And the Answer Is….
Yesterday, I said, “One of these things just doesn’t belong here… come on, can you tell me which one…. point, bang, cow, query…And bonus points to anyone who knows why the other three are related.” Most of you easily figured out that “cow” was the oddball. But I think many of you were stumped by […]
One of these things just doesn’t belong here…
come on, can you tell me which one…. point, bang, cow, query …………………………………………………………………………. And bonus points to anyone who knows why the other three are related.
Quoting Queries….When to Play Doubles, When Singles
Quite some time ago, a fellow blogger named Kiwi.Writer posed an interesting question in one of her posts; she was perplexed about the use of single and double quotation marks. It seems that Kiwi submitted a paper for review, and her instructor marked out all the double quotes surrounding dialogue and marked them to be […]
Help Stamp Out Apostrophe Abuse!
Never use the apostrophe (that’s the little mark like this ‘ ) to make words plural. It’s wrong; it’s annoying, and it makes your writing look amateurish. The plural of apple is not apple’s—it’s apples! When you see ‘s at the end of a word, you should automatically think one of two things: possession or […]
Now, Where Does that Period Go? End Stops and Quotation Marks
Dear Grammar Guru: Please tell us how to punctuate around quotation marks. I get confused, particularly if I have a word or phrase at the end of the sentence that I am setting off with quotations. This is a common concern to all who wish their writing to reflect knowledge of proper grammar. It’s not […]
Comma, Comma, Who’s Got the Comma?
Commas can be confusing, especially as there are divergent opinions on some uses. Being the old-fashioned type, I’m going to give you only one set of rules, leaving the least chance of misapprehension of your writing. Commas are used to signal a pause in thought or to set off a phrase or clause (either for […]