(no subject)

[arcanetrivia]

On http://lifehacker.com/5617897/dont-trust-college-rankings-when-choosing-a-school :

I accidentally bought the book, "How to Choose the Right School for Dummies" instead of "How to Choose the Right School, for Dummies".

I keeled over with laughter, shrieking "Eats, Shoots & Leaves!"*, when I read this comment. Upon recovery, I wondered aloud to my husband why I thought it was so funny, and concluded that it just happened to be the kind of thing that was right up my personal humor alley, possibly partly because this kind of correction of single-comma errors comes up fairly often in my line of work. (Also: I am a nerd.)

"O, ye mighty comma!" I declared, then blinked and paused.

"Wait, no. 'Ye' is plural."

Blinked again, then looked up meaningfully.

"I rest my case."

(O, thou mighty comma!)

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* I like the title of the adapted picture book for grades 1-3 better: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference!

Comments

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

I keeled over with laughter, shrieking "Eats, Shoots & Leaves!"

GREAT MINDS, YO

(Personally, I'd love to see a bookstore with both of those titles on offer.)

[arethinn]

GREAT MINDS, YO

When you read this, or when you read the Lifehacker post yourself, independently?

(Personally, I'd love to see a bookstore with both of those titles on offer.)

The two "Dummies" titles, you mean? Yeah, lol. :)

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

Actually, I just meant that you and I reacted more or less identically :)

[arethinn]

Right, but I mean, you had that reaction when you read the lifehacker post at some other point in time, or you only had it just now when you read this post, and thought that before you'd read the next sentence?

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

The second one :)

[arethinn]

Ahhh, n/m, now I got it. That you found it hilarious?

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

Indeed :)

[mimimanderly.livejournal.com]

My husband bought "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" for the title and the eponymous joke. But I actually read the book and keep it on my shelf as a reference. Some things are easier to refer to in a book rather than Googling. I, too, am geeky enough to laugh when I come across bad punctuation that takes things in an entirely different direction than was intended.

Just a few days ago, we were dining in a restaurant that had paper menus. Badly punctuated paper menus. I immediately reached into my purse for my Sharpie and began making corrections and notations in the margins while snickering insanely. I knew just how Severus felt at that moment, when he was correcting especially atrocious papers. I looked over at a menu someone else had in their hands and saw corrections on that menu also! A kindred spirit had been there and left their mark! Geek solidarity!