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July 08, 2008

Comments

alisa

kewl

bruin

As Homer Simpson (well known philanthropist and turner of the bon mot) once said, "Borrr-ingggg!!!!!!"

John E

Excellent work; however, #17 should say "Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, e.g. etc.", not "i.e. etc."

e.g. = exempli gratia. The basic translation for this is "for example".
i.e. = id est. The basic translation for this is "that is".

db

my writing is built for speed...grammar and all that other stuff slows me down

Vic Rattler

Number 3 is not a hard rule anymore, you just can't start the paragraph with one. AND commas belong wherever the speaker would pause, as shown in the sentence above as well as this one.

Resilient Rabbit

This is really cheating, Bean, as **anything** is funnier than Wall.E!

Still, I like it.

Sketchbook by Chris

I thought my wife would enjoy these and she came back with this, I think it is very relevant to this topic:

"Actually, I disagree with him, and you're welcome to post my reply in the comment section on his blog.

Bloggers are informal writers. Being informal doesn't make you a either a bad or good writer, just informal. Many grammatical rules have evolved quite a bit in the last few decades. People will try to argue "once a rule, always a rule", but the bottom line is we simply don't speak as formally as we used to, and written forms will inevitably evolve to reflect verbal communication. Both the preposition at the end of the sentence and split infinitive rules have evolved and loosened up quite a bit, to the extent that it's now viewed as frequently o.k. to break both of these "rules."

And I only partially agree that following these rules will make one a better writer. Writing isn't about following rules like you're an obsessive compulsive school marm. Writing is about understanding how words work to serve your purpose. I think the best writers are those people who understand the "rules" and amend or throw them out in a purposeful and creative manner.

Just my two cents."

Ignacio P.

I take umbrage with you people, Wall-E was a masterpiece of a film.

Rochelle

No analogies? That would be writing like peanut butter without jelly.

Suzy

I agree with Rochelle, but thanks for a good laugh. and although blogging IS informal, I doubt most people enjoy sounding like unlearned idiots... if you want to be taken seriously in whatever you feel the need to type up and post to the rest of the world, sound decently intelligent. Number 1 ought to be to remember to proofread.

Kathryne

Wow. I guess I'll never, ever be a kick ass writer. And I suspect my blogging friends won't either.

Brian

Thanks for that English lesson, Bean!

Marge

As a teacher (of the kick-ass variety, I might add), I plan to copy this and hang it on a wall in a classroom. If nothing else, it will bring enjoyment, at least to me. Hell, they can hardly READ -- what makes you think they can write?! It is, however, always worth a try! Thanks for the chuckle.

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