zortrana rants
I did two things this weekend I shouldn't do: surf the Internets and watch TV.
"Intact" is ONE word. For example: I can't believe that she emerged from that scandal with her reputation intact. It's not "in tact". It's not. You can look it up and everything.
"Alot" is STILL not a word. I HAVE mentioned this before. It's "a lot". Really.
You don't need an apostrophe to make a plural. You need apostrophes to show possession or when there is a contraction. I've taught college English classes. I know this for a fact. But the worst thing about these errors? They're contagious! I catch myself doing it. You offenders are causing the decline of the written word! I'm starting to wonder if I should just give in.
However, one thing I will not do is spell "definitely" any way except "definitely" because that is how it is spelled. Quite definitely.
I'm not asking that you write perfectly for the Internets, or obsess over proofreading or anything like that. I AM saying that if you are trying to make a serious point and you start like this: "Ive defidently given this alot of thought" I'm never going to get to your point because I've already decided that you are an idiot, or I have thrown the Gregg Manual of Style, or Strunk & White at the computer screen. In either case, your failure to follow even the most basic rules is impeding your attempts to communicate!
Also, if you comment on news video about the Israel/Palestine conflict and ask "What are they fighting about anyway?" I'm going to think that it is good that you asked, because that's how you learn, but I'm still going to wonder WHEN EXACTLY DID YOU ARRIVE ON PLANET EARTH? IS THIS YOUR FIRST DAY HERE?
I've been watching Desperate Housewives on Sunday nights. Then I recap the episodes for a community here on LJ. I've been leaving the TV on while doing that and to my eternal woe and damnation have become addicted to Brothers and Sisters which follows DH. These two shows are JUST. SO. BADLY. WRITTEN. that I want to tear out my hair. There's little continuity, plot lines are started and dropped, the dialog is terrible, there's no attention paid to medical or legal realities, and a truckload of other writing crimes. I just don't get it. There are at least a dozen people on my Flist who write better than this! And they do it around their regular jobs, with the kids running in and out of the room, and a cat laying on them or their computer!
DH has a reasonably talented cast and a fairly original premise. But it tries to be a sitcom, a satire, a mystery, and a drama, and ends up just being a mess. B&S has a large cast of people who CAN act: Rachel Griffiths, Ron Rifkin, Sally Field (yes, she's over the top sometimes, but she's done wonderful stuff too) and Calista Flockhart. It has David Annable and Luke Macfarlane who are too cute for words, and it has Matthew Rhys who is hot, hot, hot with whoever the show pairs him up with. But B&S is just a gawdawful disaster of a show. It's appallingly bad!
Is it really that hard to write for TV? Should I just throw the TV out the window and save myself the aggravation?
And don't even get me started on those award shows that were on this week!
"Intact" is ONE word. For example: I can't believe that she emerged from that scandal with her reputation intact. It's not "in tact". It's not. You can look it up and everything.
"Alot" is STILL not a word. I HAVE mentioned this before. It's "a lot". Really.
You don't need an apostrophe to make a plural. You need apostrophes to show possession or when there is a contraction. I've taught college English classes. I know this for a fact. But the worst thing about these errors? They're contagious! I catch myself doing it. You offenders are causing the decline of the written word! I'm starting to wonder if I should just give in.
However, one thing I will not do is spell "definitely" any way except "definitely" because that is how it is spelled. Quite definitely.
I'm not asking that you write perfectly for the Internets, or obsess over proofreading or anything like that. I AM saying that if you are trying to make a serious point and you start like this: "Ive defidently given this alot of thought" I'm never going to get to your point because I've already decided that you are an idiot, or I have thrown the Gregg Manual of Style, or Strunk & White at the computer screen. In either case, your failure to follow even the most basic rules is impeding your attempts to communicate!
Also, if you comment on news video about the Israel/Palestine conflict and ask "What are they fighting about anyway?" I'm going to think that it is good that you asked, because that's how you learn, but I'm still going to wonder WHEN EXACTLY DID YOU ARRIVE ON PLANET EARTH? IS THIS YOUR FIRST DAY HERE?
I've been watching Desperate Housewives on Sunday nights. Then I recap the episodes for a community here on LJ. I've been leaving the TV on while doing that and to my eternal woe and damnation have become addicted to Brothers and Sisters which follows DH. These two shows are JUST. SO. BADLY. WRITTEN. that I want to tear out my hair. There's little continuity, plot lines are started and dropped, the dialog is terrible, there's no attention paid to medical or legal realities, and a truckload of other writing crimes. I just don't get it. There are at least a dozen people on my Flist who write better than this! And they do it around their regular jobs, with the kids running in and out of the room, and a cat laying on them or their computer!
DH has a reasonably talented cast and a fairly original premise. But it tries to be a sitcom, a satire, a mystery, and a drama, and ends up just being a mess. B&S has a large cast of people who CAN act: Rachel Griffiths, Ron Rifkin, Sally Field (yes, she's over the top sometimes, but she's done wonderful stuff too) and Calista Flockhart. It has David Annable and Luke Macfarlane who are too cute for words, and it has Matthew Rhys who is hot, hot, hot with whoever the show pairs him up with. But B&S is just a gawdawful disaster of a show. It's appallingly bad!
Is it really that hard to write for TV? Should I just throw the TV out the window and save myself the aggravation?
And don't even get me started on those award shows that were on this week!