First, we take Manhattan. THEN WE TAKE BERLIN! (Leonard Cohen)
Guten Tag, miene Literati Morgan just sent this dispatch from Berlin. Wait!…Does that mean he is in Berlin and sent a dispatch from there? Or does it mean he is Gnome, Alaska, and the dispatch that he sent originated from Berlin? It is all very confusing. Wait…what does “it” refer to? Wait again…Did I just …
Guten Tag, miene Literati
Morgan just sent this dispatch from Berlin. Wait!…Does that mean he is in Berlin and sent a dispatch from there? Or does it mean he is Gnome, Alaska, and the dispatch that he sent originated from Berlin? It is all very confusing. Wait…what does “it” refer to? Wait again…Did I just end a sentence with a propositi–oops!–preposition?
But the message is klar–Do not let your participles dangle!
Thanks for this, Morgan…Don’t let your luft waffe.
First, we take Manhattan. THEN WE TAKE BERLIN! (Leonard Cohen)
Thornton Sully has Jack Londoned his way across the globe sleeping with whatever country would have him, and picking up stray stories along with way. A litter of dog-eared passports that have taken up residence in his sock drawer are a constant temptation, but, as the founder in 2009 of A Word with You Press, dedicated to helping you tell your story persuasively and with passion, it’s not likely he will stray too far from the towers in Moscow, Idaho, unless it is to pursue women (actually, just one) in Prague or the Bohemian village of Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic. Authors who have sought his advice have won major awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Isabelle Allende Miraposa Award for new fiction, and the Best Poetry Award from San Diego Writers’ Awards.
“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” Thornton Sully, plagiarizing E.B. White
I love this. Potentially offensive, but since I’ve been called a grammar Nazi, I appreciate the dark humor. The only objection is that the schweinhund should have done himself in after accusing the poor man of ending a sentence with a preposition. That is one of the top ten grammar myths. It’s a perfectly acceptable part of speech to end a sentence WITH. Much great literature does so, and style guides will confirm its propriety. So wag those sentences with preposition tails all you want, if it flows.
Better than a grandma nazi.
I love this. Potentially offensive, but since I’ve been called a grammar Nazi, I appreciate the dark humor. The only objection is that the schweinhund should have done himself in after accusing the poor man of ending a sentence with a preposition. That is one of the top ten grammar myths. It’s a perfectly acceptable part of speech to end a sentence WITH. Much great literature does so, and style guides will confirm its propriety. So wag those sentences with preposition tails all you want, if it flows.
Take it to the river, drop it in the water, but let us learn again what we know not to be true.