Frogg's Grammar Lesson, #1
As a proofreader and writer, I try my best to keep abreast of the evolution of language and syntax in the English language. This is, of course, a lie. But in spite of myself I can't help noticing that one of our punctuation marks has been getting kicked to the curb more and more often, with disastrous consequences.
As you've probably guessed (yeah right), I'm talking about the hyphen.
I know it's not the prettiest member of the punctuation family. No elegant curves, like commas and apostrophes. No circular reasoning, like the periods. No combination of the two, like question marks. The hyphen is plain and simple: a straight line between two words, joining them together.
And when it is left out, the writer runs the risk of paying a high price... in clarity.
To prove my point, I offer Exhibit A: A headline link on CNN.com. Here it is:
This sentence, as is, can be read in one of at least three ways:
1) A trucker's attempt to smuggle people was deadly; or
2) The people the trucker was smuggling were deadly; or
3) Deadly people were attempting to smuggle with the help of a trucker.
As you can see, all these meanings are very different indeed. So what to do?
First, we have to click on the link and read the article to see which meaning is correct. Once we do, we discover that—disappointingly—it's #1. (I was rooting for #2.) Now that we know the true meaning, however, we can fix the sentence! Yay! This is so exciting!!
(Well, comparatively. I mean, it's more exciting than, say, sitting at my desk twiddling my thumbs because work is slow. Er, not that I was doing that or anything. Not that work is ever slow! I am speaking very hypothetically.)
Anyway. The solution to our original problem, it turns out, is simple. Look closely:
"Trucker jailed for deadly people-smuggling attempt"
There! Do you see it? Do you see the hyphen?? Makes a difference, doesn't it! Miraculously the sentence becomes so much more clear!!
And a lot less amusing, I admit, but you can't have everything in life. More's the pity.
So. The moral of today's lesson is that you should not be a trucker.
No wait, that's not it. Wrong moral! Sorry, let me just look through my notes... Oh. The real moral is that hyphens are super-cool.
That's a tip, kids. Write it down.
As you've probably guessed (yeah right), I'm talking about the hyphen.
I know it's not the prettiest member of the punctuation family. No elegant curves, like commas and apostrophes. No circular reasoning, like the periods. No combination of the two, like question marks. The hyphen is plain and simple: a straight line between two words, joining them together.
And when it is left out, the writer runs the risk of paying a high price... in clarity.
To prove my point, I offer Exhibit A: A headline link on CNN.com. Here it is:
This sentence, as is, can be read in one of at least three ways:
1) A trucker's attempt to smuggle people was deadly; or
2) The people the trucker was smuggling were deadly; or
3) Deadly people were attempting to smuggle with the help of a trucker.
As you can see, all these meanings are very different indeed. So what to do?
First, we have to click on the link and read the article to see which meaning is correct. Once we do, we discover that—disappointingly—it's #1. (I was rooting for #2.) Now that we know the true meaning, however, we can fix the sentence! Yay! This is so exciting!!
(Well, comparatively. I mean, it's more exciting than, say, sitting at my desk twiddling my thumbs because work is slow. Er, not that I was doing that or anything. Not that work is ever slow! I am speaking very hypothetically.)
Anyway. The solution to our original problem, it turns out, is simple. Look closely:
"Trucker jailed for deadly people-smuggling attempt"
There! Do you see it? Do you see the hyphen?? Makes a difference, doesn't it! Miraculously the sentence becomes so much more clear!!
And a lot less amusing, I admit, but you can't have everything in life. More's the pity.
So. The moral of today's lesson is that you should not be a trucker.
No wait, that's not it. Wrong moral! Sorry, let me just look through my notes... Oh. The real moral is that hyphens are super-cool.
That's a tip, kids. Write it down.
posted by grackyfrogg @ 4:00 PM
4 Comments:
At 4:30 PM ,
Anonymous said...
The "key word" that dangles the meaning of the sentence is "people". Had this word been left out, there would not be much of a misunderstanding. One would read forth to absorb the context of the headline.
What you deem as a "headline link on CNN.com" is very likely a web administrator affixing the story to the website with a limited character field to do so, and in doing so, having done a poor job of it.
Perhaps the original headline submitted to the web-admin was different, but the web-admin was forced to attempt to shorten it for technical reasons. The web-admin is very likely not or has ever been a serious student of the English language and has scant editorial skills.
Is is highly unlikely that the writer of the piece is allowed administration on the CNN site itself.
I is likely that the web-admin is a "computer geek" instead.
At 7:17 PM ,
grackyfrogg said...
you are probably right, anon. but i for one am quite glad that the headline turned out the way it did, because it gave me something to write about, while also affording the added bonus of a chance to sound superior and smart. when the latter opportunity presents itself, i rarely hesitate to take it! more's the pity...
:)
At 10:06 AM ,
beccaline said...
Interesting theory anon has there... ;) Nice post grack. I like when you teach us bout grammer and things like that.
;)
Hey, i wrote you an email... did you get it? I have my doubts as to whether the email listed on your site is indeed the one that you check! :)
(too many happy faces, huh?)
At 11:27 AM ,
rraven said...
I'll take all the tips I can get.
Is the verdict in on parenthesis (like these)? You don't see them much anymore (I guess they're hiding). Parenthesis is plural or singular? Is this -- ( -- a parenthesi?
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