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Post by deliachilds on Jun 6, 2011 12:10:01 GMT -5
I write for a newspaper and I recently did a story about large food dishes in the area. I wrote a sentence as a "tip" on how to eat one of the bigger dishes. This is what I wrote: Sip some water every now and again and, after you take that first bite, don't look back. And then my editor corrected it to this: Sip some water every now and again and after you take that first bite; don’t look back. Who's right? I feel as though that semi colon is just in a weird spot! My own sentence may not even be correct, but I'm more concerned about hers because, you know, she's an editor, but I think she may be wrong. And if she's not, oh well, egg on my face.  |
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Post by embonpoint on Jun 6, 2011 12:18:17 GMT -5
Uh, did your editor sleep with someone to get her job? 'Cause she didn't get it on merit, if that's what she thinks is correct...
Semi-colons are supposed to join two related clauses (that can work independently); "after you take that first bite" cannot work independently. After you take that first bite what? The semi-colon is definitely not appropriate, nor correct, where she's put it.
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Post by cmthecla on Jun 6, 2011 12:32:47 GMT -5
The editor is definitely wrong about that correction. I think the sentence looks fine. My only suggestion would be to move the first comma before the "and" so that it reads "Sip some water every now and again, and after you take that first bite, don't look back." But the position of that comma could be debatable.
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jun 6, 2011 12:51:58 GMT -5
I agree that your editor is entirely clueless on correct usage of the semicolon; however, this original sentence does bother me:
"Sip some water every now and again and, after you take that first bite, don't look back."
The two statements ("Sip some water every now and again" and "Don't look back after taking the first bite") don't seem to me like they should be connected; it feels awkward. Thoughts on this?
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rayyychul
Armadillo
On ne voit bien qu'avec le c?ur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
Posts: 159
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Post by rayyychul on Jun 6, 2011 13:21:31 GMT -5
I agree that your editor is entirely clueless on correct usage of the semicolon; however, this original sentence does bother me: "Sip some water every now and again and, after you take that first bite, don't look back." The two statements ("Sip some water every now and again" and "Don't look back after taking the first bite") don't seem to me like they should be connected; it feels awkward. Thoughts on this? I agree. I don't see how the two relate at all. It may help having the whole article as context, but I don't understand what I'm not supposed to look back from. |
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Post by KatjevanLoon on Jun 7, 2011 0:50:07 GMT -5
This is why I quit my school newspaper.
Your editor is very wrong. Your first sentence looks fine to me; the position of the comma could be debatable, but I see it as a style question.
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Post by sunnydays on Jun 10, 2011 15:39:42 GMT -5
If I were reading a newspaper, I'd much rather see the first version (correct or not) than the messed-up semicolon. This seems like your editor could have a case of "Well, I really don't know the rules for this punctuation, but I'll throw it in because it looks 'fancy'."
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