As a bit of a genealogy buff (I've done my share of family history research), I had to cringe a bit when reading an otherwise excellent report about the new Assassin's Creed game. Joystiq's own Editor-in-Chief, Chris Grant wrote:
"In Revelations, you'll play as both 12th century stabber Altair and his 16th century ancestor Ezio..."
Ignoring the missing comma for the appellative, there is a major confusion of terminology here.
For those unfamiliar with the genealogy terms, 'ancestor' refers to a relative from a previous generation, while 'descendant' is one of a future generation. Analogues to these would be 'forefathers' and 'progeny,' respectively.
So the correct statement would be that you play as Altair and his descendant, Ezio.
Source:
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/06/assassins-creed-revelations-details-from-gi-hookblades-bom/
Showing posts with label commas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commas. Show all posts
Friday, May 6, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Multiple Infractions
I like reading Penny Arcade. It generally has interesting discussions and fun comics. While reading one of their new posts, I couldn't help but notice a few glaring errors. While they probably have a large enough loyal reader base that doesn't care about things like grammar, I would hope they still take a few minutes to proofread the posts.
First infraction: failing to capitalize the first word of a sentence.
You think we’ve caved into to pressure from a vocal minority and you’re not entirely wrong. let me at least break down why we did it though.
Second infraction: failing to separate items in a list.
If jokes about violence,rape,aids,pedophilia,bestiality,drugs,cancer,homosexuality, and religion bother you then I recommend reading a different webcomic.
In addition to being a basic grammar mistake, this also affects the page appearance, as the browser views this list as a single word, creating unnecessary blank space at the end of a line, where at least a few of these items could fit. (See the following screenshot for reference.)
Third infraction: using sentence fragments.
We want PAX to be a place were everyone feels welcome and we’ve worked really hard to make that happen. From not allowing booth babes to making sure we have panels that represent all our attendees.
The fragment here is a complete thought, continuing that of the previous sentence and should be a subclause rather than a fragment: "... make that happen, from not allowing..."
Any simple word processor with a spell/grammar checker should catch these errors.
Source:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2011/1/28/dickwolves
First infraction: failing to capitalize the first word of a sentence.
You think we’ve caved into to pressure from a vocal minority and you’re not entirely wrong. let me at least break down why we did it though.
Second infraction: failing to separate items in a list.
If jokes about violence,rape,aids,pedophilia,bestiality,drugs,cancer,homosexuality, and religion bother you then I recommend reading a different webcomic.
In addition to being a basic grammar mistake, this also affects the page appearance, as the browser views this list as a single word, creating unnecessary blank space at the end of a line, where at least a few of these items could fit. (See the following screenshot for reference.)
Third infraction: using sentence fragments.
We want PAX to be a place were everyone feels welcome and we’ve worked really hard to make that happen. From not allowing booth babes to making sure we have panels that represent all our attendees.
The fragment here is a complete thought, continuing that of the previous sentence and should be a subclause rather than a fragment: "... make that happen, from not allowing..."
Any simple word processor with a spell/grammar checker should catch these errors.
Source:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2011/1/28/dickwolves
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Way to represent!!!
While browsing job listings on Monster.com, I came across this description of a company:
TWO Group, is a German-owned company with it's headquarters in Stuttgart German and Guangzhou China, and offices in UK, USA, Czech and Hong Kong.
This short statement probably has the highest error-to-word count I've seen in quite a while. Beginning with an errant comma between the subject and verb, it quickly moves into an it's/its error. Pausing the error-train only briefly, the listing misnames the country of origin (Germany), while at the same time omitting the comma between city and country, and finally naming a language (Czech) instead of a country (the Czech Republic)!
If this is how the company chooses to represent itself, I don't think I'd want to work there.
Source: http://jobview.monster.com/IT-Consultant-Job-Chicago-IL-US-85251165.aspx
Now, some of you might wonder what brought me to this listing in the first place. Well, wonder no more! It is simply this: Having just completed my M.A. in German Literature to go along with my B.A. in German and my B.S. in Computer Science, I now need to find gainful employment. I'd like to go into translating or IT work, or perhaps do paid proofreading/editing for some of you big blogs out there. If anyone knows of a position that could use my skills, please let me know!
TWO Group, is a German-owned company with it's headquarters in Stuttgart German and Guangzhou China, and offices in UK, USA, Czech and Hong Kong.
This short statement probably has the highest error-to-word count I've seen in quite a while. Beginning with an errant comma between the subject and verb, it quickly moves into an it's/its error. Pausing the error-train only briefly, the listing misnames the country of origin (Germany), while at the same time omitting the comma between city and country, and finally naming a language (Czech) instead of a country (the Czech Republic)!
If this is how the company chooses to represent itself, I don't think I'd want to work there.
Source: http://jobview.monster.com/IT-Consultant-Job-Chicago-IL-US-85251165.aspx
Now, some of you might wonder what brought me to this listing in the first place. Well, wonder no more! It is simply this: Having just completed my M.A. in German Literature to go along with my B.A. in German and my B.S. in Computer Science, I now need to find gainful employment. I'd like to go into translating or IT work, or perhaps do paid proofreading/editing for some of you big blogs out there. If anyone knows of a position that could use my skills, please let me know!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
How many mistakes can you make in one article?
Going back in the grab bag, this one comes from CAD (Ctrl+Alt+Del), from about 2 months ago. Reading back through the article (a discussion of rumors about the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion), there are quite a few things to mention.
First, the serial comma. There are a couple of times when Tim makes lists that aren't completely comma-separated. Example: Zones, quests and instances revamped. Standard grammar rules would require a comma before the 'and.' Additionally, Tim has the following list-within-a-list, also not fully comma-separated:
Orgrimmar split in half, Thousand Needles flooded, death damage and destruction everywhere you turn.
I may be wrong here, but I think semicolons are needed here in addition to commas. That is, the list-within-a-list would be comma-separated, while the outer list would be separated by semicolons ("Orgrimmar split in half; Thousand Needles flooded; death, damage, and destruction everywhere you turn.")
This assumes, though that death and damage are actually 2 separate list items and not an adjective describing the kind of damage (in which case, only a terminal comma would be needed, not the semicolons). Given the different kinds of damage in fantasy/role-playing games, this may actually be the case, though I don't believe so.
Further reading shows more errors. Here's an unpaired/unclosed quotation mark:
(not some "alternate reality zone, caverns of time horseshit)
Finally, what grammar gripe would be complete without the old standby of its/it's confusion:
Especially if it wants to stand it's ground against The Old Republic and all the hawtness that game is offering.
One might ask about the numerous sentence fragments, of which the examples above are but a few. However, Tim takes a conversational tone in his posting, not intending to be formal, so I'll leave them be.
Source: http://cad-comic.com/news.php?i=1918#1918
First, the serial comma. There are a couple of times when Tim makes lists that aren't completely comma-separated. Example: Zones, quests and instances revamped. Standard grammar rules would require a comma before the 'and.' Additionally, Tim has the following list-within-a-list, also not fully comma-separated:
Orgrimmar split in half, Thousand Needles flooded, death damage and destruction everywhere you turn.
I may be wrong here, but I think semicolons are needed here in addition to commas. That is, the list-within-a-list would be comma-separated, while the outer list would be separated by semicolons ("Orgrimmar split in half; Thousand Needles flooded; death, damage, and destruction everywhere you turn.")
This assumes, though that death and damage are actually 2 separate list items and not an adjective describing the kind of damage (in which case, only a terminal comma would be needed, not the semicolons). Given the different kinds of damage in fantasy/role-playing games, this may actually be the case, though I don't believe so.
Further reading shows more errors. Here's an unpaired/unclosed quotation mark:
(not some "alternate reality zone, caverns of time horseshit)
Finally, what grammar gripe would be complete without the old standby of its/it's confusion:
Especially if it wants to stand it's ground against The Old Republic and all the hawtness that game is offering.
One might ask about the numerous sentence fragments, of which the examples above are but a few. However, Tim takes a conversational tone in his posting, not intending to be formal, so I'll leave them be.
Source: http://cad-comic.com/news.php?i=1918#1918
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Commas, commas everywhere, and not a drop to think
Another article from the local campus paper caught my eye today. This one is about a local Habitat for Humanity project. My wife volunteers and serves on one of H4H's committees and I remember working together on this particular house, so this article about its completion was of particular interest to me. Hopefully the house itself was better inspected than the article, as the latter is littered with random commas.
The next Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity project, begins Aug. 15, and volunteers are always needed and welcome, Cox said.
There is absolutely no need for that first comma. In fact, it is distracting, as it separates the subject (albeit a somewhat long, complex one) from the verb.
Another sprinkling of commas in this article appears only in the print version. The caption on one of the photos states:
The Johnson family was forced to move into substandard housing when, Jojo, who suffers from Down Syndrome, was diagnosed with leukemia.
The so-called "corrected" version of this caption in the online version is itself fraught with comma errors:
Habitat for Humanity volunteers made it possible for Jojo, his father, Joseph Johson to move-in to their new home.
If you were to look at this sentence completely outside of context, there would be no way to tell who these people are or how they are related. Are they 3 separate people? Is JoJo the father, or is his father Joseph Johnson?
Put simply, the two individuals listed here should be separated by 'and,' not a comma, and the appellative needs to be set off by commas. Thus we need "JoJo and his father, Joseph Johnson, to move."
And then there's the use of "move-in" as some sort of compound verb instead of a noun! Why did the author feel a need to use a hyphen there? There is no reasonable explanation.
Sources
Print: "Sooners aid in new family home." The Oklahoma Daily. 28 July 2009, p. 1.
Online: http://oudaily.com/news/2009/jul/27/sooners-aid-new-family-home/
The next Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity project, begins Aug. 15, and volunteers are always needed and welcome, Cox said.
There is absolutely no need for that first comma. In fact, it is distracting, as it separates the subject (albeit a somewhat long, complex one) from the verb.
Another sprinkling of commas in this article appears only in the print version. The caption on one of the photos states:
The Johnson family was forced to move into substandard housing when, Jojo, who suffers from Down Syndrome, was diagnosed with leukemia.
The so-called "corrected" version of this caption in the online version is itself fraught with comma errors:
Habitat for Humanity volunteers made it possible for Jojo, his father, Joseph Johson to move-in to their new home.
If you were to look at this sentence completely outside of context, there would be no way to tell who these people are or how they are related. Are they 3 separate people? Is JoJo the father, or is his father Joseph Johnson?
Put simply, the two individuals listed here should be separated by 'and,' not a comma, and the appellative needs to be set off by commas. Thus we need "JoJo and his father, Joseph Johnson, to move."
And then there's the use of "move-in" as some sort of compound verb instead of a noun! Why did the author feel a need to use a hyphen there? There is no reasonable explanation.
Sources
Print: "Sooners aid in new family home." The Oklahoma Daily. 28 July 2009, p. 1.
Online: http://oudaily.com/news/2009/jul/27/sooners-aid-new-family-home/
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Our division lost four experienced leaders, three junior lieutenants, and a major, all during the first week of our first campaign.
This sentence is a bit confusing to me. I do understand that the 3 lieutenants and the 1 major are describing the 4 experienced leaders, but I still think the punctuation here is a bit of a problem. At first glance, it could appear that the officers named are in addition to the experienced leaders, laid out in a list form, but the final comma refutes this. I propose that the sentence actually contains one comma too many. While the first and last are needed to set off the parenthetical phrase, the middle one is not needed and gives the appearance of listing. More correctly, it would appear thus:
"Our division lost four experienced leaders, three junior lieutenants and a major, all during the first week of our first campaign."
Source: World War Z, p. 295
This sentence is a bit confusing to me. I do understand that the 3 lieutenants and the 1 major are describing the 4 experienced leaders, but I still think the punctuation here is a bit of a problem. At first glance, it could appear that the officers named are in addition to the experienced leaders, laid out in a list form, but the final comma refutes this. I propose that the sentence actually contains one comma too many. While the first and last are needed to set off the parenthetical phrase, the middle one is not needed and gives the appearance of listing. More correctly, it would appear thus:
"Our division lost four experienced leaders, three junior lieutenants and a major, all during the first week of our first campaign."
Source: World War Z, p. 295
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
It's a 2-for-1!!
From Gizmodo:
It's like a single replacement for a chair, and coffee.
Absolutely unnecessary comma there, then, in the very next sentence, a bit of misspelling.
I find that physiologically it also makes a great alternative to the sitting position, where one's back and gluts and neck are constantly stretched while the hip flexors and abs are constantly compressed but unused.
This is unfortunate, because 'glut' is actually a noun and fits perfectly into the sentence from a grammar perspective. It's just not the word he meant to use.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5210799/samurai-ergonomics
It's like a single replacement for a chair, and coffee.
Absolutely unnecessary comma there, then, in the very next sentence, a bit of misspelling.
I find that physiologically it also makes a great alternative to the sitting position, where one's back and gluts and neck are constantly stretched while the hip flexors and abs are constantly compressed but unused.
This is unfortunate, because 'glut' is actually a noun and fits perfectly into the sentence from a grammar perspective. It's just not the word he meant to use.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5210799/samurai-ergonomics
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Depressing, isn't it?
Only a day has passed since the game was announced, but Six Days in Fallujah is already stirring up controversy among veterans, families and peace groups, according to GamePolitics.
Today's post is far from exciting. A simple misplaced comma, nothing more. The truth is, the headlines recently just aren't interesting enough for me to want to read the articles, so this is the best I could find from what I've read. A depressing state of affairs, indeed.
Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/07/gleaning-potential-controversy-from-konamis-six-days-in-falluj/
Today's post is far from exciting. A simple misplaced comma, nothing more. The truth is, the headlines recently just aren't interesting enough for me to want to read the articles, so this is the best I could find from what I've read. A depressing state of affairs, indeed.
Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/07/gleaning-potential-controversy-from-konamis-six-days-in-falluj/
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