I hate going in to work on Monday and having someone asks "So what did you do this weekend?" The problem is the first person who asks me is subject to my very slow boot up cycle. After repeating "what did I do?" six or seven times I'm finally ready to share. The next person who asks doesn't have to experience this but it is that poor first person who must wonder if I spend my weekends on crack or something or maybe I just don't want to share what I do and I'm trying to make something up. I'm sure that's not the case and actually I never gave it any thought if they thought anything about it or not until I started writing this down.
I seem to use a lot of quotes when I'm blogging. I'm always wondering if I'm using them properly. Any comments from the grammatically knowledgeable?
3 comments:
I would use a comma after asks, "What did you do this weekend?" But you should ask 2Kool. She's really good at that sort of thing.
Remember our old therapist who used to try to stifle her yawns when we talked? There was something very disturbing about the way her face contorted and quivered beneath the closed-mouth yawns. I bet she'd suggest you anticipate Monday's question and try think of something to say on your way to work. Then she might give you a little worksheet on possible topics of interest regarding Weekend Activities.
A caveat: I am VERY rusty re: rules of grammar. That said, I agree that there should be a comma after "asks" since it leads into a quote. I don't think that you need one before "what did I do" since it's not a "quoted element" but an "embedded element." (Note: I cheated and looked up the proper terminology on the web before writing this response.)
My solution to the "what did you do" dilemma is simple. I think you should make up something that either you wished you had done:
"I flew to LA to have lunch with Angelina Jolie."
"My wife and I did a tandem parachute jump."
OR something that will instantly end the conversation:
"I finally made it to get my prostate checked."
Just trying to help.
Hey!!!
I thought the blog was supposed to be a grammar-free zone!
And secondly! That therapist sounds a little fishy to me. I mean!
the yawns are bad enough but. I can't think of anything. Worse.
Than charting out my weekend activities. I mean, my life is boring.
Enough. Already. I don't need some chart to remind me!
love Ka
(see, without the comma it is a command)
Ps--sorry SAD and 2Kool--my little rage is not against either of you--it's just that I spend a lot of time each week trying to arm my students with the very basics of grammar and today somedays it's trying.
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