The other day, I was struck by just how much of a nerd I am.
It all came about when I was talking with a friend about adverbs – what they do, some examples, and why I hate them (even though I tend to use them often). It wasn’t the subject matter that made me realize how geeky I am, or the fact that I was having the conversation while wearing a shirt proclaiming “Frodo Lives” (from “Lord of the Rings”). No, what got to me was the fact that this was the third or fourth time I’ve had a conversation about my favorite and least favorite aspects of grammar.
I like adjectives, but I hate adverbs. Do you have a favorite type of word? I love exclamation points! Do you have a favorite punctuation?


I LIKE WHEN WE CAN WRITE IN...
Back to page topI LIKE WHEN WE CAN WRITE IN ALL CAPS. Or When We Just Over Capitalize Various Things That They Want To Emphasize. Or wheN, In juNioR HigH, wE usED tO wRiTe NoTes WiTH ComPLEte diSREgarD to THe rULEs Of CaPiTALizatION.
(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)
OK, word nerds, time to...
Back to page topOK, word nerds, time to step aside.
I HATE when words are misspelled on purpose, which is why you will never see me spending my hard-earned money at businesses that try to be cute while perpetuating illiteracy (i.e. Kwik Trip, Hom Furniture).
I can't even misspell in text messages -- which drives my daughter batty and I get a couple messages a week reminding me: "Mom, u dnt have to spell evrythg out!"
Ouch, that hurt just to repeat it.
A friend of mine who is a brainiac and earned his Ph.D. by the time we had our 10-year high school reunion is afraid to send me e-mails because his spelling is not so stellar and he doesn't want me to take my red pen to his correspondence.
And if I have to pick a favorite type of word, I'd have to go with action verbs. And my favorite punctuation is the dash -- when used properly. I'm not so fond of exclamation points as they tend to be overkill.
What do you...
Back to page topWhat do you mean?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?
(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)