Oxford Comma Rule: Do You Love It or Hate It?

Great Infographic: The Most Annoying Writing Mistakes

The Most-Annoying Writing Mistakes infographic

National Talk Like a Pirate Day - September 19, 2010

How time flies!  It doesn't seem like a full year has passed since last year's Talk Like a Pirate Day, does it? (For details, check out the holiday's International Official Web Site.)

For help in learning nuances - as well as some grammar rules and nifty vocabulary - in Talking Pirate (this is pretty funny), check this short video out on YouTube (thanks to Mental Floss for sharing it):



YARRRR!!!!!

Grammar-1:11 Common Mistakes

According to JunketStudies, here are the 11 rules of grammar that are most often broken (or is it "broken most often"?):

1. To join two independent clauses, use a comma followed by a conjunction, a semicolon alone, or a semicolon followed by a sentence modifier.

2. Use commas to bracket nonrestrictive phrases, which are not essential to the sentence's meaning.

3. Do not use commas to bracket phrases that are essential to a sentence's meaning.

4. When beginning a sentence with an introductory phrase or an introductory (dependent) clause, include a comma.

5. To indicate possession, end a singular noun with an apostrophe followed by an "s". Otherwise, the noun's form seems plural.

6. Use proper punctuation to integrate a quotation into a sentence. If the introductory material is an independent clause, add the quotation after a colon. If the introductory material ends in "thinks," "saying," or some other verb indicating expression, use a comma.

7. Make the subject and verb agree with each other, not with a word that comes between them.

8. Be sure that a pronoun, a participial phrase, or an appositive refers clearly to the proper subject.

9. Use parallel construction to make a strong point and create a smooth flow.

10. Use the active voice unless you specifically need to use the passive.

11. Omit unnecessary words.

What does all this MEAN? Go here, and click for details: http://www.junketstudies.com/rulesofw/