Monday, July 28, 2014
ALOTT5MA FRIDAY GRAMMAR RODEO MONDAY COLUMN OF MILK EDITION: There's apparently a grammatical error on Greg Maddux's HOF plaque. It credits him for being the only pitcher in MLB history with "300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts and less than 1,000 walks," but shouldn't it be fewer than 1,000 walks? [Also: Oxford comma fail.]
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I see no missing commas there, since those incomplete sentences are written well enough (except for the "less than") that you don't need the crutch of the Oxford comma to make a clumsy sentence clearer.
ReplyDeleteI think the sentence ought to read 300 wins, with both 3,000 strikeout and fewer than 1,000 walks" -- since the interesting thing is the ratio over a very large sample size, they are one related thought. No need for an Oxford comma because there's no place for one.
ReplyDeleteThose are style choices, not grammar errors. Both are endorsed by the AP Style Guide.
ReplyDelete"strikes out"?
ReplyDeleteYes. Let's meet up later for gins and tonic.
ReplyDeleteThere's no confusion to clear up with a comma. Strikeouts and walks aren't types of wins.
ReplyDeleteGreg Maddux is so awesome that he transcends the rules of grammar.
ReplyDeleteAnd two Whoppers Junior.
ReplyDelete