Fandom Grammar

Today we're going to look at this anonymously asked question, "Do appositives always need punctuation?" with the help of our friends from Ghostbusters.

( Do appositives always need punctuation? )

Source

Grant Snider over at Incidental Comics offers up a slew of new proofreader's marks for consideration. I happen to be down with all of them, especially the cyclopsis, horribly wrong font, and word tornado options.

What are your favorites, either from this list or from the established marks we already have? Do you have any new ones you'd nominate?

And for those of you interested in this topic, feel free to check our past forays into proofreader's marks in this Feature, this Friday Funnies, and this Friday Funnies.

Welcome to another installment of the Friday Funnies! Just on a Monday!

{Bonus points to anyone who gets that reference.}


Cyanide & Happiness (Explosm.net)

Even when I hear things like this being said in Westerns or by "hillbillies", it still makes my skin crawl. But I'd be a hypocrite if I said I've never used a double negative before. My prime transgression? "Ain't nobody got no time for that."

So what's your favorite double negative to say?

original image via Mother Goose and Grimm/Mike Peters Website

So let me start off this week's Friday Funny with an item of note. As far as I know, there has never been an instance of two Friday Funny posts in a row about the exact same error. This wasn't done on purpose, but it certainly shows that this is an error that comes up a lot. In fact, last week's comic brought up some interesting discussions regarding how and when to correct someone else's grammar faux pas. I'm not sure that's something that can easily be determined in a "blanket statement" kind of way, outside of the old cliche of knowing your audience.

That said, this is one of those misheard/misused phrases that actually irks me a lot. And when I've tried to explain it to people in the past, they get mad at me for "ruining the spirit of the moment".

In a nutshell, it's a matter of degrees, and it reminds me of the saying, "I have no f*cks to give." If you really don't have an iota of care about the situation, the correct phrase is "couldn't care less", but if there's even a smidgeon of care, then you can use "could care less". Plus, I tend to use the former if I'm just too bored to care at that particular moment in time.

Today's installment of "Say What?" will look at two phrases that have a common basis in Christianity and taking responsibility for your misdeeds. You've probably heard both but may not know what they mean. So let's find out together with the help of our friends over at Once Upon a Time, shall we?

( (Don't) rob Peter to pay Paul. / (The) writing on the wall. )

Welcome to another Friday editorial, fellow grammarians! This week we're going to take a look at James Harbeck's article Hey, grammar nerds! Stop freaking out about 'alot.' from July 17, 2014.

( a lot vs. alot )

Good afternoon, fellow grammarians! Today we're going to answer the question, When do you use "like" versus "as"?, with a little help from our friends over at Once Upon a Time.

( When do you use 'like' versus 'as'? )

Click to embiggen

Here at fandom_grammar, we've covered commas several times in the past, so I won't necessarily rehash that information here.

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a stickler for the Oxford comma. But when I first saw this graphic, I nearly died from laughing so hard. I could picture the pauses with each comma. Of course, it didn't help -- or is that hurt? -- that I could also hear Walken's and Shatner's voices in my head as I was reading their panels.

I suppose this graphic, while hilarious, just illustrates the point of choosing your comma style and being consistent in its usage.

Hello again, fellow grammarians! Today we're going to answer the question, When do you use "everyday" versus "every day"?, with a little help from our friends over at Once Upon a Time.

( Everyday vs. Every Day )

Welcome to this week's installment of Blast From the Past! When last we delved into the "tenet vs. tenant" debate, it was November 2013 with green_grrl. So let's give this oldie but goodie another glance, with the help of our friends over at Once Upon a Time.

On the surface, both words sound and even look alike. That both come from the same Latin word, tenēre, meaning "to hold" doesn't help in determining proper usage of either. So what are the differences between these two words?

( tenet vs. tenant )