How To Not Write Like A Schmuck 101

[nickofypres]

Fucking Lefty.

 

[Lefty]

 

[Rush]

Can we get Iago to create a "How to write?" thread? It seems as if nothing gets by under his nose.

 

[Captain Iago]

Thanks for that catch, Iago. Though I would argue that since this error has become so commonplace, it has become an acceptable form of attributing ownership in a sentence by default. Kind of like capitalization after a colon (technically it should always be done, but that practice has fallen out of vogue) and such.

You're exactly right and it's sad.

 

[Captain Iago]

Can we get Iago to create a "How to write?" thread? It seems as if nothing gets by under his nose.

Thanks for the compliment. There's plenty I miss when I'm proofing my own writing as we've all seen. I will say this, though: It really pays to read your own writing aloud (add an additional sense) to help catch mistakes.

 

[derosabomb]

Thanks for the compliment. There's plenty I miss when I'm proofing my own writing as we've all seen. I will say this, though: It really pays to read your own writing aloud (add an additional sense) to help catch mistakes.

waldo should try this

 

[USCChiFan]

waldo should try this

lol
But saying stuff aloud does help. Helps you memorize stuff better as well.

 

[Captain Iago]

lol
But saying stuff aloud does help. Helps you memorize stuff better as well.

Very true as well...even though the suggestion may sound corny.

 

[Rush]

Memorizing stuff aloud is stupid.

Just create acronyms.

HMRS
Helps.Me.Remember.Stuff.

 

[Lefty]

Memorizing stuff aloud is stupid.

Just create acronyms.

HMRS
Helps.Me.Remember.Stuff.

Association does help, but the key is to remember the association, or whatever it is you are trying to learn. They say that after you encounter something a certain number of times (I think the magic number is 6 or 7), be it hearing it, writing it, saying it, whatever, it is moved from your short-term to long-term memory, making it easier to recall later on. That is why it is good practice to try to use someone's name as much as possible (though not to sound creepy or slow, obviously) upon first meeting them.

 

[Lefty]

You're exactly right and it's sad.

My point is that since the error has occurred so much and has been accepted for so long, it is no longer an error, even if technically it is incorrect. Get what I mean? Like "limo". "Limo" isn't a word, and using it in a formal setting is technically improper. However, because "limo" has been used so often for so long, using "limo" in a formal setting isn't an error any longer, even though way back when, it was (Jeremy Piven in Black Hawk Down, FTW).

 

[Lefty]

And I'm sorry, but BigP's questions to interviewees have to get better. There's a reason why admins have to go through and delete the mocking comments on the articles. Here are some gems from his most recent endeavor:

When you get to the majors, what would you like your at-bat song to be?

You’re in the ESPN3.com commercial, how do you feel about that?

When you were a kid, which player did you idolize and look up to?

Who was your favorite team?

Do you have any idea what your number will be — or what you want it to be — when you reach the big leagues?

Which one of your teammates has most impressed you?

Look, I give P huge credit for contacting these guys and doing these interviews, along with all the work that goes into publishing them, I really do. It is something I am way too unorganized and dumb to do myself, and it's cool that he's able to talk with these guys.

That being said, the questions I just highlighted make up almost half of his interview (the questions he asked, at least), and that is not a good percentage of fluff questions to have make the final cut. These are the types of things you ask and write down for use as filler if you feel you don't have the right length in your piece, and more often than not they are (as they should be) left on the cutting room floor.

I mean, did he ask him even one question about how he is recovering from his pretty serious injury at the beginning of the season, other than the question from a reader (i.e. me)?

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

Yup. If either of us saw that in a paper we were grading, then we would circle it and write the word "redundant" right next to it.

Yeah, something about the declarative nature of both of those words, plus I think 'over' was somewhere in that sentence.

"Now that the ____________ is officially over....." seems like a better way. I dunno.

 

[Rush]

I would like to see Patrick develop his question making as well. The questions were actually different, I edited those questions to be what they were when you quoted them. They were a little more vague prior to me editing it.

 

[Lefty]

If you had to edit them to get them to where they are now, that's really bad.

 

[cubsneedmiracle]

If you had to edit them to get them to where they are now, that's really bad.

x2

We need a higher standard.

 

[Captain Iago]

My point is that since the error has occurred so much and has been accepted for so long, it is no longer an error, even if technically it is incorrect. Get what I mean? Like "limo". "Limo" isn't a word, and using it in a formal setting is technically improper. However, because "limo" has been used so often for so long, using "limo" in a formal setting isn't an error any longer, even though way back when, it was (Jeremy Piven in Black Hawk Down, FTW).

Yup, I got it; I totally understand how the common usage has changed the standard. However, it is still sad and I will disagree. To me, the new standard is lazy and reflects a lack of thinking about one's writing.

Another similar example I see a lot is when "that" is used instead of "who" when used as a pronoun. A human being is always a "who," anything else is a "that." For example: "Jon, the man that soaked the girls with his Super Soaker, danced with glee" is incorrect. Replace who for that and it's a winner since the antecedent is a human.

I sometimes feel a little bad when I explain to the kids that when they write a story about their pet, "it" is the pronoun to use for the pet. While the gender of the pet is obvious and known, it's not on the same level as a human being (even if it's been a part of the family for a long time and is often times treated better than most humans).

 

[Captain Iago]

Association does help, but the key is to remember the association, or whatever it is you are trying to learn. They say that after you encounter something a certain number of times (I think the magic number is 6 or 7), be it hearing it, writing it, saying it, whatever, it is moved from your short-term to long-term memory, making it easier to recall later on. That is why it is good practice to try to use someone's name as much as possible (though not to sound creepy or slow, obviously) upon first meeting them.

Aye. I took a Reading Remediation in the Classroom class a few years ago and I want to say it was even more than 6/7 times to learn a new vocabulary word. I don't remember the exact number, but I think it was in the teens.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

Your a joke. Leave him alone. I didn't think you can go any further, with bashing his articles in the forums. But, this passes it by a mile. If you think this is cool, you are truly mistaking.

Wow.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

Too me, this just got out of hand. I don't think you had to go this far.

Wow.