The Agony of Poor Spelling

[Bêthberry]

Hello Khroa the Eagle,

Bethberry, you failed to add a colon at the end of "The nominees are".

No, actually I did not fail to add the colon. The colon would be incorrect. The verb "to be" is a linking verb (copula) which requires a subject completion. The colon would separate incorrectly the successive, dependent units of clause structure. This is a very common error, seen very often. For a full explanation, see Quirk and Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English.

If you like, I will edit the sentence to read the following:

"The nominees are the following: "

That would use the correct form with the colon. As it stands, my original sentence is correct.

And, BTW, no one here at the Downs ridicules every single spelling and grammar error. We all can make mistakes and fail to proofread correctly. Maril's point, and mine, is that at least the thread titles deserve to be thoughtfully and carefully written, revised if necessary, and proofread thoroughly. Many people do not take the time to do that, and unfortunately the thread titles do kind of stand out.

And, also, please note that neither Maril nor I named any names. The thread titles are given here anonymously. We want to raise awareness about good writing habits rather than point fingers at specific people.

*curtsies respectfully*

Bethberry

[ October 13, 2002: Message edited by: Bethberry ]