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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004E,S&Ls
The nightmare of writing any book on grammar, punctuation, etc., is the inevitability of making mistakes yourself. And so you end up not looking like you know what you are on about. So, have I found an inevitable mistake in Eat, Shoots, and Leaves: This is where comma usage all starts getting tricky. That `all' looks really odd to me. I could readily accept This is where comma usage starts getting all tricky but I feel much less sure about the original. Now, she has written a book on punctuation, not grammar, so my comment may not count. Nevertheless, if you can't get your grammar right, what hope is there for your punctuation? Cheers, R. ps I make no claims regarding my own feeble grammar! > The nightmare of writing any book on grammar, punctuation, > etc., is the inevitability of making mistakes yourself. [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > ps I make no claims regarding my own feeble grammar! "This is where comma usage all starts getting tricky." I think 'all' is superfluous, else we are to believe, in other conditions, that only part of comma usage gets tricky. "This is where comma usage starts getting all tricky" I don't think there is a reasonable distinction between 'all tricky' and 'tricky', unless perhaps the author had previously referred to things getting 'partly tricky' and had defined in some way the differences. Alan > I don't think there is a reasonable distinction between 'all tricky' > and 'tricky', unless perhaps the author had previously referred > to things getting 'partly tricky' and had defined in some way the > differences. I took it to be an informal way of saying `very tricky'. Of course, you couldn't sensibly write: This is where comma usage very starts getting tricky. But then, perhaps, there's a different shade of meaning she's trying to get across. R. > The nightmare of writing any book on grammar, punctuation, > etc., is the inevitability of making mistakes yourself. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > may not count. Nevertheless, if you can't get your grammar > right, what hope is there for your punctuation? Well, I've published more than a dozen books, and I can tell you something: it is *impossible* to get a book into print with no mistakes at all. No matter how many times you proofread the text, and no matter how carefully your copy-editor goes through it, there will always be one or two glitches that slip through. This is a fundamental law of the universe. Larry Trask larryt@ussex.ac.uk larryt@sussex.ac.uk spake thus: > Well, I've published more than a dozen books, and I can tell you > something: it is *impossible* to get a book into print with no [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > or two glitches that slip through. This is a fundamental law of the > universe. This law is also true of computer programs, and is well understood by programmers.  SignatureDavid ===== >The nightmare of writing any book on grammar, punctuation, >etc., is the inevitability of making mistakes yourself. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > This is where comma usage starts getting all tricky I think she's using it in a jocular way. That 'all' is used on both sides of the pond in expressions such as "This is where it all starts falling apart". From the writing she does for The Times it's obvious that she writes to amuse rather than to even attempt to be scholarly. Signaturewrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England > I think she's using it in a jocular way. That 'all' is used on both sides > of the pond in expressions such as "This is where it all starts falling > apart". But that's fine to me. I read `it all' as `all of it'= `the whole thing'. I guess you could go with `this is where it kind of starts falling apart'. R. >> I think she's using it in a jocular way. That 'all' is used on both sides >> of the pond in expressions such as "This is where it all starts falling >> apart". > >But that's fine to me. I read `it all' as `all of it'= `the whole thing'. >I guess you could go with `this is where it kind of starts falling apart'. In informal speech, yes, with a rueful sort of grin and a shrug of the shoulders. Signaturewrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England > The nightmare of writing any book on grammar, punctuation, > etc., is the inevitability of making mistakes yourself. It's a wonderful book, but on page 89 there's a question mark that stopped me in my tracks. I wonder why? Gary Jones (email address is a spam-hole) |
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