Grammar

Chicago Tribune - Warner Todd Huston

Ooops: Chicago Trib Starts an Article on Education Misusing Words!

March 27, 2012 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Clarence Page wrote an excellent article questioning whether or not our students are actually learning anything, most especially critical thinking skills, at our colleges and universities. Unfortunately, his very first sentence commits what I feel is both a major grammatical error and an unnecessary paean to PCism.

First, let me temper this little quibble — and little quibble it is — with praise for Page’s article headlined, “Has College Become too Easy?.”

Page offers some studies as well as an anecdote to explore the hypothesis that our students are no longer expected to think in college. They are simply required to regurgitate the subject matter fed them by their professors and teachers. No thinking required.

I believe this is dead on. I can’t tell you how many people I know that went to college that simply have no capacity to think past the conventional wisdom fed them by TV, the Old Media or friends.

Anyway, I agree with Page’s central concept. But let’s get to his faux pas.
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Ooops: Chicago Trib Starts an Article on Education Misusing Words!”

Education - Warner Todd Huston

Grammar Tip: Use of Quote Marks

July 16, 2010 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

I learned something today that I was not aware of concerning the use of quote marks. This might help others that are equally ignorant on the grammatical rule.

Now, I knew that in America we put a period inside the quotes in a sentence relating what someone else said. Like so:

Then John said, “this is the sort of place I love.”

I was also aware that the Brits do it differently. Like this:

Then John said, “this is the sort of place I love“.

But I was not aware that when using quotes that don’t encapsulate a sentence and when the quote lands at the end of a sentence, we do not put the period inside the quote marks. For instance, the use of scare quotes, or quotes to denote a euphemism or used mockingly, is different than the use of quotes encapsulating a full sentence.

Like so:

Next he talked about “global warming”.

Here the period lands outside the quotes because the full stop for the sentence was not part of the quotation.

I did not know this. I will try to remember this from now on.Maybe it will help you, too?
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Grammar Tip: Use of Quote Marks”