The Sister's of Notre Dame called it, simply, Strunk's. And you better have it in your book bag, at the ready. :)
Posted on 02/11/2018 9:39:29 PM PST by Daffynition
Dagnabit! I wish we had an edit function. Make that FReepers or FReeperdom; your choice.
Now let me hear from the semicolon police.
In the immortal words of Winston Churchill: “This is just the sort of impertinence up with which I will not put.”
The Sister's of Notre Dame called it, simply, Strunk's. And you better have it in your book bag, at the ready. :)
I’m assuming Strunk covered proper use of apostrophes.
Yes! thank you.
The case began in 2014, when three truck drivers sued the dairy for what they said was four years’ worth of overtime pay they had been denied. Maine law requires time-and-a-half pay for each hour worked after 40 hours, but it carved out exemptions for:
The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of:
(1) Agricultural produce;
(2) Meat and fish products; and
(3) Perishable foods.
What followed the last comma in the first sentence was the crux of the matter: “packing for shipment or distribution of.” The court ruled that it was not clear whether the law exempted the distribution of the three categories that followed, or if it exempted packing for the shipment or distribution of them.
Had there been a comma after “shipment,” the meaning would have been clear. David G. Webbert, a lawyer who represented the drivers, stated it plainly in an interview in March: “That comma would have sunk our ship.”
Since then, the Maine Legislature addressed the punctuation problem. Here’s how it reads now:
The canning; processing; preserving; freezing; drying; marketing; storing; packing for shipment; or distributing of:
(1) Agricultural produce;
(2) Meat and fish products; and
(3) Perishable foods.
So now we get to replace Oxford comma pedantry with semicolon pedantry. The change, sponsored by Senator Andre Cushing, was among dozens of legislative tweaks signed by the governor in June.
“It clarifies the intent of the legislature, to conform with federal law, that the distribution of certain products is exempt from the provisions governing overtime pay,” according to a summary of the changes. “It amends the 1995 law by reordering the series of exempt tasks for the purpose of eliminating any perceived ambiguity.”
As far as the actual overtime dispute goes, Mr. Webbert said the case ended well.
“We are pleased the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of all parties,” he said in an email.
In a statement on Friday night, John Bennett, president of Oakhurst Dairy, said the company “is pleased the dispute regarding overtime pay for delivery drivers has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.”
Without giving details, he said he expected that the resolution would soon be approved by the court overseeing the dispute.
IIRC, my copy of Strunk’s was dog-eared by the time I graduated HS. I may have taken it to college. :)
Slept with it under my pillow.
Kindle edition free at Amazon. I’d best not dog-ear my phone, however. :)
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
To me, the oxford comma made more logical sense. The decision to use it or not should be based on logical constructs. As such, I’d always think of it as a “set” indicator.
E.g., list people coming to a party, one with all married couples, one with mixed married/single:
Q: Who’s coming to the party?
A: Bill and Mary, Bob and Joan, Fred and Wilma.
A: Bill and Mary, Bob and Joan, and Fred.
The plural of "rhinoceros" is either "rhinocerotes" or "rhinoceroses."
But I guess "rhinoceri" would be OK applied to the barbarian rhinos, McCain and Flake.
woman without her man is a beast
The girls in the class punctuated it:
Woman! Without her, man is a beast.
The boys punctuated it:
Woman, without her man, is a beast.
Both. Depends what you’re trying to say.
I drove a semi up to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and distributed dairy products to the home delivery guys.
The wombat is worse. It eats roots shoots and leaves.
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