Completely OT - Is this the New AP Style Grammar?
Alright, I hate to get picky, but when you're a professional news source, you might want to pick up your Little Brown Handbook from 9TH GRADE JOURNALISM class, and read some basic English rules.
From CNN.com:
Nearly 1 in 4 people is Muslim.
Really?
A: The "to be" verb references people, which in itself is a reference to a large group of people. Are. Seriously, it's not that hard. Are.
2: You can't, and I mean CANNOT have nearly one. If you want to use that statistic, you must, and I mean must, multiply it. Nearly 3 in 10 would be much more appropriate, or, better still, X% of people.
D: Numbers under 10, excepting some very rare circumstances, should really be written out. This is more flexible, given the nature of the internet, but still.
AHHHHHG!
Nearly 1 in 4 people is Muslim.
Really?
A: The "to be" verb references people, which in itself is a reference to a large group of people. Are. Seriously, it's not that hard. Are.
2: You can't, and I mean CANNOT have nearly one. If you want to use that statistic, you must, and I mean must, multiply it. Nearly 3 in 10 would be much more appropriate, or, better still, X% of people.
D: Numbers under 10, excepting some very rare circumstances, should really be written out. This is more flexible, given the nature of the internet, but still.
AHHHHHG!October 8th, 2009 at 1:47 PM ^
Andy Rooney is always awesome.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:49 PM ^
for subject-verb agreement questions.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:48 PM ^
which you've employed in this thread, I'm wondering about your statement "I would wager every penny I will ever earn on it."
In this age of direct deposit, you won't be earning many pennies, will you?
In this age of direct deposit, you won't be earning many pennies, will you?
October 8th, 2009 at 1:50 PM ^
Granted, if we are indeed talking in precise terms. But I do have a jar with about 20 lbs. of pennies in it at home I would wager.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:54 PM ^
that may not be many pennies.
(Light-hearted jest; my fiance was a communications major).
October 8th, 2009 at 1:59 PM ^
Oh, how true.
Also... I think I got my first neg stalker. Posts of mine that have nothing to do with the argument at all in this thread are getting negged. Cool!
October 8th, 2009 at 1:53 PM ^
I will say this. I was unaware I could make so many enemies by making a point about a news source using improper grammar and then defending my point when questioned. I guess it just goes to show:
October 8th, 2009 at 2:00 PM ^
I don't think it's so much that you're defending your point, but that you're defending it so fiercely. Good-natured banter might have been more well-received.
FWIW, I'm inclined to agree with your point on this one. I don't think my perspective on grammar holds much weight, though, since I never went to college.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:06 PM ^
I suppose that's probably true. Well, I'm not intolerant to negs. The very first reply that argued my point came with a neg. I figure if somebody wants to say they thing I might be wrong, then fine. If they want to play hard, I'll play hard.
It's not like I called anyone names or implied anyone was stupid.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:11 PM ^
Yeah, Blazefire. We are not enemies, I can promise you that. I thought the argument was clarification.
P.S. Negstalkers are crazy, man. They see a bunch and just add on to the pile and it snowballs.
EDIT: Dammit.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:39 PM ^
I agree with you there. I never neg anybody unless I feel their statement was directly problematic.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:40 PM ^
I neg trolls; not stated opinions, regardless of whether I agree or disagree.
From what I've seen, mentioning MGoPoints is enough to attract Negstalkers.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:43 PM ^
To all grammar lovers,
I’m on a mission to re-build my grammatical foundation/abilities this Christmas break. Does anyone have a few good books, videos, articles or web sites I could use to re-learn English grammar from the ground up?
October 8th, 2009 at 2:50 PM ^
Depends on what you want to learn, but the previously mentioned Little Brown Handbook (Any college bookstore. Buy used. EXPENSIVE!) is a great resource for journalism grammar. AP, MLA, Chicago and more.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:58 PM ^
I generally prefer Elements of Style by Strunk and White. But I guess that is more of a handbook for writing with a little bit of a grammar primer.
Of course the best part about our language is that the 'rules' are always suggestions, really.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:02 PM ^
Either way, I think the inclusion of "people" does make it a little bit clumsy. It would read better if it said "one person in four is Muslim" or "one in four is Muslim."
October 8th, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^
I am an English teacher and you're just wrong.
- "1" is the subject of the sentence.
- "in 4 people" is a prepositional phrase, to which verbs are not bound.
- "is" is the correct verb because it relates to the subject of the sentence, "1."
- You misunderstood the information you found on the Oxford site. They were not implying that all numbers (1 or 34 or 457) are plural and therefore followed by plural verbs. They were implying that the phrase "a number" is generally considered plural and should be followed by a plural verb.
- You said: "I was unaware I could make so many enemies by making a point about a news source using improper grammar and then defending my point when questioned." What you don't seem to understand is that you were making an improper point about the "improper grammar."
October 8th, 2009 at 7:56 PM ^
In four people, nearly 1 is muslim.
blazefire's counter: it doesn't say it that way
counter to the counter: it doesn't matter that it doesn't say it that way
counter to the counter to the counter: it does matter that it doesnt say it that way
counter to the counter to the counter to the counter: it does matter that it doesnt matter that it doesnt say it that way
...
counter (to the counter)^(2n): no
counter (to the counter)^(2n+1): yes
October 8th, 2009 at 8:02 PM ^
ZING!! Well done BeantownBLue! Haven't seen such a clear internet ass-whuppin like that in a while.
Blaze should heed your the comment about simply admitting when you are wrong.
October 8th, 2009 at 6:20 PM ^
There's nothing wrong with that line. It's entirely correct. Yes, it's true that numbers below ten (or 100, according to some) should generally be spelled out, but this is a news headline. Headlines have limited space and their writers make allowances accordingly.
October 8th, 2009 at 7:52 PM ^
I might not be the world's best editor, but I get paid to decide stuff like this so I felt compelled to chime in:
I believe "is" is the correct verb there, for the same reasons cited above. "Person" is implied, and therefore "1 person" is the subject of the sentence.
Also, it is AP style that numerals and single quotes are used in all headlines for the purpose of saving space. Here's the excerpt under "Headlines" in AP Stylebook:
... use numerals for all numbers and single quotes for quotations.Most websites also have a headline character limit, which is almost certainly the reason that the headline wasn't written as "Nearly 1 person in 4 is Muslim" or "Nearly 25% of the world's population is Muslim" or something like that.
October 8th, 2009 at 9:40 PM ^
The character limit doesn't prohibit the people/person alteration; they're the same length:
Nearly 1 in 4 people is Muslim
Nearly 1 person in 4 is Muslim
October 9th, 2009 at 12:48 AM ^
Good point, I didn't count carefully. I suppose that would be slightly clearer, but the original point still stands: the "person" part is implied and therefore "is" is the correct verb.
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