National Punctuation Day

[scoutldr 732]

Subject: National Punctuation Day

 

Nine out of ten emails (Scouter.com postings?) seem to contain at least one typographical error, better known as a typo. Never before have so many words been mangled. Is it caused by carelessness, keyboard clumsiness, or just plain ignorance?

The U.S. will celebrate its fourth annual National Punctuation Day on September 24. Let''s make it a worldwide affair, when we name and shame offenders, and return faulty emails to their senders, with mistakes highlighted in red. More about this in The World''s First Multi-National

e-Book: http://www.bdb.co.za/shackle/articles/world_punctuation_day.htm

 

The Apostrophe Protection Society:

 

http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/

 

PS: The double apostrophes here are NOT my doing!

(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

[OldGreyEagle 5]

I gotta tell you, if I get anything back with the grammar corrected in red, I am apt to get a flash back to the 15 years I spent in catholic education and will most likely be found under my desk, sucking my thumb and reciting the Ave Maria in Latin backwards (a common disciplinary measure of my elementary education)

[SSScout 1616]

Attention, attention....

 

Everyone for to getting off street...

 

Please find Victor Borges'' "Verbal Punctuation" routine..........

[CA_Scouter 11]

!

[Ohio_Scouter 10]

I can relate, OGE!

 

We were trained by the Jesuits, and when we got 5 demerits on our demerit card, we had to come into school on Saturday morning, memorize parts of Cicero''s essays in Latin, and recite them back correctly to the proctor before he would let us go home.

 

Is this post punctuated correctly? I can''t seem to find the Scouter.com punctuation checker.

[scoutldr 732]

Yes, Ohio, you are OK. But, I have to take points off of SSS''s posting. A terminal ellipsis only has three periods.

 

I was blessed (cursed?) with an "editor''s eye", probably due to the fact that my Dad had me reading and writing by the time I was four years old, rather than waiting for my first grade teacher to do the job for him (no such thing as public school kindergarten in 1958). Mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation just jump up and slap me, because they look "wrong" to me. I would never be so rude as to correct anyone publicly, however. Some of my pet peeves are apostrophe abuse (never used to show plural), the use of "their" vs. "there", the use of "to", "two" and "too", the use of "do" and "due", and subject/verb agreement. If we allow the English language to deteriorate due to inattention, apathy or laziness, it''s our own fault.

 

In my genealogy research, I recently read some original documents (wills and letters) from the 18th and 19th centuries. It''s striking how inept we are now at writing and using the full beauty of the language.

[OldGreyEagle 5]

Way back when I first watched Ken Burns documentary, The Civil War, I was struck by the prose written by the rank and file soldiers writting to sweethearts, wives, and mothers back home. I never did understand how all the poets and romanticists ended up in the army!

[Trevorum 24]

(oops)

 

(This message has been edited by Trevorum)

[troutmaster 10]

While I try not to get involved with correcting other adults, I do correct my scouts regularly in both conversation and, as a merit badge counselor for other scouts, written work. As a scholarship and reading couselor, I feel it is important that the scout at least be aware of his opportunity to improve his writing and grammar. I have never turned down written material due only to grammar or punctuation errors though.

 

Once again, we are the examples to the boys. If we use improper language, offensive language or comments, or ignore obvious opportunities to improve their skills, we have perhaps fallen short.

 

Unfortunately, as a substitute teacher, I regularly see students not held accountable for even basic language errors in material written outside of English or Language Arts. When I was in school, proper spelling and grammar was important in every subject; and you would lose points for these errors. This is seldom the case anymore from what I see in the schools in which I work.

 

JMHO

[CalicoPenn 729]

I''ve noticed many of my posts lately have had typos - and that I''m probably not using hyphens appropriately either. I own up to these and plead sheer laziness. I''m just to lazy to proofread my posts before I hit the Submit Your Message button, though I am trying to do so now as much as possible. I also noticed the numbers of "double" apostrophes appearing in my post - and like Scoutldr, they don''t appear to be my doing. Somewhere along the line, there must be an automatic correction command somewhere that tells the forum to correct an apostrophe to a quote - at least that''s my guess.

 

OGE: It''s not in red but - I gotta tell you should be I''ve got to tell you and catholic should be Catholic. Not to be mean or picky or anything, but the opportunity of seeing someone crawling under their desk, sucking their thumb and reciting the Ave Maria in Latin backwards is just too good to pass up (extra wide grin). Heck, you can even skip the sucking the thumb part!

 

Calico

[scoutldr 732]

That would be "too" lazy...

 

;-)

[OldGreyEagle 5]

Calico, that would all depend on whether I meant catholic or Catholic, n''cest pas?

[CalicoPenn 729]

See, I told you I was to lazy, errr, too lazy, to proofread my posts.

 

OGE - Touche, I suppose though I don''t know many people who have a just a catholic education and not a Catholic education that can recite the Ave Maria in English, let alone Latin!

 

Calico

[Ohio_Scouter 10]

I can recite it in Latin, but I never tried it backwards before. Let''s see...

 

Amen, nostris mortis hora in et nunc...

[FScouter 24]

I''m reminded of some important rules of wriiting, to make sure we do it good.

 

Rules for Writing Good

 

1. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent

2. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

3. Don''t use no double negatives.

4. A writer mustn''t shift your point of view.

5. Don''t use a run-on sentence you got to punctuate it.

6. Avoid redundancy.

7. Don''t repeatedly reiterate over and over.

8. About sentence fragments.

9. Don''t use commas, which aren''t necessary.

10. Don''t abbrev.

11. Avoid redundancy.

12. Check to see if you any words out.

13. Eschew esoteric verbiage.

14. Computer spell Czechs are imperfect.

15. Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.

16. Use apostrophe''s right.

17. When dangling, don''t use participles.

18. Never leave a transitive verb just lay there without an object.

19. a sentence should begin with a capital and end with a period

20. Watch out for irregular verbs which have creeped

into our language.

21. Profanity sucks.

22. Be more or less specific in most cases.

23. Understatement may be better.

24. Exaggeration is a million times worse than under-

statement.

25. Dont forget to avoid redundancy.

26. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.

27. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.

28. Even if a mixed metaphor sings like a canary, it

should be thrown out with the bathwater.

29. Last but not least, lay off clichs.