Reader Jennifer Schmidt of the Detroit area tipped me off to this import article in today's Onion, "4 Copy Editors Killed In Ongoing AP Style, Chicago Manual Gang Violence."
Because of the comments readers post here, I know passions run strong on topics of grammar, usage, and punctuation, but this level of violence shocks me.
How do you feel about it?
Thank you, Jennifer, for alerting us to this situation.
Lynn
P.S. It's satire.
I'm actually not at all surprised. I've seen writers come to blows over periods in a bulleted list and commas before an "and." It was bound to escalate at some point.
Posted by: Colleen Campbell | January 07, 2013 at 01:46 PM
When the Onion gets it right, they get it very right. I especially enjoyed the reaction of the innocent passer-by to the discussion of the serial comma. How many of us have made our non-grammar nerd friends feel similarly?
MLA, yo!
Posted by: Jennifer | January 07, 2013 at 01:47 PM
If ever you want a lot of traffic (including drive-by shootings), write a post on grammar and/or typos. ;-)
Posted by: Cathy Miller | January 08, 2013 at 08:11 AM
Or is that driveby or drive by?) :-)
Posted by: Cathy Miller | January 08, 2013 at 08:12 AM
Very funny! I'm glad you added "It's satire" because I once shared an Onion story about a 10-year-old being sentenced to time in the corner, and one person I sent it to just didn't get it. The Onion is so funny because their premises are always based on truth!
Posted by: Val S. | January 08, 2013 at 05:16 PM
Colleen, Jennifer, Kathy, and Val--I am glad you dropped by.
Colleen, you are right about the blows. I occasionally delete blistering comments by people who are certain their way is the only way.
Jennifer, you may be in the minority showing your colors for the "MLA Stylebook." I have it but don't typically consult it. In any case, thanks for sharing the original link!
Kathy, I'm with you on "drive-by."
Val, I had to add the note about satire. People who visit this blog from around the globe would believe we had taken insane violence to a new, literary level.
Thanks, everyone.
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn Gaertner-Johnston | January 08, 2013 at 10:11 PM
I posted a link to the "story" on my Facebook page, and only my acute writer friends even realized it wasn't a true story of tragedy. That says something about our culture, I think!
On another note, I thought whatever follows "based on" had to be what's modified by that phrase. So wouldn't "based on x, I did y" imply that you (the speaker) were based on x? Sorry...it's an illness...
Posted by: Corey | February 13, 2013 at 10:58 AM
Hi, Corey. You are correct about "based on." I seem to have slipped into a bad habit of using it the way you cited. I will fix it.
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn Gaertner-Johnston | February 18, 2013 at 11:13 AM