Unlike yesterday's newspaper, old blogs can't be used to wrap fish or line the bottom of a birdcage. But they can be recycled all the same. Here's a last look at some of the more popular posts on the Grammar & Composition Blog in 2009.
- The Unfaithful Inaugural Adverb (January 21, 2009)
Nobody should be surprised that the most controversial moment in Tuesday's presidential inauguration ceremony was caused by an adverb. "The road to hell," Stephen King has said, "is paved with adverbs." And now Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. would likely agree. . . . Read more - Ten Tips for Almost Perfect Proofreading (March 23, 2009)
There's no foolproof formula for perfect proofreading every time. It's just too tempting to see what we intended to write rather than the words that actually appear on the page or screen. Still, the goal of perfection is worth pursuing, and in that spirit I offer these 10 tips to help you see (or hear) your errors before anybody else does. . . . Read more - Punctuation Poll: Is the Semicolon Worth Saving? (April 13, 2009)
The author of The Gutenberg Elegies, English professor Sven Birkerts, once said in an interview, "I never see a sentence with a semicolon in it anymore. People don't tend to read the kind of writing that has semicolons. We tend to read the prose of the age, and the prose of the age, influenced by the ethos of electronic communication, is almost overwhelmingly flat, punchy and declarative.'' . . . Read more - Remembering Frank McCourt, "Teacher Man" (July 20, 2009)
In chapter six of Teacher Man, Frank McCourt's third and final volume of memoirs, he recounts a lesson he learned from the excuses written by his students on their parents' behalf. "Isn't it remarkable," he says, how students "resist any kind of writing assignment in class or at home. . . . But when they forge these excuse notes they're brilliant." . . . Read more -
When and How Did You Learn to Write? (August 7, 2009)
Do you remember when and how you learned to write? Most of us probably learned by reading and imitating the writings of others. We may have been guided by parents and teachers, but we had to practice on our own. What many of us would readily admit, I suspect, is that we're still learning how to write. . . . Read more - Language Peeves (September 16, 2009)
Over the past two years, readers around the world have contributed in earnest to our groaning collection of annoying words and expressions. Recent additions include "groaning" (for "growing"), "so fun," "you guys," "going forward," "pre-order," "sucks," "heart-rendering" (instead of "heart rending"), "bonking," "sort it," "prolly" (for "probably"), "no offense" (when what follows is certain to offend), and "let's not go there." . . . Read more - The Ethics of Editing Student Essays (November 20, 2009)
How far should we go when editing someone else's prose--in particular, the work of a student applying for admission to a college or university? To put it another way, when does editing cross an ethical boundary and turn into co-writing or ghostwriting? . . .. Read more - Top 10 Metaphors of Stephen Colbert (December 9, 2009)
Though he once came in second to Sean Penn in a "meta-free-phor-all," political satirist Stephen Colbert, the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, is a master of metaphor. Or as he might prefer to call it, humaphor. . . . Read more
Appearing every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the Grammar & Composition blog at About.com covers a variety of topics related to the English language. To keep up with our discussions in 2010, sign up for the free weekly Grammar & Composition Newsletter.
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Re concluding sentences with a preposition.
A father comes from the cellar to his son’s room with a book in hand about Australia. Son asks: “What did you bring that book about Down Under up for?”