You can call me a snob if you like, or roll your eyes when I correct your grammar or punctuation. I don’t care. It’s intrinsic for me to flinch when it appears that someone has forgotten elementary-school English. Having already expressed my views on commonly confused words and misplaced commas, I’ve started to notice two other areas where people can struggle in getting things just right — apostrophes and exclamation points. In my opinion, both tend to be overused primarily because of a lack...

I started journals for each of my children when they were born. I use them to mark special event and milestones. They’ve also morphed into scrapbooks with ticket stubs and old birthday cards. My hope is to deliver a book of memories they might not have of their own lives when they’re older. I hope these journals become a treasure, but as my oldest started elementary school I began to worry. The carefully-crafted messages to my kids are painstakingly handwritten in cursive — Are they even...

I sometimes find myself reading through feedback for a piece I’m working on, whether it’s via email or as comments directly on my working document. I look at them all, give myself a minute, then get a little verbally cheeky at my computer. It’s not that the feedback isn’t helpful, but maybe it’s not delivered in the best way. The hard thing is that, as a freelancer, I’m automatically not the subject expert. I may know a little, but I don’t know everything my client does about their brand or...

I was working on an article recently and came across a quote that I wanted to use. It fit the topic perfectly. As I read along to see how much I wanted to take, I came across a huge disappointment. It was almost enough to make me look elsewhere for a quote. Hidden among the meaningful content, the person in question had said, “close proximity.” This pair of words is like nails on a chalkboard for me. It was a dilemma. Give up this perfect quote to search for who knows how long for something...

I decided to write a blog post on this single topic because of my own personal interest. The very idea that a simple comma could create such controversy is both amusing and fascinating. How does this even happen? Why does this even happen? How can something be right and used everywhere one day, to simply become a matter of opinion the next? I decided to explore the issue, and here’s what I found.

Right or wrong

Interestingly enough, using or omitting the Oxford comma is neither right nor...