ATTN: Copyeditors and Grammar Fiends

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q:

should the 'a' in "fuckin' a" be capitalized in a normal orthographical context?

i think not, but i don't have a chicago manual handy to try to figure out what sort of rule they would slot it under.

btw, this thread has lots of "fucking"s in it. most seem to be of scottish provenance if i am not mistaken. fuckin' a.

j., Thursday, 10 January 2013 00:35 (eleven years ago) link

kinda feel like it should be capitalized

mookieproof, Thursday, 10 January 2013 00:43 (eleven years ago) link

Just like someone would say he's fitted to a T, I too would think A is capitalized.

You could say, Fuckin' "A," but c'mon, that looks ridiculous.

pplains, Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:00 (eleven years ago) link

I say capitalized.

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:02 (eleven years ago) link

The convention would be the same as that used for referencing the letter A within a sentence, so that I favor capitalizing it as well. I would also be certain to cite this phrase only within a direct quotation attributed to a person or a fictional character, rather than as an integral part of a body of unquoted text.

Aimless, Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:23 (eleven years ago) link

shit, what, dudes can't use "fuckin' a", only mention it or attribute its use to others?

j., Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:29 (eleven years ago) link

dudes who toss a fuckin' A into the midst of whatever they are writing should never require the assistance or reassurances of a grammar fiend on the proprieties of its orthographic presentation. they just fuckin' well toss it is and say fuck you if you don't like how it looks. or at least that is my best understanding of such dudes and their proclivities.

Aimless, Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:36 (eleven years ago) link

fuckin a, dude.

j., Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:39 (eleven years ago) link

you see the justice in my contentions then?

Aimless, Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:42 (eleven years ago) link

this is probably covered in the 3909 messages above, but where do we stand on fuckin' vs. fucken vs. fucking etc.

mookieproof, Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:48 (eleven years ago) link

nuances of expression, context is king

j., Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:49 (eleven years ago) link

actually, for the same reason, aimless, i think you are wrong. there are always right and wrong ways to say things!

j., Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:50 (eleven years ago) link

getting dainty now, are we?

Aimless, Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:53 (eleven years ago) link

there's a time and a place

j., Thursday, 10 January 2013 01:56 (eleven years ago) link

(he dabs the corners of his mouth with a crisp linen napkin and places it down next to his plate, smiles warmly and speaks)

You can say what you like, Your Royal Highness, but fuckin' A that was a prime bit of tucker and no mistake.

Aimless, Thursday, 10 January 2013 02:07 (eleven years ago) link

wtf is fucken?

pplains, Thursday, 10 January 2013 14:34 (eleven years ago) link

it's a fuck inside of a chicken

Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Thursday, 10 January 2013 14:37 (eleven years ago) link

cankles-speak iirc

fiscal cliff paul (k3vin k.), Thursday, 10 January 2013 15:43 (eleven years ago) link

i'm actually with aimless on fuckin a, i wouldn't messageboard capitalize it because too much work but if i were to use it formally (...) i would

fiscal cliff paul (k3vin k.), Thursday, 10 January 2013 15:44 (eleven years ago) link

objet fuckin' a

oppet, Thursday, 10 January 2013 16:02 (eleven years ago) link

aimless otm

fucken, eh?

let's bitch about our stupid, annoying co-ilxors (darraghmac), Thursday, 10 January 2013 16:13 (eleven years ago) link

I know, I know, STYLES, but:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/4-copy-editors-killed-in-ongoing-ap-style-chicago,30806/

sunn o))) dude (Leee), Sunday, 13 January 2013 01:14 (eleven years ago) link

Also, orthography game:

http://type.method.ac/

sunn o))) dude (Leee), Sunday, 13 January 2013 01:18 (eleven years ago) link

"...many of whom are displaced refugees who risk imprisonment to travel for even the most basic care."

that second "who"...it's who, not whom, right? they are traveling, who = subject, care = object?

manti 乒乓 (k3vin k.), Saturday, 26 January 2013 23:16 (eleven years ago) link

I would say so. Whom usually only used after a preposition - if at all - these days.

pplains, Saturday, 26 January 2013 23:45 (eleven years ago) link

plus a double-whom would make that a really strange-sounding sentence

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 26 January 2013 23:51 (eleven years ago) link

could just say "risking"

manti 乒乓 (k3vin k.), Saturday, 26 January 2013 23:54 (eleven years ago) link

yes, "who" because it's the subject of the relative clause

(though the direct object is "imprisonment" and I guess "care" is some kind of indirect object but that's where my grammar runs out - not that it makes any difference to the who/whom question here)

a panda, Malmö (a passing spacecadet), Sunday, 27 January 2013 00:18 (eleven years ago) link

ha no yeah you're right about the object

manti 乒乓 (k3vin k.), Sunday, 27 January 2013 00:20 (eleven years ago) link

thx!

manti 乒乓 (k3vin k.), Sunday, 27 January 2013 00:21 (eleven years ago) link

one month passes...

If I wanted to file Dr. John alphabetically, would he go under D or J? Wikipedia lists him under J, but to argue against that, the title is part of his stage name, so D, no?

Liz Phair Dinkum (Leee), Friday, 1 March 2013 06:08 (eleven years ago) link

Yeah D. A possibly more interesting question is whether he goes with the Do's or the Dr's. I would say Do on the basis that Dr. is an abbreviation.

my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Friday, 1 March 2013 06:19 (eleven years ago) link

Good question, though I would lean the other way, just because you have to go by the letters you actually see, and not infer them ( though we pronounce them that way).

Liz Phair Dinkum (Leee), Friday, 1 March 2013 06:45 (eleven years ago) link

Excel imo

poll that whitey music pfunkboy (darraghmac), Friday, 1 March 2013 06:50 (eleven years ago) link

Hope he doesn't get filed in the wrong place at the wrong time.

pplains, Friday, 1 March 2013 14:25 (eleven years ago) link

You should not file music alphabetically imo.

and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Friday, 1 March 2013 14:28 (eleven years ago) link

Yes, file it by tempo instead.

pplains, Friday, 1 March 2013 14:46 (eleven years ago) link

http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n601/gamalielratsey/2013-03-09095803_zps2648a64c.jpg

wealth-blessing plz.

Fizzles, Saturday, 9 March 2013 10:59 (eleven years ago) link

haha

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 9 March 2013 17:23 (eleven years ago) link

Fighting shy of colons-stupid or beyond stupid?

Aimless, Saturday, 9 March 2013 17:28 (eleven years ago) link

Colons are not just for Sunday.

Fizzles, Saturday, 9 March 2013 18:07 (eleven years ago) link

two months pass...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22403731
What kind of lunatic complains about the phrase 'too much, too young'?

Hearing moyes confirmedare we hearing m (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Monday, 13 May 2013 10:48 (ten years ago) link

After a childhood avid for the praise generated by my schoolwork's demonstration of correct spelling and punctuation I have slowly turned traitor to the whole notion that minor aberrations in either category are worth paying attention to. I accept them in informal writing without demur, unless they somehow obscure the meaning or introduce an unwanted ambiguity.

I especially condemn those who become hissy over perfectly good split infinitives.

Aimless, Monday, 13 May 2013 17:37 (ten years ago) link

xp http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4606

caek, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 00:17 (ten years ago) link

^ I can't open that link, caek

Hearing moyes confirmedare we hearing m (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 08:32 (ten years ago) link

try now?

caek, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 23:36 (ten years ago) link

Ah, so *that* kind of lunatic

Hearing moyes confirmedare we hearing m (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Sunday, 26 May 2013 23:17 (ten years ago) link

Funny thing about the "bad grammar awards" is that there's actually only one award, so they can't even get the basics right.

Alba, Saturday, 1 June 2013 09:38 (ten years ago) link

Writing report cards...I think I know the answer to this, but I want to double-check: "Moses's" or "Moses'"? (Has to do with his best piece of art, not his commandments.)

clemenza, Saturday, 8 June 2013 18:09 (ten years ago) link


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