When it comes to grammar, I'm a conservative revolutionary. That is to say, I prefer to keep rules as they are unless they don't make logical sense, in which cases the rules need be reformed.
I'm wondering if I'm egotistical enough to write a guide for my version of English grammar.
I just may be.
please start with "i" before "e" except after "c"...
ReplyDeleteThere's one "rule" that I consistently and deliberately break (though I suppose it's more a punctuation rule than a grammar one).
ReplyDeleteThere, see, I just did it. I put the period after the closing parenthesis (and I do the same with quotes).
To me, a period (also known as a "full stop") is the final terminating mark of a sentence, and a parenthetical (or a quote, in most cases) is a sub-phrase of the sentence, and should be included in its entirety (parenthesis and all) within the sentence, before the terminating period.
(Of course, there are exceptions. Sometimes, for example, a parenthetical will contain multiple sentences. In those cases, it seems more logical to me to include the period of the final sentence within the parenthesis.)
i am also tired of the serial comma before "and". i knew when one of my professors brought out that old saw on my thesis, we had descended into "and that's the best criticism you can come up with it..."
ReplyDeleteHmm.. I actually like the comma before "and", because it separates the final two items in the list better than the "and" by itself does.
ReplyDeleteExample: I like ice cream, cheesecake, cookies and pudding.
Does that mean the cookies and pudding go together (as a single dessert item)?
In my mind this is more clear: I like ice cream, cheesecake, cookies, and pudding.