By itself, a comma is a portrait of a guitar. This is entirely correct.
February 13, 2016 5:44 AM Subscribe
Strunk & White's Elements of Style, rewritten by a predictive text generator by Jamie Brew. Follow along at @elementstrunk.
1. The word is usually in a sentence which is frequently in a paragraph.
The subject of a single word is usually the word, unless the word is the subject of its sentence.
In this sentence, the subject is the same word as the freak clause:His brother, whom he found to be young, was very sorry that he had written a semicolon.This sentence cannot help himself by substituting a semicolon for a comma. Instead, the sentence will always do well to examine his brother the paragraph and to write twenty ideas that are related to the paragraphs.
In spring summer or winter sentences should be avoided.
I don't think I'm qualified to comment on this, however I did find the linked article 50 Years of Stupid Grammar an interesting read. I have never been convinced of my own grammatical ability; I am however thankful that I never had to study with Strunk & White looming over me.
posted by diziet at 6:13 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by diziet at 6:13 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
It seems like his predictive text generation technique is the standard Markov technique(i. e. prediction of the next word based on the last few words) , with the difference that he picks the most fitting word according to his own taste instead of a random pick.
posted by Deece BJ Pancake at 6:18 AM on February 13, 2016
posted by Deece BJ Pancake at 6:18 AM on February 13, 2016
Strunk & White & Stein
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:25 AM on February 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:25 AM on February 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
His brother, whom he found to be young, was very sorry that he had written a semicolon.
Ah, this is such a youthful mistake; we older folks know better.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:32 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Ah, this is such a youthful mistake; we older folks know better.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:32 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
seems like his predictive text generation technique is the standard Markov technique(i. e. prediction of the next word based on the last few words) , with the difference that he picks the most fitting word according to his own taste instead of a random pick.
from the Elements of Style for Markov Generators?
posted by ennui.bz at 6:39 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
from the Elements of Style for Markov Generators?
posted by ennui.bz at 6:39 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Elements is still one of the required books at almost every university, and yet it remains fairly worthless in my experience with it over the years.
posted by Postroad at 6:47 AM on February 13, 2016
posted by Postroad at 6:47 AM on February 13, 2016
Can this be the place where someone explains the appeal of Strunk & White? (Without reference to Charlotte's Web?)
The recent Open Syllabus project reminded me that people still use this text, and I just don't get it. (I did kind of enjoy Eats Shoots and Leaves. But my first love is the Chicago Manual of Style and we're generally monogamous.)
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:33 AM on February 13, 2016
The recent Open Syllabus project reminded me that people still use this text, and I just don't get it. (I did kind of enjoy Eats Shoots and Leaves. But my first love is the Chicago Manual of Style and we're generally monogamous.)
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:33 AM on February 13, 2016
Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph Willams if by far the most useful book for teaching how to make sentences effective.
posted by Postroad at 8:34 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can this be the place where someone explains the appeal of Strunk & White?
It's short, and mildly amusing in parts. Whether it's correct is secondary.
See also: 99% of the internet.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:48 AM on February 13, 2016
It's short, and mildly amusing in parts. Whether it's correct is secondary.
See also: 99% of the internet.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 8:48 AM on February 13, 2016
Can this be the place where someone explains the appeal of Strunk & White?
Sure.
A lot of the concrete rules in Strunk & White are nonsense, and people who cling to them are idiot pedants. But the rules aren't the important part -- neither Strunk nor White follows them consistently.
Its real message is to be clear, direct, and brief in your prose. This may not be good advice for aspiring writers (though it's a message some need to hear), but it is great advice if you have any other job where you need to communicate through text.
posted by moss at 8:58 AM on February 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
Sure.
A lot of the concrete rules in Strunk & White are nonsense, and people who cling to them are idiot pedants. But the rules aren't the important part -- neither Strunk nor White follows them consistently.
Its real message is to be clear, direct, and brief in your prose. This may not be good advice for aspiring writers (though it's a message some need to hear), but it is great advice if you have any other job where you need to communicate through text.
posted by moss at 8:58 AM on February 13, 2016 [3 favorites]
The Possessive Jesus of Composition and PublicationDibs on this username.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:00 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
...also, this is amazing.
A comma is required if there is no comma.
posted by moss at 9:06 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
A comma is required if there is no comma.
posted by moss at 9:06 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Can this be the place where someone explains the appeal of Strunk & White?
Even if it's inconsistent, doesn't actually describe the grammatical rules of English, and won't help a good writer become a great one, I wouldn't be surprised if it can help really terrible writers become marginally less terrible.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:06 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Even if it's inconsistent, doesn't actually describe the grammatical rules of English, and won't help a good writer become a great one, I wouldn't be surprised if it can help really terrible writers become marginally less terrible.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:06 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
A comma is required if there is no comma.
That doesn't mean you have to do it. Once you have an idea and write down what you want to say, you can hire someone else to add in all the commas and shit where they belong.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:09 AM on February 13, 2016
That doesn't mean you have to do it. Once you have an idea and write down what you want to say, you can hire someone else to add in all the commas and shit where they belong.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:09 AM on February 13, 2016
Deece BJ Pancake: "It seems like his predictive text generation technique is the standard Markov technique(i. e. prediction of the next word based on the last few words) , with the difference that he picks the most fitting word according to his own taste instead of a random pick."
What makes you say that? The first links I see point to the project, but I don't see a discussion or code explanation...?
posted by xtian at 9:47 AM on February 13, 2016
What makes you say that? The first links I see point to the project, but I don't see a discussion or code explanation...?
posted by xtian at 9:47 AM on February 13, 2016
Elements is still one of the required books at almost every university
I know my anecdotal experience is only a drop in the proverbial bucket, but I've been at 8 institutes of higher learning as either a student or teacher, in English or related Humanities programs with lots of writing, and I've never even heard anyone mention Strunk & White. I've certainly never seen it on a syllabus, and I've seen a fair number of composition, advanced writing, and rhetoric syllabi.
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:01 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
I know my anecdotal experience is only a drop in the proverbial bucket, but I've been at 8 institutes of higher learning as either a student or teacher, in English or related Humanities programs with lots of writing, and I've never even heard anyone mention Strunk & White. I've certainly never seen it on a syllabus, and I've seen a fair number of composition, advanced writing, and rhetoric syllabi.
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:01 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
The Possessive Jesus of Composition and Publication
Dibs on this username.
More like "Dibs on this theology dissertation title."
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:02 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Dibs on this username.
More like "Dibs on this theology dissertation title."
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:02 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm but the only one of the best day of the best oo oo o othe on the other day and I have to be in the first time in the first world problems with it and I don't have love for me you know what to wear a shirt dress up like I don't have to do with that one of the best thing of my life I have live on the phone with to be the same time as a result of the year best thing ever about the new same thing as the a lot of fun and addicting.
posted by Guy Dudeman at 10:25 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Guy Dudeman at 10:25 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Can this be the place where someone explains the appeal of Strunk & White?
"Strunk" is just one of those names that sticks in the mind. He's the Hingle McCringleberry of English professors.
posted by flabdablet at 10:30 AM on February 13, 2016
"Strunk" is just one of those names that sticks in the mind. He's the Hingle McCringleberry of English professors.
posted by flabdablet at 10:30 AM on February 13, 2016
xtian What makes you say that? The first links I see point to the project, but I don't see a discussion or code explanation...?
he said so on twitter
and more qualitatively, it feels sometimes too humorous and too well composed and too grammatically sound to come from a typical text generator. Handpicked or not, I'm still highly amused, to be clear.
posted by Deece BJ Pancake at 10:49 AM on February 13, 2016
he said so on twitter
and more qualitatively, it feels sometimes too humorous and too well composed and too grammatically sound to come from a typical text generator. Handpicked or not, I'm still highly amused, to be clear.
posted by Deece BJ Pancake at 10:49 AM on February 13, 2016
Can this be the place where someone explains the appeal of Strunk & White?
Strunk and White functions like the artificial limitations that some artists impose on themselves. It suggests a liminal place against which to push, and, like the line on a map, where you arrive to find nothing aside from two old men, representatives of the Government Sentence Office, arguing over the position of a line which neither one can see, one of whom introduces himself as Benjamin Paragraph, grandson of William Word.
posted by eclectist at 11:44 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Strunk and White functions like the artificial limitations that some artists impose on themselves. It suggests a liminal place against which to push, and, like the line on a map, where you arrive to find nothing aside from two old men, representatives of the Government Sentence Office, arguing over the position of a line which neither one can see, one of whom introduces himself as Benjamin Paragraph, grandson of William Word.
posted by eclectist at 11:44 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Having spent a great deal of time with Markov generators, this is definitely not one - leaving me rather tepid on this whole thing, which is someone's mediocre parody under the fake umbrella of algorithmics...
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 6:26 PM on February 13, 2016
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 6:26 PM on February 13, 2016
I actually like this better than pure markov text, because of the added human intentionality. When you look at some markov stuff, it's amusing for the first few sentences, and then there's no need to read any more because you won't get anything else out of it.
"Mediocre" is fine, but I'm not sure if "parody" is the right word here. Not to argue with you - just trying to figure out what I want to call this. Not quite parody, or pastiche, or homage - maybe remix?
posted by moonmilk at 8:08 AM on February 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Mediocre" is fine, but I'm not sure if "parody" is the right word here. Not to argue with you - just trying to figure out what I want to call this. Not quite parody, or pastiche, or homage - maybe remix?
posted by moonmilk at 8:08 AM on February 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
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