The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
In the New Yorker...
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on October 24, 2025, 03:42:22 pm ---Seems like a lot of people would write "The car which I wound up buying was a Honda."
--- End quote ---
Yes, and a lot of people spell "you're" without the apostrophe and the e. This isn't quite incorrect, I guess, but it just sounds awkward. If I were editing their copy, I'd change it. In fact, this is one of those situations where it doesn't need either a "which" OR a "that," so I'd just delete the whole word.
I looked back over the two previous sample uses, and my car example didn't need a "that," either. But the "baseball" example does. So maybe "that" is a definition when placed between a noun and the verb that follows it?
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on October 24, 2025, 04:28:33 pm ---Yes, and a lot of people spell "you're" without the apostrophe and the e. This isn't quite incorrect, I guess, but it just sounds awkward.
--- End quote ---
I don't know. I'd say when "your" is used as a contraction for "you are," 'it's objectively wrong.
I'd say the same goes for "its" when what's meant is "it's," for "it is."
I guess when I'm writing fast and not really proofreading my own typing, I'm guilty of both sins. ;D
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on October 25, 2025, 10:55:20 am ---I don't know. I'd say when "your" is used as a contraction for "you are," 'it's objectively wrong.
I'd say the same goes for "its" when what's meant is "it's," for "it is."
I guess when I'm writing fast and not really proofreading my own typing, I'm guilty of both sins. ;D
--- End quote ---
Your right, those were bad examples. Its hard to think of something that's not technically quite wrong but it's sound isn't quite correct. :laugh:
How about the old AP Style no-no, saying "over" instead of "more than," as in "Over a thousand people showed up at the local No Kings protest"?
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on October 25, 2025, 03:00:02 pm ---How about the old AP Style no-no, saying "over" instead of "more than," as in "Over a thousand people showed up at the local No Kings protest"?
--- End quote ---
I try to remember that.
Clearly the style has changed to "from March 12--22." For myself I still try to stick to "from March 12 to March 22" (or "through March 22," if appropriate), or "something lasted March 12--22."
My high school composition/journalism teacher had a thing about "died suddenly." He said everybody dies "suddenly." The question is whether or not death was expected or unexpected.
serious crayons:
He's got a point. Although I might quibble that some people experience brain death and see themselves walking toward a light and their deceased loved ones but aren't actually dead-dead until their heart stops. Not quite the same thing, though, so "died unexpectedly" is better.
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