Who writes the Pinkun front page?

[Shyster 0]

''Ackney Canary - [quote]Making sweeping statements about grammar is the preserve of pretentious

people who don''t have a clue what they are talking about. There is

nothing - NOTHING - wrong with beginning a sentence with ''and'' (or,

indeed, ''but'', or any other conjunction).

And that, my friends, is a fact.

The injuction against conjunctions is no more than a method employed by

schoolteachers to discourage their pupils from writing incomplete

sentences. Gowers - who knew a thing or two about grammar and language

use - had the following to say in his edition of A Dictionary of Modern English Usage:

"That

it is a solecism to begin a sentence with and is a faintly lingering

superstition. The OED gives examples ranging from the 10th to the 19th

c.; the Bible is full of them."

While we''re on the subject of debunking grammatical superstitions, you should also feel free to split your infinitives.

[/quote]

Nobody''s arguing that it isn''t acceptable, but it is fundamentally wrong to begin a sentence with a conjunction, especially if it isn''t used in a reply to a previous assertion in a dialogue.I''ve always made it a rule to consider whether a conjunction would repose more naturally within a previous sentence or lose out in useful emphasis by being demoted from its position at the head of a new sentence.You''d do well to do the same.

[. 0]

[quote user="Shyster"]''Ackney Canary - [quote]Making sweeping statements about grammar is the preserve of pretentious people who don''t have a clue what they are talking about. There is nothing - NOTHING - wrong with beginning a sentence with ''and'' (or, indeed, ''but'', or any other conjunction).

And that, my friends, is a fact.

The injuction against conjunctions is no more than a method employed by schoolteachers to discourage their pupils from writing incomplete sentences. Gowers - who knew a thing or two about grammar and language use - had the following to say in his edition of A Dictionary of Modern English Usage:

"That it is a solecism to begin a sentence with and is a faintly lingering superstition. The OED gives examples ranging from the 10th to the 19th c.; the Bible is full of them."

While we''re on the subject of debunking grammatical superstitions, you should also feel free to split your infinitives.

[/quote]



Nobody''s arguing that it isn''t acceptable, but it is fundamentally wrong to begin a sentence with a conjunction, especially if it isn''t used in a reply to a previous assertion in a dialogue.

I''ve always made it a rule to consider whether a conjunction would repose more naturally within a previous sentence or lose out in useful emphasis by being demoted from its position at the head of a new sentence.

You''d do well to do the same.
[/quote]

I write in dialogue.... and don''t give a **** basically.

AND I am unanimous in that.

[Shyster 0]

[quote user="St. Cluck"]

[quote user="Shyster"]''Ackney Canary - [quote]Making sweeping statements about grammar is the preserve of pretentious people who don''t have a clue what they are talking about. There is nothing - NOTHING - wrong with beginning a sentence with ''and'' (or, indeed, ''but'', or any other conjunction). And that, my friends, is a fact. The injuction against conjunctions is no more than a method employed by schoolteachers to discourage their pupils from writing incomplete sentences. Gowers - who knew a thing or two about grammar and language use - had the following to say in his edition of A Dictionary of Modern English Usage:"That it is a solecism to begin a sentence with and is a faintly lingering superstition. The OED gives examples ranging from the 10th to the 19th c.; the Bible is full of them." While we''re on the subject of debunking grammatical superstitions, you should also feel free to split your infinitives. [/quote]

Nobody''s arguing that it isn''t acceptable, but it is fundamentally wrong to begin a sentence with a conjunction, especially if it isn''t used in a reply to a previous assertion in a dialogue.I''ve always made it a rule to consider whether a conjunction would repose more naturally within a previous sentence or lose out in useful emphasis by being demoted from its position at the head of a new sentence.You''d do well to do the same.[/quote]

I write in dialogue.... and don''t give a **** basically.

AND I am unanimous in that.

[/quote]

Well, you take the excuse of ''artistic license'' to new extremes, dear Cluck.  [;)]

[Hackney Canary 0]

"Shake n'' Vac the bas***d meerkat up"That merely is another opinion concerning English is it not? A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, not The Dictionary of Modern English Usage:You saying starting a sentence with ''and'' is OK, that''s a fact.  Is not of course a fact, it is a matter of opinion, because a purist would say, starting a sentence with ''and'' is just wrong in correct usage (their opinion). Me, in my opinion.  It is used too often,  some ramblings I''ve read instead of making the article easier to read,  make the article ''hard work''. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

No. It''s a fact. And I''m a purist.

[Hackney Canary 0]

[quote user="Shyster"]''Ackney Canary - [quote]Making sweeping statements about grammar is the preserve of pretentious

people who don''t have a clue what they are talking about. There is

nothing - NOTHING - wrong with beginning a sentence with ''and'' (or,

indeed, ''but'', or any other conjunction).

And that, my friends, is a fact.

The injuction against conjunctions is no more than a method employed by

schoolteachers to discourage their pupils from writing incomplete

sentences. Gowers - who knew a thing or two about grammar and language

use - had the following to say in his edition of A Dictionary of Modern English Usage:

"That

it is a solecism to begin a sentence with and is a faintly lingering

superstition. The OED gives examples ranging from the 10th to the 19th

c.; the Bible is full of them."

While we''re on the subject of debunking grammatical superstitions, you should also feel free to split your infinitives.

[/quote]

Nobody''s arguing that it isn''t acceptable, but it is fundamentally wrong to begin a sentence with a conjunction, especially if it isn''t used in a reply to a previous assertion in a dialogue.I''ve always made it a rule to consider whether a conjunction would repose more naturally within a previous sentence or lose out in useful emphasis by being demoted from its position at the head of a new sentence.You''d do well to do the same.[/quote]Are you insane?

[Daniel Taylor 0]

[quote user="Clipped Canary"][quote user="Shyster"]There''s poor grammar and spelling all over the Archant rags.

Wasn''t that way years ago, which says a lot about the standard of education in this country today.

And it''s getting worse.
[/quote]

Shouldn''t start a sentence with ''and''.............. [;)]
[/quote]

 

that''s usually because it''s being used as a conjunction, it can be used as the first word of the sentence, it depends on the context, it is not a hard and fast rule! [:D] sorry couldn''t resist pointing this out.

[Daniel Taylor 0]

wow, I responded before reading the rest of the posts on here, I''ve clearly stepped in to a war zone here...

[AJ 1,224]

[quote user="Clipped Canary"][quote user="Shyster"][quote user="Clipped Canary"][quote user="Shyster"]There''s poor grammar and spelling all over the Archant rags.Wasn''t that way years ago, which says a lot about the standard of education in this country today.And it''s getting worse.[/quote]Shouldn''t start a sentence with ''and''.............. [;)][/quote]

Very true - I stand corrected.Actually, I did that on purpose to see if anyone noticed.Well done. [:D][/quote]I thank you! [:)] [*][/quote]Sorry to ruin your fun, but technically, you CAN actually start a sentence with a conjunction (such as but, and, etc.)This would be called a ''minor sentence''.There are also things known as ''word sentences'' which, as you can probably take a stab at, contain literally just one word. For example; "Hello!"Class dismissed. [:)]

[south east canary 0]

[quote user="Yellow Shirt"]This form of quoting drives me mad!

"Said Butterworth: “We''re looking at him and the manager will assess the situation after the games in Scotland.”"

Once in a while, OK; but it''s horrible all the time and seems to be the only way these people know to structure a sentence.
PLEASE can we have a simple:

“We''re looking at him and the manager will assess the situation after the games in Scotland.” said Butterworth. 

---

Just wanted to say. Doesn''t it get on anyone elses nerves?
[/quote]

 

All the problems with Archants jornalism over the past few years, such as; factual inaccuracies, the use of this message board to produce stories and general laziness of all news stories. The point you raise is a rather small one in comparison.