I have been traveling lately, and my word preoccupation rarely takes a vacation. I am not saying this is normal.
On the drive north on an interstate, a sign read:
When flashing, stop ahead
The "when flashing" part of this sign is called a dangling participle. The dangling participle can bring you hours of amusement once you understand it.
The road sign starts out with one thing as the subject: the flashing light. It finishes with another subject. In this case, the second subject isn't even clear. The second part of the sign either means, "A stop is ahead" or "You are to stop ahead."
So, if this sign is taken literally, it could mean, "If you are flashing right now, you need to stop soon." Did someone swallow a flashing LED?
But wait, I have better examples.
Waking at 4 a.m., the baby's diaper was wet.
Running to catch the elevator, Andrew's cellphone crashed to the ground.
Floating slowly to the ground, I heard the skydiver screaming for his mother.
Simmering on the stove, I couldn't wait to try the curried lentil soup.
Before it was called a war, the region lost its first hero.
Upscale but not pretentious, I've come in here for a full meal and also just to grab a pizza.
In these sentences, the writer starts out intending to discuss one thing, but the modifier is displaced, and the sentence means something different.
The above sentences could be rewritten in many ways, but these work:
The baby awoke at 4 a.m. with a wet diaper.
Andrew's cellphone crashed to the ground as he ran to catch the elevator.
Floating slowly to the ground, the skydiver screamed for his mother.
Simmering on the stove, the curried lentil soup made me hungry.
Before war was declared, the region lost its first hero.
This restaurant is upscale but not pretentious, and I've come here for a full meal and also just to grab a pizza.
MORE ON THE COMMA
I shared the cramped back row of the small plane a while back with another American, a young Swedish man and his cello. The poor Swedish guy had to buy a seat for his cello. The flight attendants spent a long while securing the cello into the seat with a complex web of straps. In the end, it looked as though they feared the cello would escape in a murderous rage. I'm happy to report that didn't happen.
But I digress. I'll repeat this sentence to talk about the serial comma.
I shared the cramped back row of the small plane to Toronto with another American, a young Swedish man and his cello.
The serial comma is one that would be inserted before "and his cello" in this sentence. I do not use the serial comma because I work in newspapers. The Associated Press says to omit the comma before a conjunction such as "and" in a series. The "and" replaces the comma.
After so many readings, the book's pages were tattered, torn and dog-eared.
The AP does say to add the comma if part of the phrase also has a conjunction.
My favorite comfort foods are chicken potpie, tomato soup, and macaroni and cheese.
Also, some sentences are long and complex, so AP says the serial comma is OK. (Though making the sentence shorter and less complex would be fine, too.)
I had to decide whether I should bring the huge suitcase and pay to put it on the plane, whether to bring the small suitcase and wear everything twice, or whether to buy all new clothes on vacation and throw out the old ones.
People can get rabid about this serial comma, but its use is just a matter of style. I have been trained not to use it because I follow AP guidelines, but other guidelines tell you emphatically to keep that comma.
The serial comma is also called an "Oxford comma." I learned this from a song by a band called Vampire Weekend. I'm afraid I can't quote the line in a family newspaper, but I'll just say that the singer also doesn't care about the Oxford comma.
Sources: Dictionary.com, University of Bristol, The Associated Press Stylebook, Writing Forward, M-W.com
Write to Bernadette at
bkwordmonger@gmail.com
ActiveStyle on 10/03/2016