Tuesday, May 28, 2013

GrammatiCats: Suggest a Topic, Win a Book!

You know, I really didn't intend to go a whole month without a GrammatiCats post.  It just took this long for me and the cats to rest, regroup, and/or make bail.


BUT!  It's almost June, you guys, and high time to get back in the proverbial saddle! Here's the game.

GrammatiCats needs new topics!  And I want to know what YOU want to know.  Do you lie awake at night, agonizing over when to use "that" versus "which"?  Are you wracked with guilt every time you end a sentence with a preposition?  Would your life be utterly complete if only you knew when to use a comma before "if"?

Well, suffer no longer!  Comment on this entry with a grammar/style issue you would like to see covered here, and you could win a copy of June Casagrande's hilarious how-to: It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences: A Writer's Guide to Crafting Killer Sentences.

Here are the rules:

1.  One entry per person. (You can suggest as many topics as you like, but your name will only go in the hat once.)

2.  Contest ends at midnight (Central Standard Time) on Tuesday, June 4th.

3.  The winner will be drawn on Wednesday, June 5th, via random.org, and announced here.

4.  The winner will have 72 hours from announcement to e-mail tex at thetexfiles.com with a valid mailing address.  If the winner doesn't claim the prize, I'll draw and announce a new winner, as in #3 above.

5.  International entries are welcome - if Amazon ships to you, you can enter!

6.  By entering, you certify that you're at least 18 years old, and that sweepstakes are legal in your jurisdiction.

But that is not all, said the Cat in the Hat - no, that is not all!  Even if you don't win the book, you can still get a bona-fide shout-out.  Please include the URL of your blog or social media account in your comment if you'd like me to link back to you.  If I use your suggestion for a future GrammatiCats post, I'll make sure you get the credit!

And as always, cat pics are always welcome: see the GrammatiCats FAQ to find out how your favorite furry friend can be shamed immortalized forever as a champion of literacy!

(Speaking of which: many thanks to today's quasi-GrammatiCat, Éowyn, and her pet human, Dani F.!)

This sentence rocks.

9 comments:

  1. I would love a post about correct comma/semi colon usage. I'm a commaholic! lol

    My blog: febemoss.wordpress.com

    I also have many MANY cat pictures LOL

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    1. AWESOME idea, Febe - and don't be surprised when I take you up on those cat snaps; you wouldn't believe how fast we go through them!

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  2. The whole thing with lay and lye and I don't even know if I'm spelling it right. I know I can google this stuff, but I want to read your post and see the kitty pics!

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    1. That is exactly the point, Pam - why let some fusty old search engine do the digging when we can cover the same subject FAR more memorably... in kitties?! Excellent idea!

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  3. I don't really know the name for this, but proper subject/object usage of a pronoun at the end of a sentence.

    "Erika is more tired than [him/he]."

    I'm still not totally sure which is correct, because using the object *sounds* correct to my ears, and people use it all the time, but saying

    "Erika is more tired than he is."

    makes sense also.

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    1. GOLDEN suggestion, sir. They test this on the SAT as well, and it absolutely eats the kids alive. We are totally doing this!

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  4. ACK! I missed a party AND a contest?! What the freak nuts!

    I lose so much from my feed with all the blogs I follow now. I will go sit in the corner of shame.

    Good topics, some of which I think you maybe covered via your April marathon.

    Time to see who the winner was! That book seems sweet :-)

    Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of Ink

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    1. Dude, your comments absolutely rock, but you really don't have to kill yourself trying to achieve total Tex-Files coverage! I would feel much better for knowing that when you do comment on something, it's cuz it was especially fabulous, and not because you'd feel like a terrible person if you didn't say something.

      (And if it makes you feel any better, I have been HELLACIOUSLY behind on just about everything since I don't even remember when. I would submit that we're still fairly terrific human beings in spite of that.)

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