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Grammar Pet Peeves

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So I have this textbook for one of my classes (drier than dry), and it has adopted a "style" of punctuation that absolutely drives me nuts. Now, in the great grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter, especially since it is consistent throughout. But it just irks me, and since I have no where else to really complain, I'm going to spout off here. Then hopefully I'll be able to get over it and ignore it for the rest of the semester.

This book has decided to put its initial quotation marks as single rather than double marks. So a direct quote would be, 'This is a direct quote.' Or 'This is a "quote within a quote."' Annoying. Especially since this is actually a collection of scholarly English essays. Come on, people. Hasn't anyone heard of MLA?

Another grammatical pet peeve - bad signs. If you are going to expose something to the public (like on a marquee, flier, etc.), please for heaven's sake, make sure it's correct first! Save the rest of us the pain and suffering. I could name countless times when this annoyance has popped up, but instead click here for a perfect (and amusing) case-in-point.

Comments

  1. Eric SwedinJanuary 30, 2011 at 9:01 PM

    Were you reading a British book?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heidi ThornockFebruary 1, 2011 at 6:56 PM

    I had to go check. I didn't know MLA wasn't international. "The Cambridge Companion to..."
    So, both. Printed in UK and New York.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eric SwedinFebruary 2, 2011 at 1:00 AM

    British books use the single quote instead of the double quotes.

    ReplyDelete

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