Like fingernails on a chalkboard, these two lines leaped out at me yesterday:<\/p>\n
From the newest Sundance catalog, page 23, “SUNDANCE DENIM MAKES IT’S DEBUT”<\/p>\n
From Crispin: At the Edge of the World <\/em>by Avi, page 126, “With the ship afloat, Bear waded into the water and hoisted Troth and I onto the deck.”<\/p>\n Shudder.\u00c2\u00a0 Though the Sundance publication is a catalog, I somehow expect its copy to be of higher quality than most catalogs – it must be that photo of Robert Redford on the inside front cover.\u00c2\u00a0 But there, in large capital letters, sits my pet peeve.\u00c2\u00a0 “It’s” means “it is.”\u00c2\u00a0 Why, oh why, do so few people understand that???\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve done my part over the years to educate my students of the truth of “it’s,” but one woman alone cannot alter the mistakes of many.<\/p>\n And then Avi, an author of great talent, makes the mistake of using “I” where he should have used “me.”\u00c2\u00a0 Double shudder.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s not the only error of its kind in the book: somewhere in the last quarter of the novel Avi makes the same error again, though of course I can’t find that error now when I need to quote it.\u00c2\u00a0 [Please note the correct usage of “it’s” and “its” in the previous sentence.]\u00c2\u00a0 Wanting to excuse Avi’s mistake, I thought perhaps this mis-use of “I” was of historical import, that an English orphan in 1377 would have made this error – but I doubt that is true, given that the grammar in the rest of the book is correct by today’s standards.<\/p>\n I know I’m far from perfect, and that I habitually split my infinitives, but it just makes me crazy<\/em> when I see these two mistakes in print.\u00c2\u00a0 Those fingernails are taking some serious slate off that chalkboard.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n What irks you?\u00c2\u00a0 What are your pet literary peeves?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like fingernails on a chalkboard, these two lines leaped out at me yesterday: From the newest Sundance catalog, page 23, “SUNDANCE DENIM MAKES IT’S DEBUT” From Crispin: At the Edge of the World by Avi, page 126, “With the ship afloat, Bear waded into the water and hoisted Troth and I onto the deck.” Shudder.\u00c2\u00a0 … Continue reading Oh, the grammar…<\/span>