Dissertation Has No Punctuation
Architect Patrick Stewart's doctoral dissertation has 149 pages, 52,438 words, and, except for a few question marks, no punctuation. As Canada's National Post reports, it also isn't much concerned with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Missing Comma Saves Woman From Ticket
An appeals court has agreed with an Ohio woman who said her parking citation should be tossed because the village law was missing a comma. Andrea Cammelleri says she shouldn't have been issued a...
View Article