omg i hope we werent in the same class cause that is one of my grammar pet peeves. i would write that on classmates' papers all the time.

if you're not sure whether a semicolon should be used. dont use it. i mean unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure, just look at it!

;

the damn symbol is giving you a choice: end the sentence (.) or keep going (,). but if youre that fly, do the damn thang and ( ; ) that sentence like its ya birfday!

Quotations!
 

Quotations go outside of the punctuation!

Example:

Del said, "I can't believe it's not butter."

"I love to look outside," replied Del.

I know there are exceptions with question marks and exclamation points. Can someone jump in there.

Another Rule That is Often Broken:

Insure/Ensure

Insure is used to reference money.

Example: It is expensive to insure a car.

Ensure is used to secure or gurantee without referencing to money.

Example: Exercising ensures a healthy body.

This isn't a grammatical error per se, but it's one I see often on GC and every time I do it makes my toes curl:

Discreet: careful and circumspect in one's speech or actions, especially in order to avoid causing offense or to gain an advantage

Discrete: individually separate and distinct

LOL!! This had me CTFU!!

Great tool. But make sure you have the latest edition of any style book, because some of the rules we grew up with no longer apply.

For example it is now okay to start a sentence with But, And, and Because.

Ensure, insure, and assure can now be used interchangeably.

Use commas sparingly and mainly for clarity--more is not better.

The double dash, which is turned into a long dash by Word, seems to be replacing semi-colons.

The rule for using which v. that is overshadowed by the fact that if you use which, put a comma in front of it.

Business writing has become less formal, but the rules are still very much different than creative writing. Being a good writer is subjective to the type of writing you are doing. A good creative writer is not necessarily a good business writer and vice versa.

Gregg is a good manual for business writing.

can someone give me the lowdown on using parentheses inside of parentheses? i feel like it shouldnt be done... but sometimes you have a lot to say that needs to be stated and its not necessarily worth a footnote.

That's a good one.

Ladygreek, ensure/insure/assure can be used interchangeably? Amazing. I just took a class not too long ago and that's what I learned. Rules change so much. Thanks for the info.

You might use a dash instead, to set off information inside of the parentheses. You're right, too many sets of parentheses looks cluttered. Also, sometimes with that parenthetical information, which is often meant to clarify or further specify about non-parenthetical information, you might not need to say as much as you think (you might feel like you do, but it may be that what you are writing goes without saying), or it really might work better as a footnote. If it is really important, then you wouldn't want to put it in parentheses anyway.

Not to say that what you learned isn't correct, but per the U of MN style book the distinction really doesn't matter anymore, because they all end up implying the same thing--making sure something happens.

Excellent response.

The apostrophe as it relates to NPHC Founders

All NPHC organizations have more than one founder. Correct?

Founder is singular.
Founder's is singular possessive

Ex: That founder's elephant collection is on display at National Headquarters.

Founders is plural. (more than one)
Founders' is plural possessive. (belonging to more than one)

Ex: The founders' degrees are on display at National Headquarters.

Founders Day, in the case of Delta Sigma Theta, does not need an apostrophe. At all. I cannot speak for the other 8 organizations on the apostrophe's presence, but I do know that it shouldn't ever be Founder's because there is more than one founder.

So next January I want to see more Happy Founders Day and zero Happy Founder's Day.

Por favor.

This is a great thread. I give my students Strunk & White every time they come into the library and scream about needing help on a paper, but the writing lab is closed. Now I can brush up on my own skills!

what about the/thee? Sometimes in church, the hymnal says "the", but people pronounce it "thee".

Also, I'm VERY annoyed by the word peoples....I know it's in the bible, but dang it sounds WRONG every time I hear it.:mad:

thee is old english, I believe (thee/thou/thus, etc.)
pronouncing "the" as "thee" i think is just an idosyncracy, it doesn't really change the meaning of whatever noun it is, just makes it sound more important.


CT4: I disagree. I think it should be Founders' Day because the day belongs to the founders. (plural possessive), IMO. I've seen it all kinds of ways though, so I refer back to my grammar school English lessons re: the plural possessive.

*the above is in regards to NPHC orgs in general and not specific to ZPB or DST, specifically.*