Saturday, November 10, 2007
Comma Drama
Last night, around 10 p.m. a dozen or so young guys paraded out of the second-floor flat of Jesse, the fellow next door. I mean, they looked like a human centipede coming out of the porch. Or like the silk scarves that endlessly come out of a magician's sleeve. Whew!
As predicted by my wife, after their jaunt down the hill, presumably to Coleman's Authentic Irish Pub, the guys (and now a few gals) returned around 2 a.m. and made a ruckus.
Come on, people! We're trying to sleep here!
Speaking of which:
There's a new book out titled:
Come On People
subtitled: On the Path From Victims to Victors
By Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D.
Now, based on some of the estimable Mr. Cosby's recent comments and the subtitle, I can surmise that the book has a laudable premise and narrative exposition. Fine. No problem. Applause.
However, I have a quibble with the title.
It needs an important comma placed after the word "on."
Otherwise, without that vocative comma -- how shall I delicately express this? -- the title conjures up an indefensible and impolitic, if pornographic, imperative to broadcast one's seminal "concepts" in a democratic and egalitarian way. Gross!
And Mr. Cosby has a doctorate in education (but not grammar); his co-author is a medical doctor. Come on, guys!
You can rely on The Laughorist to staunchly defend us from solecisms of punctuation.
(And, yes, you can split an infinitive with impunity, as in the sentence above.)
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11 comments:
Nothing worse than a ruckus except maybe an omitted comma in a newly published book's title.
Seems grammar and punctuation have gone the way of oh, I dunno, the dino.
Hmmmm...wouldn't any ruckus by definition be "loud"?
Patti,
..or have gone the way of The Jetsons, off into the either (or the Either/Or, if you're a reader of Kierkegaard).
I have edited out the loud of loud ruckus, thank ye.
PK
Pawlie,
You are a teaseable one. You didn't have to edit anything...
I was just playing with you, someone I consider a wordsmith extraordinaire.
Now that is funny! I've seen the book but never noticed that. LOL
Come on, PK, tell us how you and your wife met, in honor of your 12 years together..
I've dealt with all sorts of unsavory come-on people in the prison system. They'd beat their own grandmother out of her last dollar given the opportunity. As for Mr. Cosby, he's been spotted in Detroit this weekend saying, "COME ON, PEOPLE!" At least he's not marching down Woodward Avenue with the pimps and prostitutes and johns yelling, "C-- on people." Not a pretty sight, in fact, a rather dirty one.
That's very funny. 'Come on People' - is it about bukkake?
Puss
My, my... I slip away for a couple of weeks and I return to find Bill has gotten his comeupance.
Sheesh!
Scarlett & Viaggiatore
~good to be back!
you make me smile with this post...
I always use too many commas. Anytime I feel the need to pause I throw one in there. Maybe I should go get a grammar book or something. haha
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