Thursday, December 17, 2015

All I Want for Christmas . . .

No, I am not going to wax lyrical about my front teeth. Although I must admit to getting a splendid new molar yesterday to replace one that had broken off. My dentist was so happy about his new machine that allowed him to take a photo of my mouth and design a new tooth and color and polish it. When he wheeled in the new computer equipment to give me a lesson in dental design, I told him he was like a little boy who had found this equipment under the tree. I gulped a little as I wrote the check which follows the check to the dishwasher and cook top repair man and to Lenscrafters for my new glasses which I hope will enable me to read the newspaper in the morning. If they do, it will be worth it.

What I want is a series of two or three classes in punctuating—specifically blogs, which have a slightly different flavor. I am not sure if I learned punctuation in school—I suppose we must have because so much of our work was written.  I am sure I would not have been allowed that dashy thing in the last sentence. It is colons and semi-colons which cause me confusion, and where to put commas and periods (not a word I would have been allowed in England!) when I am using quotation marks.

I have Strunk and White in one corner of the basement and Eats, Shoots and Leaves in another, but I don't think I can deal with them. I have two close family members who are editors, but I don't think my daughter or son-in-law can constantly sit beside me and advise.

There we go: should it be "constantly sit" or "sit constantly? Adverbs after verbs, I suppose. Except for effect.

2 comments:

Z said...

Just to be awkward, I like 'sit beside me constantly.' I agree with you that getting it technically wrong for added effect can add punch. I'd not use dashes or ellipses in formal letters, but I rather like them in friendly emails and blogs, they add an immediacy, as if there's a conversation going on.

Maggie May said...

I think if we get too strung up about grammar and punctuation then we lose the pleasure in blogging.
I think we all have our pet hate and mine is when people who are highly educated insist on saying......"That book is for Dave and I"
In other words the I's and me's used inappropriately. Other people don't seem to notice it!
Maggie x