Wednesday, July 29, 2009

More evidence that no one is editing the New York Times

From the 7/24/09 article The Tucker That Time Forgot:

Surviving Tuckers are worth amounts approaching, and in some cases, exceeding $1 million.


Now the way I was taught punctuation, the subordinate clause between two sets of commas was always thought of as an island –- a completely separate phrase which could be lifted out of the sentence without leaving any damage behind. But when you remove the subordinate clause from the sentence above, you’re left with this:

Surviving Tuckers are worth amounts approaching exceeding $1 million.

Which means the correct punctuation should be this:

Surviving Tuckers are worth amounts approaching, and in some cases exceeding, $1 million.

And what's even more annoying? Somebody got PAID to write that. Don't get me started. Especially since I just saw In The Loop, and have all these new curses I want to try out.

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