Annoying writing habits...

[perrykm2]

Probably sounds bad, but I have issues with people that are obsessed with being too correct. Some things just sound bad, even if they are right. For the most part, I like 90% of written communication to be light and informal.

I hate when people say things like "IT IS I!" Sure, it's correct, but you sound like a wizard.

[Grunty DaGnome]

All habits are annoying. It's a constant fight to keep it fresh.

[perrykm2]

My habit is excellence.

;[

[perrykm2]

Just kidding.

[vertige]

Stephen Fry sort of talking about this topic. Watch from about 1:30 to 3:30.

(EDIT: Actually, it's worth going beyond the 3:30 mark.)

I love this video! This is a great example of changing language. Chillax...book...meld (which in German still means "to send a message", not far from "announce") are great examples. But irregardless just...still isn't hehe.

[ComeBackZinc]

Grammatical=identifiable by a native speaker as a possible sentence in the given language.

[Julianne Pigoon]

I think the only writing habit that actually annoys me is a general one: overwritten prose. I think there's a world of difference between sophisticated, complex prose and overwritten prose. The former is fine (and can be great, sometimes); the latter is awful.

I'm so guilty of overwriting, because as I've seen a lot of people say, I'm guilty of over‒thinking. My SoP is the most overwritten piece of garbage because all I did was agonize over it. I am ashamed

I'm not a stickler for grammar, especially on the internet. Obvious mistakes bother me (such as your and you're), but I am pretty much oblivious to the niceties of English grammar. It might be sad for an English major to be this way, but my understanding of the use of grammar, like that of many, is natural. I have taken grammar courses, and so little of it has stuck. For me, learning complex grammar rules is like memorizing math formulas. I know it as far as I'm tested on it, then I promptly forget.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Julianne Pigoon

[Xie]

The improper use of the semicolon. It's tragic when used incorrectly. So much can be produced from that one little punctuation mark.

While we're on the topic, check out Pico Iyer's essay linked below.

http://www.msmc.la.edu/PDFFiles/Religious%20Studies%20Dept/Articles/in_praise_of_the_humble_comma_Pico_iyer%20-%20Time%20June%2013.pdf

Oh, and another pet peeve is the overuse of the dash. I got into that dash funk as a Freshman in college. Not good!

[bfat]

Oh, and another pet peeve is the overuse of the dash. I got into that dash funk as a Freshman in college. Not good!

lol, I love the dash! Cant. Stop. Using it! (It can be really helpful, as long as it's used correctly--meaning a proper "m" dash, none of that misused-hyphen nonsense.)

[JeremiahParadise]

lol, I love the dash! Cant. Stop. Using it! (It can be really helpful, as long as it's used correctly--meaning a proper "m" dash, none of that misused-hyphen nonsense.)

I love the double dash! Can't quit using it!

[marlowe]

lol, I love the dash! Cant. Stop. Using it! (It can be really helpful, as long as it's used correctly--meaning a proper "m" dash, none of that misused-hyphen nonsense.)

I prefer to use the em dash as well. Is the "--" an em dash before it hits the printer -- something like an editor's notation?

[Two Espressos]

I like dashes, semicolons, and colons. I use the last two quite frequently, and at one point a professor told me that I was using them too often! They're quite useful for forming 100-word Foucaultian sentences with lots of clauses and lists, which are always fun (if used in moderation).

Edited February 14, 2012 by Two Espressos

[bfat]

I prefer to use the em dash as well. Is the "--" an em dash before it hits the printer -- something like an editor's notation?

Yeah. Most word processors will create the em dash automatically from the two hyphens, but most internet text input/output isn't that smart yet. There's actually an en dash as well, that's different from the hyphen, for inclusive lists (like "pages 23-47"), but as far as I know only printers really use this. Too much of a pain to figure out how to do it for everyday use.

[Xie]

I was taught to use the em dash, but I remember there was controversy among my professors about where to place spaces in conjunction with the dash. I finally settled with putting a space after the dash, but not before.

[user_name]

adcoms who use the word rejection

[turtlepower]

Probably sounds bad, but I have issues with people that are obsessed with being too correct. Some things just sound bad, even if they are right. For the most part, I like 90% of written communication to be light and informal.

I hate when people say things like "IT IS I!" Sure, it's correct, but you sound like a wizard.

[turtlepower]

Isn't "it is me" correct in this case? Me is the object pronoun. "It" is the subject of that sentence.

[impending]

"To be" is a copula, so it takes a predicate nominative ("I"), not an object ("me").

[bfat]

Isn't "it is me" correct in this case? Me is the object pronoun. "It" is the subject of that sentence.

Actually, no. In this case, "me" is a predicate nominative, which holds the same grammatical "weight" or position as the subject. Since you can't say "Me is it," me is wrong; it should be "I." But this sounds really fruity and lame.

[antecedent]

Well, it turns out I'm a wizard anyway, so it's all good.

[turtlepower]

Haha. Thanks for the heads up. I'm not much for linguistics or grammar. I mean, I understand grammar's function, but as long as we're communicating effectively, I think it's sort of elitist to point out grammatical mistakes for the sake of "perfection".

[perrykm2]

Well, it turns out I'm a wizard anyway, so it's all good.

Yer' a wizard, antecedant!

[veniente]

I want to die whenever I hear professors, in the context of a discussion of Portrait of an Artist or The Castle or the Sistine Chapel, let us say, describe the artifacts as "Joycean" or, "Kafkaesque," or "Michelangelesque." Surely this is a redundant usage given that we know Portrait of an Artist is written by Joyce. I'm happy enough for one to make a claim that The Waves has "Joycean elements of..." but to say that Portrait is Joycean just strikes me as stating the obvious.

More interesting would be an argument for the Sistine Chapel as Kafkaesque...

[perrykm2]

Have you ever seen the Squid and the Whale? There's a pretty funny dialogue referring to exactly that.

From wikiquotes: Sophie: [about The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka] Yeah. I mean, it's gross when he turns into the bug, but I love how matter of fact everything is. Walt: Yeah, it's very Kafkaesque. Sophie: Because it's written by Franz Kafka. Walt: Right. I mean, clearly.

[perrykm2]

Although, I'm sure sometimes there's a discrepancy between the conventions for which we come to recognize an author and some of their works. Maybe they mean, like, this work by Kafka is the highest concentration of Kafka essence possible, 100% max extreme Kafka.