Entry 011: How "not" to use scare quotes (Rules Project)

When I was in the fourth or fifth grade, I began to spend summers off from school at my own house.  The other neighborhood kids did the same -- everyone free from school, free to play outside, free to do whatever we wanted to do, at least during the day.

That is, except for my chore list.  My parents had always kept a family chore list, which enumerated exactly which tasks -- feeding to dog, bringing in the mail, doing the dishes, folding laundry -- belonged to whom.

In the summer, my parents took it upon themselves to award extra tasks to me and my brother.  These tasks had a bit more of a process to them -- washing the kitchen floor, for example, is one that I remembered reading with dread.  Just how did one do that!?

One grammatical aspect of the chore list that I still remember is my father's use of scare quotes.  Whenever he wanted to call attention to one part of the chore list, or to part of the directions for one of the tasks, he used scared quotes, in the way that some people might use an underline, or write a word in all capital letters.

Wash the floor.  Do "not" forget soap, he might write.  Or,

Mow the lawn.  Be careful of the front bushes.  "Go slow."

A simple google search reveals a host of examples of scare quotes used to call attention to one aspect of a phrase or message: 

However, this use of scare quotes is incorrect!  In the third picture, a well-meaning (?) grammar master has pointed out to all who might read the sign:  Please do not use quotation marks for emphasis.

Scare quotes, as Larry Trask explains in his thorough website* on the topic, are quotation marks "placed around a word or phrase from which you, the writer, wish to distance yourself because you consider that word or phrase to be odd or inappropriate for some reason."

There are numerous instances when it would be appropriate to use a scare quote.

A few weeks ago, it reached into the 90s here in Rochester, New York.  A friend might relay something they overheard to me from someone on the bus in this way:  The person sitting behind me told the person on the phone that it was a bit "warm" here today.  As if!  Here, the speaker wishes to imply that "warm" is not at all an appropriate word to describe the oppressive heat that plagued the city for a week.

Or, a mother might recount to a friend that she caught her son wrapping a chair up with several rolls of toilet paper, so that he could "clean" it, by his account. Here, the mother wants to make clear that she herself understands that there is no valid reason for wrapping a chair up in rolls of toilet paper, but that she still wanted to provide her child's reasoning to her friends.

I tried searching the Internet for correct images of people using scare quotes in signs, and it was surprisingly difficult.  It seems like it is much more enjoyable to catalog examples of mistakes.  I did find this image, which was taken from a graphic novel:

Though not a sign, this is a great example of the correct way to use a scare quote.  The police officer here wishes to imply that something is suspect, or fishy, about the scene, and that there is more to the story of this man's present condition than a simple murder.

So concludes my Rules Project.  I hope you enjoyed reading my blog -- perhaps you will soon find some grammar mistakes of your own while out walking or driving!



*http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/quotes/scare

Entry 010: New York Times Copy Editor on Grammar

While looking through road signs with grammatical mistakes, and looking for resources to explain where mistakes have been made, I stumbled upon a fascinating 2007 interview with the then Manager of the New York Times Copy Desk, Merrill Perlman.  Merrill, a seasoned copy editor herself, responded to questions from readers about grammar and syntax.

The whole interview was fascinating, and one that I will be using to complete my Professional Project for this course.  She speaks of common grammar issues in the utmost detail.  Even grammar issues that I thought I had mastered -- how to add "'s" to singular and plural nouns, for example -- were explained in such detail and completeness that it made me pause.

Consider this question:

"Q. Obviously we add both an apostrophe and an "s" to indicate the possessive of singular nouns (Mary's hair, the desk's top). Obviously we do this even when the last letter/sound of the noun is an "s" (Bob Jones's hair, a mouse's tail, the bus's engine). Why should the plural be different? (the desks' color, the trees' value, the Walshes' favorite restaurant). Are we punctuating them differently because "bus" and "bus's" sound different, but "trees" sounds the same as "trees'"? Always was puzzled by this rule.

— Jim Walsh"

In her answer, Merrill acknowledges that there is not always a clear consensus on issues of grammar, and that on issues such as the possessive "s," or the Oxford comma, there might never be total consensus.  That said, she also points out that for publications, and especially publications with the statute of The Times, there must be some sort of standard.  She writes:

"A. Let me say first off that I'm not a grammarian. English language is frustratingly inconsistent. Among other things, it's affected by regionalisms, teaching methods (transformational generative grammar, anyone?) and the plain fact that people use language however they want, since there are no laws regulating grammar. (If there were, the first people to be arrested should be those who think an apostrophe and the letter "s" create a plural, as in a sign that says "All Shoe's on Sale.") Should sound govern how the possessive is formed? It does sometimes, but what would you do with the possessive of something like "dunces," which sounds the same with or without the apostrophe? Even dictionaries don't always agree. So what's a copy editor to do? Publications wanting to appear consistent in their use of language usually follow a style guide that specifies which of the many disputed grammar and usage rules to follow. Ours is "The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage," and it gives some logical guidelines on possessives. It is available through many booksellers, including Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and Borders Books. Here are some excerpts:

Ordinarily form a possessive by adding 's to a singular noun (the boy's boots; the girl's coat), even if the noun already ends in an s (The Times's article). If the word ends in two sibilant sounds (ch, j, s, sh, x or z) separated only by a vowel sound, drop the s after the apostrophe (Kansas' climate; Texas' population). But keep the s after the apostrophe when a name ends in a silent sibilant letter (Arkansas's; Malraux's).
For most plural words, the possessive form is s' (girls' coats; boys' boots). But for a plural word that does not end in s (women; children), the possessive is formed by adding 's (women's; children's). And when a plural is formed with es (on a proper name and a common noun equally), the apostrophe follows that ending: the Joneses' house; the buses' routes; the Mercedeses' doors.

Not everyone agrees that 's is automatically added after proper names that end in s. Arkansas recently passed resolutions requiring it; luckily, we've agreed all along."

Fascinating!


Merrill's full interview can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/business/media/19asktheeditors.html?pagewanted=all.

Entry 009: Caution -- Adverb Usage Error (Rules Project)

My father lives on a private road in the woods, which is maintained by his homeowner's association.  It's not a very wide road -- when two cars wish to pass one another on the road, one usually has to pull partly off of the road.  There are spots of the road where flat, solid asphalt has given way to pebbles and large, disjointed slabs of asphalt.  There are turns with little visibility.  There are trees that grow very close to the side of the road.

This still does not keep people from speeding down the road.

To combat speeding neighbors and visitors, people who live along the road have put up their own makeshift signs, admonishing people, in different ways, for driving too fast ("slow down -- children at play!"; "watch speed!"), or calling for them to slow down.

Many signs say this (sign found via google image search; text is identical to signs on road):

Can you spot the error? 

This sign is a command to drivers to "drive slow."  However, in this sign, "slow" is an adjective.  Adjectives, as Jane Straus writes on her blog*, are "a word or set of words that modifies (i.e., describes) a noun or pronoun."

Slow, however, is being used to modify a verb.  As such, slow should be changed into an adverb, since, as Jane says on the same page, adverbs are "a word or set of words that modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs."

The correct version of this sign would read, "Caution - Drive slowly."

I was not able to find any explanation for why this mistake is made on so many signs.  Internet users on various forums suggested that by leavig off the "ly" from slowly, the government was saving millions of dollars -- I shall let you decide if that explains the error!


*http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/adjAdv.asp

Entry 008: Dog's must is on the leash? Dog is must be on leash? (Rules Project)

To conclude my Rules Project, I am going to use the Internet to gather a few more examples of public signs that feature grammar mistakes.  I will give credit to blogs and grammar sources at the bottom of each post.

Unlike previous posts that detail instances of missing apostrophes, the following sign, found near a hiking trail in North Carolina*, features an unnecessary apostrophe.  Can you find it?

Okay, so that was easy -- there is only one part of this sign with an apostrophe.  Even so, the error jumps out.  We can add an "'s" to a word for two reasons:

First, "'s" can be used as a contraction, as in:  "Peter's going to have to buy a strainer if he is ever to make pasta in his new apartment."

It can also be used to indicate possession of an object, as we've discussed already in the blog.**  For example, we could say:  "Peter's old strainer is somewhere between his previous and current apartment."

In this sign, none of these two conditions for adding an apostrophe are present.  "Dog is must be on leash" sounds like alien-speak, and a "must" is not something that a dog (or a person, to my knowledge) can possess.

Therefore, the sign should simply read, "Dogs must be on leash."





*https://thegrammarvandal.wordpress.com/2007/07/28/grammar-errors-nationwide/

**See Jane Straus's explanation of proper apostrophe use at her website:  http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp.

Entry 007: Swimming Rules, Skaneateles Lake (Rules Project)

Over the July 4th weekend, I visited Skaneateles Lake, a pristine body of water in the Finger Lake Region of New York, and a favorite vacation spot of the Clinton family.  It is also situated about ten miles from my childhood home, so I know the area well.  Skaneateles was also my school's rival -- I remember running against their cross country team (and losing), and playing tennis against their doubles team (and losing), but I digress!

At issue in this post is the sign posted near the public swimming area of the lake.  I snapped a picture as I walked by, at dusk:

"Public Swimming," says the sign, "when lifeguards on duty." 

This is grammatically incorrect.  First, the sentence is missing an action.  Public Swimming WHAT?  Public Swimming allowed, I imagine.  So we will add that to our sentence:  Public swimming allowed when lifeguards on duty."

There is one more error to fix.  If we added an article, we could correct the sentence to "Public swimming allowed when lifeguards are on duty."  Or, we might assume that the article has already been added, but that an apostrophe is missing.  In that case, we could correct the sentence to "Public swimming allowed when lifeguard's on duty."

Entry 006: Facebook foolery

On Facebook, I regularly see people in my mini-feed correcting the grammar mistakes of their friends and acquaintances.  Some people makes posts extolling others for grammar mistakes that they've seen. 

Here's a meme that I saw yesterday, posted by an acquaintance of mine, with a plea for people to remember to use commas:

I did chuckle -- but there are countless memes which deal with this same grammar issue.

The most "liked" response to this Facebook lecture?  This image:

It immediately made me think of this course, and of the Stephen Fry video about self-righteous grammar police.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, there was this very-well liked image, to cap off the whole post:

[image was a portrait of a military officer, with the face of a cute cat, with the question:  "You think grammar is a motherfucking JOKE?!]

Yes!  Yes, I do!

Entry 005: Missing Commas (Rules Project)

As mentioned before, my walks through New York did not yield the grammar mistakes that I was hoping to find.

However, while walking through Crown Heights, Brooklyn, I did come across this message, painted across the brick wall of a public school building.

A grammatically correct welcome to the students would read "Welcome, Students!"

As explained by Jane Strauss on her grammar website*, we need to use a comma to "set off the name of a person directly addressed."  Here, the sign is directly addressing the students of the school, and as such, would need a comma after "welcome."



*http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp