Can we get an Elements Of Style thread in here?

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
I mean, honestly. What the fuck does a guy have to do to get a bit of enlightened Strunk/White discussion going? Where do we post our favorite quotes? How else can we practice our clear and precise writing styles? I say here.

jergins (jergins), Thursday, 30 November 2006 02:41 (eighteen years ago) link

You used a bit of where some clearly would suffice.

step hen faps (Curt1s Stephens), Friday, 1 December 2006 06:45 (eighteen years ago) link

Oops, sorry, the adverb was superfluous.

step hen faps (Curt1s Stephens), Friday, 1 December 2006 06:46 (eighteen years ago) link

two years pass...

still one of my favorite books. i think i will re-read.

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 03:05 (fifteen years ago) link

anyone have the illustrated version?

http://tinyurl.com/cxpsuj
^^^hated her in school and hate her even more for getting to do this

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 03:06 (fifteen years ago) link

why would you want the illustrated version? (not being a jerk, serious question) i have the normal version and look at it sometimes but it's not my favorite book ever. this shit kinda bothers me increasingly the more editing i have to do, nitpickiness about english :-\ not because i'm bad at it but i feel like, who cares. bleh

wowgold (harbl), Sunday, 8 March 2009 03:27 (fifteen years ago) link

i would want it for nostalgia bc i love the reg version a lot.
i also have nytimes and ap stylebooks on my shelf.
i have mla but fuck that shit.
i should get chicago i guess.

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 03:32 (fifteen years ago) link

i mean for some reason i equate wanting the illustrated elements of style with my desire for this.

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 03:33 (fifteen years ago) link

i only do it for lol review. we use chicago as a last resort after "the bluebook: a uniform system of citation" and "texas law review manual on usage and style" which is so bad and i'm not sure why it exists

wowgold (harbl), Sunday, 8 March 2009 03:43 (fifteen years ago) link

yeah gosh why would you consult anything from texas!!!?!??!!

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 03:44 (fifteen years ago) link

it tells you when to capitalize "supreme court" :-\

something i managing-edited was just published and i overlooked that "honing in" should be "homing in" because that's a dumb phrase either way. i don't feel bad though.

wowgold (harbl), Sunday, 8 March 2009 03:53 (fifteen years ago) link

no regrets

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 03:54 (fifteen years ago) link

well i think it's just terrible.

estela, Sunday, 8 March 2009 06:39 (fifteen years ago) link

no one's gonna read it anyway, seriously

wowgold (harbl), Sunday, 8 March 2009 11:52 (fifteen years ago) link

if we can't have d&g, we will bring it where 'ere we go.

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 15:04 (fifteen years ago) link

t do you have the turabian? i like that one but it's not useful to me anymore

wowgold (harbl), Sunday, 8 March 2009 16:08 (fifteen years ago) link

i think i will prob get chi man someday, maybe when i graduate. but i write a lot at work and i haven't felt a real need for it. also when i read stuff the attorneys at work have written i feel bad for their clients because it's usually pretty lol shitty. i can't tell if they're bad writers or just rushed/tired but it's like they've never looked any kind of style guide :(((((

wowgold (harbl), Sunday, 8 March 2009 16:10 (fifteen years ago) link

lol yeah my old atty bosses were so excited at my writing skillz it was kinda sad.
in my case, it was that they were mostly all scientist types and verbal stuff was just not their strong point, so they were happy to have me make them sound eloquent.
i do not have turabian! i really won't be writing any more papers or theses after this one and mla is the department standard. i like styles, though.

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 16:57 (fifteen years ago) link

oh i forgot i also have the economist style guide because my friend gave it to me for my birthday one year bc he knew i was a nerd and also because he moved to australia where they spell things funny.

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:46 (fifteen years ago) link

i feel half-sad about myself when my friends know to give me that stuff. i have "the new webster's grammar guide" because my friend found it somewhere and thought of me. i've never even looked at it though!

wowgold (harbl), Sunday, 8 March 2009 18:02 (fifteen years ago) link

yeah i haven't used the economist guide because i am wary of superfluous Us.

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 19:21 (fifteen years ago) link

i wish jergins had something to add

wowgold (harbl), Sunday, 8 March 2009 20:02 (fifteen years ago) link

he's too busy tweeting.

tehresa, Sunday, 8 March 2009 20:46 (fifteen years ago) link

twitter at a wedding in spokane wa after a couple silly things happen, when u need 5 minutes away from the crush of family and a best of the 60s dancefloor, it's a good thing

jergins, Monday, 9 March 2009 02:50 (fifteen years ago) link

do u follow s&w's principles of composition when you tweet

wowgold (harbl), Monday, 9 March 2009 11:06 (fifteen years ago) link

maybe i should start doing this.
then again, maybe i shouldn't.

tehresa, Monday, 9 March 2009 18:26 (fifteen years ago) link

btw wedding tweets were entertaining.

tehresa, Monday, 9 March 2009 18:27 (fifteen years ago) link

language is gay, just use the words u want

― boner state university (cankles), Monday, March 9, 2009 7:30 PM (4 minutes ago)

wowgold (harbl), Tuesday, 10 March 2009 00:35 (fifteen years ago) link

mlgay can suck it but i feel our days together are numbered so \(^_^)/

tehresa, Monday, 16 March 2009 06:43 (fifteen years ago) link

one month passes...

happy birthday EOS

lxy, Thursday, 16 April 2009 15:18 (fifteen years ago) link

i feel compelled to say here that i have at best mixed feelings abt elements of style

max max max max, Thursday, 16 April 2009 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link

yeah :-\

trouble child (harbl), Thursday, 16 April 2009 21:35 (fifteen years ago) link

editing makes me wanna barf

trouble child (harbl), Monday, 20 April 2009 17:30 (fifteen years ago) link

i will do it
for a price

tehresa, Monday, 20 April 2009 17:39 (fifteen years ago) link

*barfs*

trouble child (harbl), Monday, 20 April 2009 17:58 (fifteen years ago) link

this author is an idiot and i hate him

trouble child (harbl), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:27 (fifteen years ago) link

i'm trying to decide/remember if i've missed your bold controversial statements that you don't really mean. help me out someone, do i...did i?

jergins, Monday, 20 April 2009 22:52 (fifteen years ago) link

ilu jergins <3

trouble child (harbl), Monday, 20 April 2009 23:20 (fifteen years ago) link

jk :)

trouble child (harbl), Monday, 20 April 2009 23:20 (fifteen years ago) link

anyone have the illustrated version?

yah dude, I have this. the illustrations are cute, and big ups to the editors for modernizing the text a bit and correcting some of the early 20th c. gender bias. however, this

By the time this paragraph sees print, psyched, nerd, ripoff, dude, geek and funky
will be the words of yesteryear.

...is practically hate speech, and I advise you to do a lot of soul-searching before buying this edition.

unregistered, Tuesday, 21 April 2009 17:50 (fifteen years ago) link

i like a little old-fashioned gender bias in my style guides

trouble child (harbl), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 18:23 (fifteen years ago) link

it's more real

jergins, Tuesday, 21 April 2009 18:29 (fifteen years ago) link

gender-neutral "he/she" "s/he" "(s)he" pronouns are TEDIOUS and BAD, I admit. I don't remember if the style guide sticks up for them or not.

unregistered, Tuesday, 21 April 2009 18:35 (fifteen years ago) link

zie

trouble child (harbl), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 18:40 (fifteen years ago) link

I once suggested to LJ that he read this book

step hen faps in September 2008 (step hen faps), Tuesday, 21 April 2009 19:04 (fifteen years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.