ATTN: Copyeditors and Grammar Fiends

(fun with nonessential elements)

'I went to the store with my brother Isaac.'

The evidence for “Americanization” of French culture is mixed, and its extent is impossible to measure, as culture is not easily definable, let alone quantifiable.

Please can you help me arrange it so it sounds better. Most importantly I need a more essay-register way of saying "let alone", but the whole sentence seems really clumsy still and I don't know how to fix it.

I hope there's someone around who can help. My head hurts.

Culture is not easily definable, much less quantifiable. Thus, not only is the evidence for "Americanization" of French culture mixed, but its actual extent is impossible to measure.

?

the "not only/but" thing is unnecessary

Thanks all.

I just finished my essay, wahey!!

I've decided to switch from a Jan 27, 1997 format to a 27 Jan 1997 format for dates because eliminating the extra comma helps the readability of some of my nastier sentences.

Here it is: "Although there are many different types of HLA proteins, each person has only a small, relatively unique set that is inherited from their parents."

Thanks much. And, uh, I'm on deadline, so hurry up!

Although there are many different types of HLA proteins, individuals inherit from their parents only a small and relatively unique subset.

etc.

"Although many different types of HLA proteins exist, each person inherits only a small, realtively unique set."

.. not sure if that meaning is accurate or not. You may want to clarify the sentence in that .. is only the inherited set small, or is the total set small?

You don't have to be a grammar/usage nazi to object to torture in all its forms, including wrt the language.

Also, I want to kill the person who prompted Andrew's initial post.

So, any thoughts on "relatively unique?" Oh shit I'm an idiot, I just realized that is a great pun! Maybe I should keep it, then.

I was hoping to just get rid of the whole "unique" problem and go with something that means what Dan said, but not using that irksome word. Old-school is to insist that there are no degrees of unique; either it is or it isn't, period.

HUMAN LEUKOCYTE ANTIGEN: also known as major histocompatibility complex (MHC). These proteins are found on the outside of almost every cell in the body and play an important part in controlling the immune system. Although there are many different types of HLA proteins, each person has only a small, relatively unique set that is inherited from their parents. Some HLA types are associated either a faster or slower progression of HIV disease. The type of HLA proteins a person has is also important in identifying good "matches" for tissue grafts and organ transplants.

So yeah, ya'll can go to town on the rest of it, too (if you like!).

Do I have the world's coolest job or what?

I'm kind of sucking as a med writer right now. I'm better as an editor, I think.

"their" is a perfectly acceptable form of non-gender third-person-singular possessive: i have the might of the oxford dictionary on my side. (er, i think.) god damn, it's a living language: let it evolve.

right, back to ILM. it's safer there.

Don't go back to ILM, stay here!!!

?

There are many different types of HLA proteins, but each person inherits only a small and essentially distinct set.

is how I'd do it. "exist" is a waste of a verb, because everything exists. (i know this isn't in yr orig. sentence, this was a suggestion.) "different" is superfluous, because you've already got "many types" - i assume these many types are not "the same"!!! "unique" cannot be modified by degree. "that is" is unnecessary.

also in radio you are never allowed to start a sentence with "although" because people will have their brains too full to quite follow the next bit, the bit that you actually are supposedly more concerned with anyway

HUMAN LEUKOCYTE ANTIGEN: also known as major histocompatibility complex (MHC). These proteins are found on the outside of almost every cell in the body and play an important part in controlling the immune system. Although there are many types of HLA proteins, each person has only a small set inherited from his or her parents. Some HLA types are associated with either a faster or slower progression of HIV disease. The type of HLA proteins a person has is also important in identifying good "matches" for tissue grafts and organ transplants.

Thank you all for helping me out--for whatever reason this particular definition (and especially that second sentence) was giving me fits. So now one last question--do you think that definition would be helpful if you were just an average joe and came across this weird term "HLA" when reading something about HIV/AIDS?

I know I should have a real focus group for this stuff, but time and money do not permit.