Find the Error 31
(Extract adapted from a service sheet distributed at a Midlands cathedral)
What kind of mistake do you see? (Choose one:)
- apostrophes
- articles
- doesn't make sense
- punctuation
- singular / plural
- spelling
Answer: punctuation
This example shows a style error: a use of punctuation which is unnecessary,
or doesn't look very nice and which doesn't add anything to the information
that the author is trying to put across, namely the four exclamation marks after
'Sunday 16th April'. It isn't necessary to put even one exclamation mark after
this date, but clearly the author wanted to draw our attention to the date, and
felt that four exclamation marks was the best way to achieve this. The result,
though, looks silly because three of the exclamation marks are redundant.
Only teenage girls writing top secret diaries should be allowed to sprinkle
punctuation marks around so freely. Not adults who are writing for adult
readers, and certainly not authors of cathedral newsletters!!!! See, it does look
a bit silly and breathless, doesn't it?
Of course, this is not a mistake; it's rather
a style error, and these are sometimes in the eye of the beholder. For
example, some readers may feel strangely exhilarated by seeing such a
liberal and uncensored use of the exclamation mark. Similar style errors
include: 'Excessive use of the exclamation mark and question mark
together!???!!??!!' to indicate disbelief, and: 'Using 'smileys' after everything
you write ;o))' These things are fine when writing for family or friends, when
writing informal emails and text messages or even just for your own pleasure,
but they start to look patronising and out of place when they appear in
something that has been written for a wider audience; particularly an adult
audience.
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