Seen on the way from Basel airport on 3 October 2013: “Alle Pizza’s werden geliefert.” English grocers are notorious for serving apostrophes with everything. But now the malady has spread to a language that doesn’t even have apostrophes. (German does use the apostrophe to show that a letter or sound has been omitted.)
Tag: Punctuation
In defence of brackets
Editors (both professional and amateur) have often warned me against using brackets. They are averse to brackets because they view brackets as a sign of indecisiveness and of an addiction to parenthetical digressions. They often suggest commas instead of brackets. Up to a point, their aversion is justified. Yet commas are sometimes less clear than…… Continue reading In defence of brackets
Capitalism is when…
… trade mark lawyers tell you when to use upper case.
A “safe and comfortable” flight
Travelling back from Tokyo once, I was about to board my ANA (All Nippon Airways) flight, when I saw a welcoming notice board at the end of the gangway just before the cabin door. It said: We wish you a “safe and comfortable” flight. I would have felt more comfortable, and definitely safer, if they…… Continue reading A “safe and comfortable” flight
The world in 1529
A nearly monosyllabic (in Italian) statement about the state of the world in 1529. Language Log » Filosofia monosillabica (upenn.edu) My attempt at a translation: Those who can, don’t want toThose who want to, can’tThose who know how, don’tThose who do, don’t know howAnd thus the world goes badly Pedants’ corner My translation commits an…… Continue reading The world in 1529
Puzzle: answer
Last month I set the following puzzle. Here is a sequence of 11 consecutive instances of ‘had’: had had had had had had had had had had had I asked readers to punctuate this sequence to turn it into a perfectly valid English text. Here is the context: John and Tom had each written a…… Continue reading Puzzle: answer
Puzzle: another hint
Last month I set the following puzzle. Here is a sequence of 11 consecutive instances of ‘had’: had had had had had had had had had had had Can you punctuate this sequence to turn it into a perfectly valid English text? Last week, I gave this hint: John and Tom had each written a…… Continue reading Puzzle: another hint
Puzzle: a hint
Last month I set the following puzzle. Here is a sequence of 11 consecutive instances of ‘had’: had had had had had had had had had had had Can you punctuate this sequence to turn it into a perfectly valid English text? Here is a hint. John and Tom had each written a sentence for…… Continue reading Puzzle: a hint