Comments on: you might be a terrible writer if…

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:30:53 +0000

Justin, that photo is absolutely exempted. That sort of thing needs to be encouraged.
Ben, you’re right that of the three criteria outlined here, the first is the most problematic. I bet some good friends have used that formulation in the past — I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I had, too. But its lazy allure must be resisted.
Also, you are of course right about the “A and B and C” formulation being the correct one. But the offense that prompted me to write this post didn’t hew to that standard, making it that much worse.

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:25:13 +0000

Does my latest photo blog count?

By: ben wolfson

ben wolfson — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:33:30 +0000

There ought to be an exemption on the first item if you’re actually writing about lions, tigers, and bears. (Although even there the preferred form is “lions and tigers and bears”, not “lions, tigers and bears”.)