Grammar Challenge!

Class worksheet on grammar and usage from David Foster Wallace, given to students of a nonfiction workshop he taught. The discussion in the comments is worth your time, too.

I liked this bit from the Answers and Explanations page on how Wallace taught the placement of modifiers.

You have been entrusted to feed for your neighbor’s dog for a week while he (the neighbor) is out of town. The neighbor returns home; something has gone awry; you are questioned.

“I fed the dog.”

“Did you feed the parakeet?”

“I fed only the dog.”

“Did anyone else feed the dog?”

“Only I fed the dog.”

“Did you fondle/molest the dog?”

“I only fed the dog!”

(via kottke)

12.05.2009Tagged with:    

Internet Addresses Can Use New Scripts

The board of ICANN has voted to allow non-Latin characters in web addresses. For many web surfers, this is a great leap forward in accessibility.

This change only affects domain names — anything that comes after the dot, such as .com, .cn or .jp. Until now, they could only be in 37 characters — 26 Latin letters, 10 digits or a dash. But starting next year, domain names can be the characters of any language.

And:

This is a boon especially for users who find it cumbersome to type in Latin characters to access Web pages. Of the 1.6 billion Internet users today worldwide, more than half use languages that have scripts that are not based on the Latin alphabet.

10.30.2009Tagged with: