help me out here, folks

[skoosiepants]

Let's make a list for the new year!

1. technically, it's 'another think'
2. passed/past are not interchangeable
3. 'no one' is two words - I blame E.E. Cummings for this, noone looks weird, so people were all, 'let's put a hyphen in!;' no, no, this is wrong.
4. the timeless classic: there/their/they're; know them, love them.
5. says/said are the best choices! I think it was chopchica who opened my eyes to this wonder - they disappear! You can use them all you want, and they never trip anyone up. Use them, and you shall understand.
6. actual names are awesome. There is no such thing as using a name too much. (I mean, unless you go crazy, there's some sort of line there.)
7. leave your crazy formatting at home, I want to read capital letters - it's not clever to use 'i' instead of 'I' or 'lorenzo' instead of 'Lorenzo.'

um, more?

In other breaking news: it is freezing outside.

Also, great things are happening over at sodamnskippy.

Comments

[highschoolhussy.livejournal.com]

If you are dealing with both genders, you simply say, "Everyone took his or her coat off the rack." It is a rule that confuses many people, and in everyday language, most people do just say, "Everyone took their coat." The problem is that we don't have a singular, gender-free pronoun to use, so this rule is weird. You can also avoid the gender thing by taking out the possessive: "Someone took a coat off the rack/Everyone took a coat off the rack." That way you don't trip up on gender or singular vs. plural. The English language is so weird, but I can assure you as a certified English teacher that this weird-ass rule is correct.