Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares: How to Avoid Unplanned and Unwanted Grammar Errors by Jenny Baranick

Eons ago, when I was a student in school, learning English as a second language (though spoken as a first language at home), I met a stumbling block in the form of grammar. Although using correct grammar was never a problem, explaining why I'd pick A over B when given an option between the two was a problem. Without a doubt, my English teacher would have labelled me annoying since I had the cheek to tell her I picked what I did because it 'sounds right'. I'd have been a much better student if I had this book in my grubby hands back then!

Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares: How to Avoid Unplanned and Unwanted Grammar Errors

If you're a follower of the blog that goes by the title Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares, you'll find that the posts explain grammar in a delightfully whimsical style. You'll never know what hit you until the end where you finally realise that you've been given an interesting lesson in grammar. You get an idea of how fun grammar can be just by checking out the title.

This book is an extension of the blog, and will be on sale on Amazon from the 15th of August. In these days where textspeak and truncated words rule and where punctuation is almost non-existent, this book may just help bring back the language to the state it's meant to be.

* Scheduled post

19 comments:

  1. haha it's sounds right is a valid excuse, right? haha I tend not to watch grammar as much on the blog, but everything else I do.

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  2. Valid yeah,but not for non-native speakers, I guess.

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  3. It's all to do with attention to detail - something which many people no longer consider important. I do by the way.

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    1. Yes, people are always in a hurry these days. Too many things to do.

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  4. Looks great - I must check it out... also what a lovely new template Terra!

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    1. I'd like to check it out too. And thanks :)

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  5. Interesting post; I will check the book.

    And grammar and usage change (like starting a sentence with "and".) For example, it is considered acceptable to say: "there was a large amount of people attending the county fair" in a news report. Well, to be accurate, "amount" is a term for a mass or weight (accurate, maybe if the people were unusually fat -- which could be the case, I guess.) More correctly would be: "There was a large number of people attending the county fair".
    Just a pet peeve of mine, sorry. . .

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    1. I'd have used number, seeing that people can actually be counted. I guess you're right though, usage has changed over the years. Over here, we were left with British English when they left, but most of the shows on TV are American, so it gets even more confusing.

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  6. English is my second language, but since I picked it up at a relatively young age, I do mostly everything on a "feeling" as well. Though we were never required to explain why something was correct, it would've certainly helped with helping my peers with the English language!

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    1. It's part of the school curricullum, but exam questions do not require you to explain. I think that's the method my teacher wanted to use to drill correct grammar usage into us, which would be fine for those who didn't already speak it at home.

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  7. English is my first language and I think I write and speak well enough, I'll have to pass on the book.

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  8. Terra, thank you so so much!

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  9. Well, I'd give the book a shot, but my family's going through tough times, so sorry.
    I'd recommend this to any bad grammar guy/girl though.
    I'm a Grammar Nazi.
    kbbuddingwriter approves!

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  10. In the age of text speak (C U l8r lol!) anything that contributes to the well-being of good grammar is fine by me! Approve!

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    1. It takes me longer to type in textspeak than it does normally spelled words. Can't see why it became so popular.

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  11. you'd be surprised, there are many who can't explain grammar...even some of those who work in my office! there are many things i cant explain too and i go by the 'right' feeling. but i think it's really sexy if you can explain grammar - it's like watching someone solve a complicated math question with much ease. then again, i love nerds :)

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    1. LOL. Yes, now that you mention it, there's always something sexy about Missed Periods' posts.

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