Comments on: B is for “because” because “because” is used badly

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:29:48 +0000

I believe you should check out my blog when you have a sec because you’ve been tagged! (Sorry.)

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 13:01:53 +0000

eliZZZa
Austrian law sounds rough. There is a big difference between the two though — one is a stronger statement. However, both are an insult and an opinion. You can’t be sued for this in the States.

I probably shouldn’t say “can’t” because some people sue others for a lot worse. Also, public officials and public figures don’t have the same “rights” when it comes to what’s printed or said about them in America.

The example wasn’t about being able to say what you want about others though. It was about how to make your language stronger. Removing “I believe” or “I think” doesn’t change your statement so much in terms of meaning but in terms of effectiveness.

By: eliZZZa

eliZZZa — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:27:07 +0000

I believe Britney Spears is the dumbest person ever. (Less effective)
Britney Spears is the dumbest person ever. (Effective)
While I really should not burn my fingers with philosophing about English language, I see a big difference between those two examples.
While the first sentence is your personal opinion, which you are free to postulate, the latter is a personal insult, which you could be sued for (at least so according to Austrian law).
True?

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:00:20 +0000

Mike
Thanks for posting. Emperor, Mike is correct. You must add the comma if it separates two independent clauses.

If the two clauses can stand alone as separate sentences, you need the comma. There are other uses for the comma in slightly different ways that I’m sure I’ll write about.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:28:59 +0000

Emperor:

A ‘comma’–not ‘comer’–is required when “and” or “but” separate clauses which could exist as independent sentences.

By: Emperor

Emperor — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:47:40 +0000

Hi Justin

Here’s the thing.

I was always taught that you can’t have a comer before “,and” or “,but”. I saw you did just that and was wondering id that is correct.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 09:33:16 +0000

you should do a post on comma slices in C, they are my major weakness as a writer. I probably just made one there. I have become so self-conscious about this that I always question myself when placing a comma, which in turn leads to me going against my instincts, thus forcing me into more mistakes. The good thing is that most people don’t know the rules so I seldomly get caught on my site. Wait, I never get caught on my site. Still, I want to be grammatically correct.

By: Armen

Armen — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:32:54 +0000

Justin, that first article you linked to is excellent, (and quite funny too).

So the ‘i’ before ‘e’ rule, is actually a counterfeit. It’s weird how society can develop ancient rules to language, which are deficient of any weighty proof!

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:25:31 +0000

Iva
I hate to see “lets” in place of “let’s.” That’s bad grammar.

Also, look at the excerpt from Bartelby.com I posted. They didn’t capitalize “Web.” This is another little-known bit of information.

I don’t want to come off as a “grammar Nazi” in these tutorials, but I want to try to teach bloggers to write more effectively. Strong, concise language attracts readers, even the ones that don’t follow any grammatical rules themselves.

Blogging can be detrimental to our language skills because most of us try to write in a casual style that attracts readers. Sometimes, we need to sharpen our skills a little.

By: Iva

Iva — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:16:11 +0000

Justin, thank you so much! I like to see that people care about this, since some rather “famous” bloggers make all these mistakes and e.g. repeatedly spell let’s as “lets”.

As a non-native speaker, I appreciate this even more:)