Ricky Gervais Puts His Foot in It

Friday, October 19, 2013.

I've been far too busy writing my books and promoting them on Facebook, Twitter and through my writing blog, so I haven't had a chance to post anything about punctuation for weeks. Now I'm going to cheat a bit and copy a blog post sent to me by Daily Writing Tips.

It's about my favourite punctuation mistake: the it's/its dilemma.

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The Volatile Nature of It’s Blasphemy: A law to protect an All-Powerful, supernatural Deity from getting it’s feelings hurt. As you might expect, this quip by Ricky Gervais stirred strong responses when it was posted on Facebook. Some commenters were amused by it, but others most definitely were not. What caught my attention was not the heated religious discussion that Gervais’s irreverent comment provoked, but the grammatical scuffle that erupted over his erroneous use of it’s. Commenters were able to “Like” individual replies. The first reader to point out that “it’s feelings” should read “its feelings” received 103 Likes. The comment that dismissed the objection–“It’s basic grammar and was probably a typo. Who cares?”–received only 7 Likes. Is it too much to hope that this little poll–unscientific as it is–suggests that members of the reading public who care about the correct use of it’s may outnumber those who don’t? Probably. Something this exchange does illustrate is that typographical errors, misspellings, and grammatical faults distract readers from serious discussions–even in that land of linguistic anarchy we call “social media.” I’d be lying if I said I’ve never typed it’s where the context called for its. I’ve probably even allowed at least one disgraceful it’s to slip into print. For that reason, I must be grateful to the class of readers who can give a misused it’s the benefit of the doubt. Such tolerant folks assume it must be an unintended typo. After all, doesn’t everyone know that it’s is a contraction of it is and not a possessive adjective? Alas, some typos are more forgivable than others, even in comment threads. The accidental typing of hte or teh for the, for example, will go unremarked by all but the most mean-spirited nit-picking troll. It’s for its, on the other hand, elicits a visceral reaction in some readers. They can’t help it. No matter how deep or serious a discussion, a misplaced it’s or its will almost certainly bring it to a grinding halt. Bottomline: Whether you think it matters or not, if you want to keep readers’ attention focused on the topic at hand, make sure you haven’t misused it’s before clicking “Reply” or “Submit.” Original Post: The Volatile Nature of It’s

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Serena Janes

Visit my website here. http://www.serenajanes.com 

Commas for joining sentence elements

Sounds a scintillating subject, doesn't it? But it gives me the opportunity to discuss another pet peeve, second only to the misuse of the apostrophe in the it's/its confusion I treated in an earlier post.

A comma is necessary when two complete sentences are joined with a conjunction such as for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so and while.

An easy way to remember these conjunctions is by using the acronym FANBOYS (and add  the straggling W).

For example:
I wanted to feed my azaleas, but the fertilizer bin was empty.
Florence tried to give her hero admirable qualities, so her readers would fall in love with him.
My dog circled my desk incessantly, yet I was too busy typing to notice.
Children can't wait to grow up, while all parents want to do is prolong their childhood.

Now this is all pretty straightforward, and most writers don't have a problem sticking a comma into their sentence before the FANBOYSW conjunction. But sometimes a writer decides to omit the conjunction and use only the lone comma to join the two halves of his sentence. Then we have--wait for it--Pet Peeve #2: The Comma Splice.

I wanted to feed my azaleas, the fertilizer bin was empty. 

Now this sentence makes sense, but it's still grammatically incorrect. The writer (that's me) has joined two complete sentences with a comma. A no-no. A semi-colon can be used in place of the comma, but that's another story, and will have to wait for another day.

 I could have broken my comma splice into two complete sentences. That would work.

But I cannot, ever, join two complete sentences with only a comma. I need one of the FANBOYSW to help.

And, odd as it may sound, comma splices are as common as dirt in my part of the world. I'd go as far as saying that the comma splice is probably the single biggest grammar error I see when I grade student papers. And it doesn't matter whether the student writer is 18 or 80--comma splices litter their work, distracting and often confusing the reader.

Using Commas with Adverbs

In my last post I stated that commas are required to separate multiple adjectives if the word and could be substituted for the comma in question.

The rain fell heavily, steadily and noisily.
(The rain fell heavily and steadily and noisily. None of these adverbs is any more important than the others: they each modify the verb fell in equal measure.

Today, I'll show how the same rule applies for commas used to separate adverbs. Adverbs can be tricky, so I'll define them first.

An adverb is a word that modifies, explains or limits a verb, adjective or another adverb.

The dog barked softly. (Softly modifies the verb barked).

The dog barked softly, repetitively and ceaselessly. (Here, I've separated the first two adverbs with a comma. A comma after the word ceaselessly is optional).

And note that the comma in the last example could be replaced by the word and.

Now look at an example that does not require a comma to separate two adverbs:
Her eye shadow was really too blue for her complexion.
(The adverb really modifies the adverb too--which modifies the adjective blue).

In this example, you couldn't use the word and between the words really and too. Therefore, a comma isn't required.

I'll take this up a notch in future postings when I discuss how adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses are usually separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma.

I'm looking forward to the weekend here in beautiful British Columbia. We're hosting an 80th birthday party for my mother, and she wanted a traditional Danish smorgasbord. So I'm busy roasting meats and making meatballs for the hundreds of open-faced sandwiches we'll need for the feast. Luckily I have three sisters to help!
Serena
serenajanes.com

Using commas with adjectives

Most writers seem to think that commas are always used to separate all elements in a list. If you're listing words that happen to be nouns, or noun (or prepositional)  phrases, then you'd be correct to use the comma separator between them.

I planted radishes, beets, cabbages and leeks.
(This lists four nouns, and note that I didn't use an Oxford comma).

Happiness might be found over the rainbow, behind the kitchen door or under the carpet.
(This is a list of three prepositional phrases).

Don't forget to buy green apples, red plums and a blue and white tablecloth. 
(And this is a list of three noun phrases).

If, however, you are using two or more adjectives to modify a noun or pronoun, you might--or might not-- require a comma to separate them. The rule has it that a comma is necessary where the word and would be appropriate, and when the modifiers are each modifying the same word to the same degree.

I know that sounds a bit tricky, so let me explain through examples.

My hero is tall, dark and slightly disfigured.  
(He is tall and dark and slightly disfigured. None of these modifiers is any more important than the others.)

But my heroine is perfectly proportioned, good-natured and rich.  
(Again, all three adjectives modify the word heroine in equal measure).

But sometimes two or more adjectives do not require a comma to separate them. Each case is slightly different, so you have to pay attention.

The endangered burrowing owl is making a comeback in some areas.
(No comma is needed between the word endangered and the word burrowing because these adjectives modify the word owl together. You wouldn't write, The endangered and burrowing owl...).

The quaint old village of Windermere bristles with tourists in the summer.
(Again, you wouldn't write, The quaint and old village...).

I can make the same case for using two or more adverbs to modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb.

And I'll do this in my next post.

Commas for Lists

I didn't know until today that commas are among the oldest of our modern punctuation marks, having been "invented" in stages by the Italians in the 15th and 16th centuries. According to punctuation guru Lynne Truss, commas serve two main functions: to indicate the grammar of a sentence and to emphasize elements such as "rhythm, direction, pitch, tone and flow."

Probably the first thing you learned about commas was that they're required to separate elements in a list. It's quite a simple rule, and generally doesn't lead to any discussion or disagreement, except in the case of the Oxford comma, which I defined in my last post. This rule is an example of a comma illuminating the grammar of a sentence.

Sometimes a list can be quite complex, however. Some sentences are made up of lists of phrases that contain other commas. This is where some writers might begin to worry about what they're doing.

Take a look at this example.

Spring is the busiest time for gardeners because they must plan their method of attack, prepare sites, fork compost, clear off mulch and other less valuable debris, divide perennials, prune trees, shrubs and vines, and sow seeds.

Note that I've used the Oxford comma here (the comma after the word vines) because I want to do all I can to aid my reader's comprehension.

In sentences like this one, a semi-colon could be employed to separate the various phrases from one another. But don't worry about that now. I'm getting ahead of myself. I won't be discussing semi-colons for weeks yet.

When using a comma to separate the items in a list, the rule is that the comma should be able to replace the word and or or.

In the gardening example above, the list-separating commas could all be replaced with the word and.
Except for the Oxford comma, of course. It's the exception to the rule.

Next time, I'll talk about using commas as list-separators when the list is made up of adjectives. I hope it will be an informative, useful and interesting post. (For some reason I didn't feel like using the Oxford comma here. Isn't English a wonderful language?)

The Oxford Comma

I've neglected my blog because I've been finishing a sequel to my novel, Cult of the Black Virgin. This was my first novel, and it just got a four-star review, posted on Goodreads, so I'm encouraged. Publishers and readers seem to like sequels, and I'll be writing two. The first, Revenge of the Black Virgin, should be finished in a few weeks.

When I started this blog I said I was frustrated because I wasn't permitted to ue semi-colons and colons in my work. Apparently, readers of romance don't like sophisticated sentence structure, so I have to keep it simple. Commas are okay, though. I mean, really, commas are absolutely necessary in written English.

So, the next dozen or so postings are going to discuss commas.

First off, I'll introduce the Oxford comma (also known as the Harvard comma).

The Oxford comma is a formal name for the series or serial comma used before a co-ordinating conjunction (usually and, or, and nor) in a list of three or more things.

For example: I had to remove all the colons, semi-colons, and parentheses from my manuscript.

The Oxford, or serial, comma is the comma after the word semi-colons. It's often considered an optional comma, but care should be taken that it doesn't cause ambiguity. If you use it, the result may be ambiguous, and if you omit it you may cause confusion for another reason.

For example, note the difference in the two following sentences:

 My first novel is dedicated to my teachers, Margaret Atwood, and John Updike. 
 My first novel is dedicated to my teachers, Margaret Atwood and John Updike.

See what a difference a comma can make!
In the first, I dedicate my book to my teachers and two specific writers. In the second, I dedicate the book to the two writers who were my teachers.
So what am I trying to say? I'd better be clear about it or else someone's going to have hurt feelings.

The Oxford comma is probably more commonly used  in North America than it is in Britain these days. It's endorsed by the Chicago Manual of Style in the U.S. and both the Oxford University Press (hence the name) and Fowler's in the U.K.

So whether you opt to use it regularly or not, keep two things in mind. First, be consistent. If you use it once, you'll need to use it throughout your written piece. And secondly, make sure your comma doesn't alter your meaning or lead to ambiguity.

More about commas and ambiguity next time.

Hello to my readers!

I'm pretty excited that my blog is being read by people from all over the world. You might notice I allowed myself the luxury of using an exclamation mark in my title today. Warning: I'm going to use a few more!

I'm especially interested in reaching readers from some of the countries I've visited recently. Because I live on the extreme edge of western Canada, I often feel isolated from much of the world. Hello Turkey! Hello Italy! Greetings Spain and Portugal! Serbia, too!

Why don't you drop me a line? Leave me a comment?

Serena Janes
serenajanes.com