03-13-2013, 07:11 AM | #91 | |
Wizard
Posts: 3,418
Karma: 35207650
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: iPad
|
Quote:
I am sure that is the case with many. |
|
03-13-2013, 08:52 AM | #92 | |
Bah, humbug!
Posts: 39,073
Karma: 157049943
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.
|
Quote:
|
|
Advert | |
|
03-13-2013, 01:37 PM | #93 | |
Wizard
Posts: 3,418
Karma: 35207650
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: iPad
|
Quote:
|
|
03-13-2013, 04:40 PM | #94 |
occasional author
Posts: 2,314
Karma: 2064403292
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Wandering God's glorious hills, valleys and plains.
Device: A Franklin BI (before Internet) was the first. I still have it.
|
|
03-13-2013, 04:53 PM | #95 |
occasional author
Posts: 2,314
Karma: 2064403292
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Wandering God's glorious hills, valleys and plains.
Device: A Franklin BI (before Internet) was the first. I still have it.
|
If we can't have a better checker it sure would be nice to be able to put in a list of common possible faults that would show up in red or another preselected color.
For example, any sequence of i t s would show as red so we would be made aware of it. Maybe even s ' and ' s also. And others as well. |
Advert | |
|
03-13-2013, 05:06 PM | #96 |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 73,931
Karma: 128903250
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
A semicolon can be replaced with a coma or a period in most cases and the phrasing/meaning would still be correct.
|
03-13-2013, 07:46 PM | #97 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 44,741
Karma: 55645321
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Peru
Device: Kindle: Oasis 3, Voyage WiFi; Kobo: Libra 2, Aura One
|
Quote:
An independent clause contains a subject and a verb. Substituting this grammatical division marker would result in a run-on sentence. A period, on the other hand, can be justified if the author wishes to have a full stop at the end of a sentence; too, the choice between a period and a semi-colon is a stylistic choice. Don Last edited by Dr. Drib; 03-14-2013 at 07:40 PM. |
|
03-16-2013, 02:18 PM | #98 | ||
Fledgling Demagogue
Posts: 2,384
Karma: 31132263
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: White Plains
Device: Clara HD; Oasis 2; Aura HD; iPad Air; PRS-350; Galaxy S7.
|
Quote:
Modern/colloquial styles of writing do use comma splices and run-on sentences, but context determines the style, just as it does when detective fiction writers over-punctuate dependent clauses with full stops. To emphasize noir's exaggerated style, seasoned novelists like Jim Thompson and David Goodis routinely employed mannerisms that would be marked as incorrect in middle school. They also knew exactly what they were doing. The point is this: a formal business letter should never use splices, run-on sentences or fragments, nor should, for that matter, an entry in an encyclopedia. In editing informal journalistic pieces, I've even encountered hierarchies of comma splices -- those which are permitted (usually in parallel constructions) and those which immediately sound distasteful and disorganized. A good writer with an original approach to style will often create their own sense of logic and consistency. This can affect not only punctuation but also syntax. Even the L'Académie française has had to allow exceptions for practices they'd normally dismiss as bad because writers like Proust employed them with such discrimination. Here's a comma splice which many readers would find permissible: "The film was not merely unentertaining, it was an ordeal." We hear that and supply the *not only/but also* construction. We would not, however, hear any implied structure in this: "I wanted a pint of Gasoline Helmet Commemorative Ale, the bartender over there gave me side-eye and said 'We don't have any,' that's why I came in here with my jaw hanging, this place is the Baskin-Robbins of taps." Most of us would say that the above sentence (really four sentences) is bad. But if you're reading a book by Hubert Selby and suddenly find yourself on a descending escalator of commas in place of periods, it just means the story is reaching its denouement and Selby is pitching waterfalls of commas and/or conjunctions to indicate a breathless succession of events. Here's a quote from Last Exit to Brooklyn. Note that Selby leaves out quotation marks, too, because he doesn't want them breaking up the flow. Bennie's in lower case, of course, because it isn't being used as a name. Quote:
Last edited by Prestidigitweeze; 03-23-2013 at 03:57 PM. |
||
03-23-2013, 06:20 AM | #99 | |
Bookmaker & Cat Slave
Posts: 11,461
Karma: 158448243
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Device: K2, iPad, KFire, PPW, Voyage, NookColor. 2 Droid, Oasis, Boox Note2
|
Quote:
With regard to periods, or full stops, while it might produce a result that is grammatically correct, it certainly would not be pleasant to the internal ear. Most of the examples provided in this lovely long thread of replacing a semi-colon with a period are perfectly grammatical, but they are choppy and unpleasant to the "reader's ear" in my head. In my experience, while there was an intelligent discussion about the "evolution" of language in this thread leading to the purported demise of the semi-colon, the reality is that today's readers can't parse complex sentences as easily as their forebears. I write FAQ and canned responses near-endlessly. I've finally had to resort to using a reading comprehension-checker (the military's version) so that I can repeatedly simplify FAQ Answers, explanations and the like, because once sentences become compound, people seem to just give up on them. (After fighting the inevitable for nearly two years, I gave up in 2011 and I now deliberately write FAQ's, etc., to a 6th-grade [11 years old, for folks outside the US] reading-comprehension level. Eleven years old. Mind you: the people receiving and reading these instructions are authors and publishers.) And heaven forfend I use a semi-colon! Commas seem bad enough, but a semi-colon? The joining of clauses? Ye GODS. Some may see this as the evolution of language, but I see it as devolution. It depresses me. Hitch |
|
03-27-2013, 04:59 AM | #100 |
Obsessively Dedicated...
Posts: 3,200
Karma: 34977896
Join Date: May 2011
Location: JAPAN (US expatriate)
Device: Sony PRS-T2, ADE on PC
|
OFF-TOPIC but not really.
I blame the falling standards of "modern" education. I know a college junior who was working as a cashier. She could not use a paper and pencil to add numbers if the column held more than five figures. I guess because the pencil was in one hand, she could only use the five fingers on the other for tabulation. Too many children are advanced to the next grade when they should be held back, all to protect their self-esteem. Now we have college graduates who can't read, and who can't do simple math. Yes, it is depressing. |
03-27-2013, 11:17 AM | #101 |
temp. out of service
Posts: 2,791
Karma: 24285242
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Duisburg (DE)
Device: PB 623
|
One of the first cultural shocks I experienced when switching from polish to german schoolsystem was the absence of summer reading lists. I.e. books expected to be read/known for the next year. Instead there were merely two (!) books assigned to read during the school year (and that for advanced courses) In Poland there were two of these lists one mandatory, the second were recommendations - both lists with about a dozen positions (at least in my schooldays; no idea how it is now). Another point was; kids were usually not reading for entertainment. If they were consuming stories, they did so by audio plays from cassettes... all not too fertile soil to cultivate literacy.
|
04-05-2013, 12:12 AM | #102 |
Nxfgrrjks
Posts: 99
Karma: 925422
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: New York, NY
Device: aura hd
|
Semicolon vs. Period?
You could call these metacritical marks. The period says "done with that unit of thought." The semicolon says "Done with a unit of thought, moving on to another that's related." Deciding to use a period or a semicolon is part of the writer's art. If you want the two thoughts to be more distinct, go with the period. If you'd prefer them to seem closer together, then join them with a semicolon. There really isn't a right or wrong. As others have pointed out, some metacritical functions of punctuation may not register with readers. I don't let that bother me, but you may need to work that into your calculations. |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
6 Reasons We're In Another 'Book-Burning' Period in History | xg4bx | General Discussions | 37 | 10-31-2011 09:03 AM |
is the kobo return period 14 days, or 30? | b1m2x3 | Kobo Reader | 7 | 07-10-2010 01:52 AM |
library books lending period | petechan | Ectaco jetBook | 1 | 03-25-2010 02:18 PM |
Extended Kindle Trial Period for the Holidays | daffy4u | News | 34 | 11-05-2008 12:23 PM |
Other Fiction Trollope, Anthony: The Fixed Period, v.1, 29 October 2008. | Patricia | BBeB/LRF Books | 0 | 10-29-2008 10:05 PM |