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Subject:
EDITING
Category: Reference, Education and News > General Reference Asked by: redog1-ga List Price: $3.00 |
Posted:
29 Sep 2002 12:45 PDT
Expires: 29 Oct 2002 11:45 PST Question ID: 70513 |
I have a spelling checker, It came with my PC; It plainly marks four(for) my revue(review) Mistakes I cannot sea(see). I've run this poem threw(through) it, I'm sure your(you're) please too no,(pleased to know) Its(It's) letter perfect in it's(its) weigh(way), My checker tolled me sew.(told me so.) ARE THERE ANY MORE CORRECTIONS TO BE MADE? |
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Subject:
Re: EDITING
Answered By: mvguy-ga on 29 Sep 2002 14:20 PDT |
Hi, The revised spelling looks fine to me. I'm a writer/editor who professionally copyedited for about 10 years, if you're interested in my credentials. I would, however, punctuate the verse differently, and make it as follows: I have a spelling checker, It came with my PC. It plainly marks for my review Mistakes I cannot see. I've run this poem through it; I'm sure you're pleased to know It's letter perfect in its way -- My checker told me so. You might be interested in knowing that this poem was originally written by Jerrold H. Zar under the title of "Candidate for a Pullet Surprise." You can find variations of it all over the Internet. The link below takes you to what is purported to be the original version: Candidate for a Pullet Surprise http://tenderbytes.net/rhymeworld/feeder/teacher/pullet.htm And here is a college professor's corrected version: Candidate for a Pulitzer Prize http://cs.ua.edu/440/Handouts/Candidate%20for%20a%20Pullet%20Surprise-Corrected.htm I tracked down information about the poem by using the Google search term "my checker tolled me sew" and by following various links from the sites I found. ://www.google.com/search?q=%22my+checker+tolled+me+sew%22 Best wishes, mvguy (who proofread this answer carefully after spell-checking it) |
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Subject:
Re: EDITING
From: joey-ga on 29 Sep 2002 13:04 PDT |
"planely" maybe? |
Subject:
Re: EDITING
From: apteryx-ga on 29 Sep 2002 17:59 PDT |
"I have a spelling checker,/ It came with my PC." is a comma splice. Two independent clauses cannot be joined by a comma. They need a coordinating conjunction between them, or they need other punctuation--a semicolon or a period. You could even justify a colon, although that use is out of fashion (on account of ignorance, not inaccuracy), or stretch to an em dash, but you can't defend a comma. Would we not also hyphenate "letter-perfect"? |
Subject:
Re: EDITING
From: mvguy-ga on 29 Sep 2002 18:55 PDT |
Avoiding the comma splice would be preferable (OK, mandatory) in formal writing. In informal writing, however, comma splices are sometimes acceptable, in my opinion. Here are some grammarians who agree: When Is a Comma Splice NOT an Error? http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/spliceok.html Comma Splices http://athena.english.vt.edu/~IDLE/Gym2/workout17/w17.stretch2.html Unravelling the Comma Splice http://www.ncte.org/pdfs/members-only/ej/0873-march98/EJ0873Coming.PDF The hyphenation of "letter perfect" is a matter of style. The Chicago Manual of Style would not call for a hyphen in such a predicate usage, but it does call for a hyphen when the two words are used as an adjective before a noun. Thus "the poem is letter perfect" but "the letter-perfect poem." (CMOS, Fourteenth Edition, page 221.) I believe that the current Associated Press style would use a hyphen in both cases, but I don't have a copy in front of me. |
Subject:
Re: EDITING
From: voila-ga on 30 Sep 2002 11:07 PDT |
As a free-form bit of poetry, I doubt that punctuation is really needed after each line. That, too, may just be a style choice. I read this column on punctuation in poetry and thought I'd pass it along. I do agree with the author's line about knowing the rules of punctuation before discarding them. http://www.writersmonthly.com/wm_library/poets_workshop/how_to_punctuate.html I'd say letter perfect *would* require a hyphen as "it's" infers "the poem" and thus needs the adjectival form. |
Subject:
Re: EDITING
From: voila-ga on 30 Sep 2002 11:15 PDT |
p.s. Sorry, I forgot to add that if you're going with an anti-punctuation style, I'd omit the hyphen with letter-perfect. How's that for waffling? I'll try to locate a reference on this in a prose situation when I have a sec. |
Subject:
Re: EDITING
From: voila-ga on 01 Oct 2002 18:46 PDT |
compound adjectives after a noun: http://www.thebizjournal.com/articles/209.html |
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