tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post3179912806786585854..comments2023-10-28T06:54:44.019-04:00Comments on ad broad: life is short people. punctuation matters.Ad Broad, oldest working writer in advertisinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04505122645106322698noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-20924657027214780092008-10-22T09:49:00.000-04:002008-10-22T09:49:00.000-04:00Please keep us posted. :)Please keep us posted. :)Jokerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01224267023770962108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-91129117462831563172008-10-21T18:13:00.000-04:002008-10-21T18:13:00.000-04:00I love that Art Director ploy, Joker. Will use it ...I love that Art Director ploy, Joker. Will use it tomorrow. Four Random Words Here. Sure to work. ha ;)Ad Broad, oldest working writer in advertisinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04505122645106322698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-40278889057267274142008-10-21T10:54:00.000-04:002008-10-21T10:54:00.000-04:00I try to keep tabs on my grammar even in comments ...I try to keep tabs on my grammar even in comments and when I see a typo I cringe at myself even if I did post on the go. True, writing styles often push for grammatical complacence because it's their "style" but I can't help but rather enjoy good grammar. <BR/><BR/>Regarding how to not come off as preachy, I think that good grammar and its importance is lost to most average people until they have a situation that could have been avoided by correct grammar ie. lawsuits, contracts, warranties and such. <BR/><BR/>Speaking as a copywriter, try this experiment: write a lame 4 word headline, then write a superb 12 word headline. See which the artist picks and after they choose the 4 word one, ask them if there's anything else going for the headline apart from being short and easy to fit into any layout.Jokerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01224267023770962108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-4632502755471778372008-10-03T21:07:00.000-04:002008-10-03T21:07:00.000-04:00@anonymous I agree with you that sometimes punctua...@anonymous I agree with you that sometimes punctuation can be distracting and that slavish devotion to it doesn't make sense if your typeface/design does the work for you. EE Cummings made himself clear with just line breaks. The point is to communicate yourself to a reader without forcing the reader to do all the work, right?<BR/><BR/>@Auntie Christ--I know that proofreader! I've had run-ins with her, too! (Of course, she retired a long time ago.) Inch mark vs. quotations, widows, orphans--the sad thing is, it's not only art directors who don't know what they are. It's writers, too.Ad Broad, oldest working writer in advertisinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04505122645106322698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-50750483691965211172008-10-01T15:52:00.000-04:002008-10-01T15:52:00.000-04:00I worked with a proofreader who slavishly adhered ...I worked with a proofreader who slavishly adhered to her the Chicago Manual of Style, and she was a tough one to get any colloquialism past. Forget doing headlines in all caps or all lower case, she'd have none of it.<BR/><BR/>My bugaboo is ADs who don't understand the difference between an inch mark and a quotation mark, open and close quotes, and whose eyes glaze over when you say 'ligature,' 'widow,' 'orphan' or 'river.'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-42476044568571096012008-10-01T10:53:00.000-04:002008-10-01T10:53:00.000-04:00I like the custom of not putting periods after thi...I like the custom of not putting periods after things like Mr or Ms and use that custom in my business letters. <BR/><BR/>Also, "Palm Beach FL" rather than Palm Beach, FL. I think the commas can be distracting in examples like this one because we know the 2-letter state abbreviations so well.<BR/><BR/>And, I like short people, too...remember the song by Randy Newman?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-10003838503178966282008-09-29T22:34:00.000-04:002008-09-29T22:34:00.000-04:00@rob buccino-I don't know. I remember an English t...@rob buccino-I don't know. I remember an English teacher in grade school getting all heated about grammatical error in Winston's ad: taste good like a cigarette should. She insisted "like" should be "as" and it was a discussion that went on in academia and the press for years. (This was when academia and the press actually cared about grammar.) With IMs, etc. grammar is becoming thought of as more and more expendable. I don't know how to woo people back to it. This post was borne of frustration like yours!<BR/><BR/>@jeremy greenfield That is BRILLIANT! Thanks for the link. "It can make your money disappear." Apt post for today, heh.<BR/><BR/>@Simon Billing Funny, I'd never noted the coincidence of their names. (Your allowed to be anon, but thanks for outing yourself.)<BR/><BR/>@anonymous Well, I must say blog reading has made me more tolerant of deviations from rules of grammar--I sympathize with bloggers who post on the run. But, interesting point you make and it's true: bad grammar makes a LOT more work for the reader.Ad Broad, oldest working writer in advertisinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04505122645106322698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-8739815286611340502008-09-29T13:27:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:27:00.000-04:00Amen, sister! I had a heated email debate with an ...Amen, sister! I had a heated email debate with an AE over the use of a dash versus a comma. She insisted they were interchangeable, and we ended up with sentences like "Last year--we updated our software.." Awful, painful stuff!<BR/><BR/>I also deplore people who use the whole "ah, people will understand what it means!" approach. There's a couple of blogs I love that just about turn me off with their consistent bad grammar/spelling/punctuation (yours is impeccable!). Linda Truss said it best: sloppy writing puts the onus on the reader to figure it out. It's just plain lazy and selfish.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-13768003405757032282008-09-29T13:13:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:13:00.000-04:00Didn't mean to post anonymously (above).Didn't mean to post anonymously (above).simon billinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10465564108409973410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-14853158669492325532008-09-29T13:11:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:11:00.000-04:00Either a punctuation issue, or confusion between P...Either a punctuation issue, or confusion between Paul and Randy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-80213265052155585012008-09-29T13:03:00.000-04:002008-09-29T13:03:00.000-04:00From Adrants today, a relevant link: http://www.ad...From Adrants today, a relevant link: http://www.adrants.com/2008/09/no-more-adrants-no-more-adrants.phpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-20674420088407163422008-09-28T13:33:00.000-04:002008-09-28T13:33:00.000-04:00Dear AB:I would (although some older grammarians s...Dear AB:<BR/><BR/>I would (although some older grammarians say 'should' is preferred in the first person singular) love to learn your thoughts about how those of us who care about punctuation, spelling, and grammar can best preach this gospel to our advertising brethren, ideally without the message being heard as a personal put-down, one-upmanship on the part of the message's sender, or its being perceived as 'preachiness'. I struggle a lot with this (not alot, as many contemporary copywriters seem to spell it), as I did recently in a debate whether to put 'alright' in a headline on a pitch comp. I argued the con, but the pros won. How do we tactfully help one another, or even cultivate an appetite for this kind of help? Any thoughts, from you or your readers, are greatly appreciated.Rob Buccinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18096337313683478927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-64047222865733032892008-09-28T11:52:00.000-04:002008-09-28T11:52:00.000-04:00Ha! Thanks for that indelible image, Auntie. Ouch....Ha! Thanks for that indelible image, Auntie. Ouch. Or, "Ouch!"Ad Broad, oldest working writer in advertisinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04505122645106322698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-44993220224466292712008-09-28T10:47:00.001-04:002008-09-28T10:47:00.001-04:00Ohh, I forgot the other '"'. My bad.Ohh, I forgot the other '"'. My bad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828158097601815711.post-73782091809559386412008-09-28T10:47:00.000-04:002008-09-28T10:47:00.000-04:00I read an obituary recently that went something li...I read an obituary recently that went something like this:<BR/><BR/>"Ida Mae Brown dead, born in 1925 at 83.<BR/><BR/>Must have been a painful delivery.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com