"All those two-letter state abbreviations ... are fine on envelopes or packages ... but in all other cases, let’s ... stick to the traditional formats."
Hear, hear! This brings out the old prescriptivist in me. Heck, those two-letter things aren't even abbreviations. They're codes. Their near-universal use drives me crazy. I keep debating whether to tell an old friend of mine, who insists on using them in her messages, to stop. She abbreviated Palo Alto to PA once and I thought she meant Pennsylvania, given her constant use of postal codes.
Ah, the good old days, when I was a proud member of the peeverein.
The only other place where the postal two letter abbreviations are appropriate is Bluesky or your character-limited social media time-waster of choice. For reasons obvious to the wordy.
There seems to be some muddiness re one's ability to self-edit here after posting. I'm capable of it for my own comments by clicking on those three dots to the right and doing what needs to be done. And other people claim to be able to do that as well (for their own comments, to be sure, not mine), while others say they can't. 🤷🏻♂️
In my misspent youth (before I encountered DE at the age of 68), I frequently used the postal codes precisely because I liked the fact that they were all the same length. Much of my writing was technical and had lists, and the codes' two-character uniformity was attractive (IMHO). But, de gustibus. And I'm certain Mr. Dreyer has better taste than I do. (Although I also love Tater-tots!
There you are, ahead of the wave of potential errors. My personal nightmares include people who misuse apostrophes on mailboxes or signs for their homes. I'm very happy about some attention being focused on the Midwest, suddenly.
Someday… if you haven’t already covered it… will you please discuss the pronunciation of forte. As in spelling is not my forte. I know it’s not a grammar, but I don’t care.
Again, thank you. I plan to quote you as back-up when I encounter incorrect examples of possession for both Harris and Walz, which will happen far too often, I'm sure.
They're not plurals; they're simply...Brit preferences. If you pop over to Merriam-Webster's article on toward vs. towards, you'll learn a lot about the history of the variation and the mystery of the terminal s in the first place.
What I don’t (yet) know is if one says “a hot dish” or just “hot dish”: “Marjorie brought [a?] hot dish to the potluck.” Seems like it would be analogous to “casserole”: “I brought a casserole to the potluck,” If it doesn’t take an indefinite article, then spelling it as “hotdish,” one word, makes it clearer that it’s a specific thing and not just any dish that happens to be hot. To me, at any rate, but I’m not part of the hot dish-speaking community. To insiders perhaps it’s clear what “Marjorie brought a hot dish” means, particularly to those who’ve had her cooking before.
Edited to add: it’s weird that there’s no edit function for comments within the app.
This election will be no Walz in the park.
I'm happy to do the Harris Walz....
Apostrophe Apocalypse 2024
"Well I told 'em right then," Fido said,
"It should be easy to see
"The crux of the biscuit
is the apostrophe."
…aaaand, I blew the punctuation. Well, it’s not like I can play the guitar part either.
"All those two-letter state abbreviations ... are fine on envelopes or packages ... but in all other cases, let’s ... stick to the traditional formats."
Hear, hear! This brings out the old prescriptivist in me. Heck, those two-letter things aren't even abbreviations. They're codes. Their near-universal use drives me crazy. I keep debating whether to tell an old friend of mine, who insists on using them in her messages, to stop. She abbreviated Palo Alto to PA once and I thought she meant Pennsylvania, given her constant use of postal codes.
Ah, the good old days, when I was a proud member of the peeverein.
Between doing something prettily and doing something uglily, I will always opt for prettily.
The only other place where the postal two letter abbreviations are appropriate is Bluesky or your character-limited social media time-waster of choice. For reasons obvious to the wordy.
OMG. Darn autocorrect. I really did write "Hear, hear," at least initially. (Note comma inside quotation mark.) Ah well.
There seems to be some muddiness re one's ability to self-edit here after posting. I'm capable of it for my own comments by clicking on those three dots to the right and doing what needs to be done. And other people claim to be able to do that as well (for their own comments, to be sure, not mine), while others say they can't. 🤷🏻♂️
Aha! Done. Thank you.
Fabulous! (And I, too, see it corrected, in case you had any doubt!)
You read my mind.
In my misspent youth (before I encountered DE at the age of 68), I frequently used the postal codes precisely because I liked the fact that they were all the same length. Much of my writing was technical and had lists, and the codes' two-character uniformity was attractive (IMHO). But, de gustibus. And I'm certain Mr. Dreyer has better taste than I do. (Although I also love Tater-tots!
Love this! Thanks for keeping us on the straight and narrow....grammatically speaking of course!
Of course!
There you are, ahead of the wave of potential errors. My personal nightmares include people who misuse apostrophes on mailboxes or signs for their homes. I'm very happy about some attention being focused on the Midwest, suddenly.
On a different topic.
Someday… if you haven’t already covered it… will you please discuss the pronunciation of forte. As in spelling is not my forte. I know it’s not a grammar, but I don’t care.
Pronunciation is not really my forte, but if you google "forte pronunciation merriam," you will find an excellent little essay on the topic.
It took me a second to realize what this picture was, but now I’m hungry.
I am RAVENOUS.
TAKE ME TO THE TATER TOTS NOW. Lol
It’s very hard to stop eating tater tot hot dish.
And those of us who reside in St Paul are called St. Paulites. As opposed to those Minneapolitans across the river. But we are all Minnesotans!
I thought the Minneapolitans were those puppets that worked with Burr Tillstrom.
I believe the Kuklapolitans were from—Chicago!
Yes. They were. (Chicago is also midwestern, but less Scandinavian than Minnesota.)
Minneapolitans like that chocolate-strawberry-vanilla ice cream, all in one tiny carton, right?
But now I’m confused. Is there a period after St or not ?
In the US of A: Yes, there's a period in St. Louis. Like there's a period in Mr., Dr., etc.
You are the best .
Again, thank you. I plan to quote you as back-up when I encounter incorrect examples of possession for both Harris and Walz, which will happen far too often, I'm sure.
Like this so much; useful!!
Google showing us rebracketing in real time!
So is it "onward and upward" or "onwards and upwards" -- or both/either?
In any case, #LFG (as they say).
Onward, upward, toward, forward, backward, because we're Americans.
Also, not that you asked: while and amid, not those other things.
Do Brits favour the plural?
They're not plurals; they're simply...Brit preferences. If you pop over to Merriam-Webster's article on toward vs. towards, you'll learn a lot about the history of the variation and the mystery of the terminal s in the first place.
What I don’t (yet) know is if one says “a hot dish” or just “hot dish”: “Marjorie brought [a?] hot dish to the potluck.” Seems like it would be analogous to “casserole”: “I brought a casserole to the potluck,” If it doesn’t take an indefinite article, then spelling it as “hotdish,” one word, makes it clearer that it’s a specific thing and not just any dish that happens to be hot. To me, at any rate, but I’m not part of the hot dish-speaking community. To insiders perhaps it’s clear what “Marjorie brought a hot dish” means, particularly to those who’ve had her cooking before.
Edited to add: it’s weird that there’s no edit function for comments within the app.
FWIW, in the tweet in which Gov. Walz shared his recipe, he said “a hotdish.”
Oh boy oh boy oh dear.
Can you please do a unified post for Harris AND Walz, the better to direct people for one-stop corrections?!
P.S. Oh! I see Harris is in there! Wonderful!
Indeed. So we're all covered, don't you think? One is skittish about drawing water from the same well repeatedly.
If I run across any permutations not covered here, I’ll let you know! I know you are a fellow tweaker of published stuff!
Pre. Cise. Ly.
Saint Louis University (from which I have a degree) is located in St. Louis. Saint Paul College is located in Saint Paul. (Know your saints.)