Grammar nitpick... or something

[Ben Lehman]

Now it's my turn to be pedantic.  "One of the only times" means nothing.  Perhaps you meant to type "one of the few times" or "the only time".

BL>  You are quite right -- I am a dork.  However, I will chalk it down to acceptable use of a casual colloquialism in a friendly environment.  ;-)

yrs--
--Ben

[Gordon C. Landis]

"em" dash = a dash the same width as a (capital, I think) letter M of the font in use.  Same with "en" dash = dash the width of an N.

At least, that's true if the guy who taught me typographic stuff wasn't lying through his teeth . . .

Gordon

[Matt Wilson]

Jeff:

Grammar shmammar.

If there's no ambiguity in your text, then don't worry about it.

[JSDiamond]

"Ambiguity"?  No prob, I didn't use that word even once!    ; )

[JohnK]

Hullo, Xiombarg,

   Yes, I know this was answered many moons ago by legions of folks, but I thought I would throw in my $0.02.

So, I got my copy of Orbit. I like most of it so far.

   Glad to hear it.  Would be a shame if you didn't like the game. :)

But the pendant in me wonders about constructions like this:

   I assume that you meant "pedant" in the section above, not "pendant", unless you're hanging the English on a chain or some such here. :)

"You can eat cheese, meat, -or you can just hit someone over the head with a shovel."

I have to admit I've never seen this "comma followed by a dash" construction before, but it's everywhere in Orbit.

   The use of the ", -" or ", --" is just plain, bad, poorly used grammar - but it was found a lot in the classic sf and fantasy novels from DAW in the 1970s and 1980s.  It should have been written as:

"You can eat cheese or meat - [or em-dash] or you can just hit someone over the head with a shovel."

   While the writing of the original doesn't really bother me in terms of reading the book, if that sort of bad grammar and/or punctuation occurs a lot, I tend to get distracted when reading the book.  Having worked with the folks on WITCHCRAFT, DYING EARTH, and a couple of other rpgs in an editorial and additional material writer capacity, I am something of a stickler for this - but I also know that glitches do tend to get through the editing and typesetting phases all the way to the finished product.

   Oh, and yes, Jeff, I'm volunteering to do some editing for you on the game. :)

     JohnK

[JohnK]

Hullo, Alex,

You have a pendant inside you?  Aren't you supposed to hang those around your neck?

    Nah, he was just tying up the English on the necklace or some such.  Never did find out what the pendant was... :)

    Btw, fancy meeting you here, Alex. :)  Long time no hear, long time no chat. :)

     JohnK