Showing posts with label Grammar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grammar. Show all posts

Monday, November 7, 2011

Sensitivity about cases

Something that consistently annoys me is the random capitalization of words. Granted, copywriting is my profession, but we’re talking about a basic grammar rule here.  Just to review, proper nouns should be capitalized—specific people, places and things like Joe, New York, Prius…you get the idea. But I often see people spitting in the eye of case sensitivity rules either because they “want to make a word stand out” or they are operating under some random pattern of composition that’s beyond me (and wrong).  I’m not referring to E.E. Cummings or any other author who uses an offbeat written style as art. I’m talking about the work colleague who sends emails titled “Stop stealing my Lunch out of the fridge” or the business that put up a sign advertising “Half off our Stuff that nobody wants.”

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Anywayz

Anyways is not a word. Anyway is a word. It does not have a friend, it is not a twin, there are not a bunch of anyway hanging out. Not only do people pluralize the poor word by adding an "s," but it invariably ends up sounding like a "z." It's like the hissing of a snake as someone makes a lazy verbal transition from a topic. For example: "And then I finally had it and told her I'd hang my clothes on wire hangers if I wanted to. (SIGH) Anywayzzzzsssss, what's up with your family?"