Author Topic: New column-type thingy (Read 107823 times)

Jonathon · « **Reply #775 on:** November 04, 2015, 09:19:50 PM »

*gags on spider*

Brinestone · « **Reply #776 on:** November 14, 2015, 09:06:57 AM »

Great TOPP.

pooka · « **Reply #777 on:** November 17, 2015, 05:50:59 PM »

Jonathon · « **Reply #778 on:** November 30, 2015, 08:58:29 AM »

How to Use Quotation Marks

rivka · « **Reply #779 on:** November 30, 2015, 09:29:45 AM »

Love it. And the flow chart is the best part. I think I am going to print it out and hang it up in my office.

Jonathon · « **Reply #780 on:** November 30, 2015, 10:38:38 AM »

rivka · « **Reply #781 on:** November 30, 2015, 01:08:02 PM »

I showed it to a couple of my co-workers -- one of whom got a huge kick out of it -- and hung it up. It is far enough away that I can't actually read the text, but I keep grinning when I look up and see it.

Jonathon · « **Reply #782 on:** November 30, 2015, 09:42:22 PM »

That made my day.

rivka · « **Reply #783 on:** November 30, 2015, 10:52:56 PM »

rivka · « **Reply #784 on:** December 02, 2015, 08:20:17 AM »

Last night was parent-teacher conferences at my daughter's high school. I had the last slot of the night with her English teacher, so we had time to chat a bit after we discussed my daughter.

She loves the flowchart, and I think your blog may have a new follower.

Jonathon · « **Reply #785 on:** December 02, 2015, 10:49:20 AM »

Farmgirl · « **Reply #786 on:** December 22, 2015, 07:17:37 PM »

I sure wish there was a way to get that flowchart on the wall of every office at BBC News. I read BBC News and they have a totally inappropriate love for putting all sorts of things inside quotation marks within their headlines. Just go to BBC News website at some point and look for yourself

Jonathon · « **Reply #787 on:** December 22, 2015, 07:26:44 PM »

One commenter on that post mentioned that practice. Apparently it's a common way in British journalism to say that someone has made some sort of claim. I hate it, because they look like quotations but really aren't—it's basically the journalist's summary of what someone has said.

Farmgirl · « **Reply #788 on:** December 22, 2015, 08:37:52 PM »

But they aren't really even quotes from anyone.

A headline that they run as 'Terror attack' foiled in France could just as simply be written Terror Attack Foiled in France. No quotes needed. It drives me nuts because they are so unnecessary and change the whole intonation when I read it.

Jonathon · « **Reply #789 on:** December 22, 2015, 08:54:30 PM »

Quote from: Farmgirl on December 22, 2015, 08:37:52 PM

But they aren't really even quotes from anyone.

A headline that they run as 'Terror attack' foiled in France could just as simply be written Terror Attack Foiled in France. No quotes needed. It drives me nuts because they are so unnecessary and change the whole intonation when I read it.

Right. So what those quote marks would mean, if I understand correctly, is that they're saying that someone called it a terror attack. I don't really get it, and I find it really annoying too, but apparently there's some sort of weird method to it.

Jonathon · « **Reply #790 on:** January 06, 2016, 12:08:54 PM »

The Atlantic Is Wrong about Dog Pants

rivka · « **Reply #791 on:** January 06, 2016, 05:19:23 PM »

When someone says "dog pants", a garment is not what comes to mind.

Jonathon · « **Reply #792 on:** January 06, 2016, 06:07:26 PM »

Well, yeah, there's that too.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #793 on:** January 07, 2016, 09:21:08 AM »

Quote

words mean things

So my dictionary keeps insisting.

Yeah, the author there is being deliberately obtuse. Or maybe he's genuinely obtuse. I just can't figure out his angle.

Jonathon · « **Reply #794 on:** January 07, 2016, 09:40:40 AM »

I'm not sure either. The tongue-in-cheek parts and bad logic make it sound like he's not serious, but the rest of it makes it sound like he's dead serious.

Jonathon · « **Reply #795 on:** January 28, 2016, 12:13:07 PM »

Historic, Historical

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #796 on:** January 28, 2016, 03:29:03 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on January 28, 2016, 12:13:07 PM

Historic, Historical

Most of those are easy to think about, but historic/historical really hurts my head. I don't know why it's so hard for me to separate the different uses.

Jonathon · « **Reply #797 on:** February 04, 2016, 11:03:15 AM »

A Rule Worth Giving Up On

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #798 on:** February 04, 2016, 01:32:37 PM »

A rule up on which I'm more than ready to give!

rivka · « **Reply #799 on:** February 04, 2016, 09:07:26 PM »

:thumbsup: