It is officially 12:34 p.m. on 07/08/09. I couldn't quite get it to post at exactly 12:34:56, but I figure this is close enough! Happy once-in-a-lifetime numerical event!
For a fun twist on our typical Grammar Wednesdays, I've written four captions for this sequence of photos, each of which illustrates an important, or perhaps just mildly interesting, grammar lesson. For a bit of background, Ruby likes to sneak into Jeremy's bed at night, whether he's here or not. No wonder I have to wash his bedding so often!
I have my iPhone on my person at all times, so I sneaked a quick photo of Ruby on my way to the bathroom first thing in the morning.
Lesson 1: Sneaked
The word "sneaked" has long been the preferred past tense of the verb
"to sneak." But "snuck" is definitely sneaking its way into the
language, and you'll now see it as a variant in many dictionaries. In
formal writing, go with "sneaked" for sure. But in spoken language and
informal usages, it looks like "snuck" is becoming more and more acceptable. (FYI: The verb "drag" is not this forgiving. "Dragged" rather than "drug" should always be used as the past tense form. "Ruby dragged herself out of bed this morning" instead of "Ruby drug herself...", which has a completely different connotation. Read more on this from Grammar Girl.)
Glorious rays of sunshine rained down on Ruby as she was reluctantly roused from her recent slumber.
Lesson 2: Alliteration
The repetition of words beginning with "r," as seen in the sentence above, is known as alliteration. A little bit of alliteration adds
a pleasant-sounding flow to your writing, but you can easily overdo it,
as I did here. You don't want to sound like a nursery rhyme:
"Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers." If carried too far, alliteration can overshadow your meaning. "Consonance" and "assonance" are closely related to alliteration, and you can read about them here.
Travis and I think Ruby looks so cute when she yawns.
Lesson 3: I Versus Me
The correct usage is "Travis and I" when used as
the subject of the sentence. The way to remember this is to just remove
the "Travis and," leaving the "I" in place, and see how the sentence sounds.
The phrase "I think Ruby looks so cute" makes perfect sense, so I know
to use "Travis and I think..." It's obvious that "Travis and me" wouldn't work here.
It surprises Travis and me that Ruby manages to sleep more than 18 hours a day. Just seconds after she wakes up, she burrows back into "her" bed for a few more zzz's.
Lesson 4: Me Versus I
Here, the correct usage is "Travis and me" because they're both objects
of the verb "surprises." Again, just remove the "Travis and..." and see
how the sentence sounds with just the "me." The phrase "It surprises me
that Ruby..." makes perfect sense, so I know to use "Travis and me."
However, "It surprises I that Ruby..." does NOT sound right, so you
know you shouldn't say, "It surprises Travis and I that Ruby sleeps all
day."
(Note: wondering why I put an apostrophe in "zzz's"? Click here to read all about it.)
Did You Know?
All that talk of alliteration in Lesson 2 brought to mind a fact from the comedy world that you may or may not know. Hard "k" sounds are considered funnier than other sounds. It's true. I wonder if this is why the infamous F-word is so common on stand-up comedy tours and in comedic films. Now there's a hard "k" sound if there ever was one.
Consider this excerpt from the Neil Simon play, The Sunshine Boys:
"Fifty-seven years in this business, you learn a few things. You know what makes an audience laugh. You know what words are funny and which words are not funny. Alka Seltzer is funny. You say "Alka Seltzer" you get a laugh.... Words with "k" in them are funny. Casey Stengel, that's a funny name. Robert Taylor is not funny. Car keys. Cleveland.... Cleveland is funny. Maryland is not funny. Then, there's chicken. Chicken is funny. Pickle is funny."
For more on this fascinating tidbit, check out this Grammar Girl podcast, "Words That Sound Funny." Or check out the book Comedy Writing Secrets by Mel Helitzer and Mark Shatz, both of whom have pretty funny last names if you ask me, even without the "k" sound.
Lucas out.
