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I was genuinely startled this morning by the use of periods at the end of "the internet is under new management" and "yours." Ad agencies these days are infamous for ignoring correct punctuation. I grind my teeth every time I see an ad sentence with a missing comma, dash or semi-colon, or one with poor construction. I took this shot because of this disregard; because it's become so utterly routine.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 25, 2009 at 2:15 PM

comment #1

iamanerd says ...

The Internet is under new management is a complete sentence, so I do not understand why it cannot end with a period. Or is it end IN a period? Grammar! It's for suckers.

Don't worry, Jeff. Most folks who see those ads are just looking at the pictures anyway. The text is an afterthought at best.

Posted by iamanerd at October 25, 2009 2:52 PM

comment #2

zyg says ...

it's not incorrect. you can have a sentence with one word. really.

while 'yours' and the previous sentence are certainly closely related, they do not have to joined. a comma would have been a poor choice. a dash is closest to incorrect. a semi-colon is the best choice if you're not going to go with two separate sentences. maybe. wait. probably.

it's all a matter of editorial choice. besides. do you really think an ad agency would want to use this mark ; in an ad? especially an ad aimed at yahoo users.

Posted by zyg at October 25, 2009 2:54 PM

comment #3

R. Hunt says ...

I'm with Jeff on this one. When the purpose of one sentence is to draw attention to the sentence that follows it, a colon strikes me as the most appropriate mark, especially when the second sentence is a brusque one-worder.

Posted by R. Hunt at October 25, 2009 3:19 PM

comment #4

Gabe Rodriguez says ...

I'm with Jeff all the way. And Zyg, "Yours." IS incorrect. Sure, it's all a matter of editorial choice, but grammatically speaking, it's fundamentally wrong. The only thing required of a sentence is that it contain a verb; the rest would be editorial choice.

Posted by Gabe Rodriguez at October 25, 2009 3:25 PM

comment #5

DarthCorleone says ...

It's not technically correct, but for me it's within the bounds of acceptable creative prose. Plenty of respected authors use atypical grammar like this for emphasis. That said, if we're going to be sticklers about it, a colon would have been best. I believe a dash is also usable but not preferred.

Posted by DarthCorleone at October 25, 2009 4:05 PM

comment #6

zyg says ...

gabe rodriguez

i see. so. walk. that's a sentence because walk is a verb? really? no. you don't say.

my! i've been writing a long time and i never knew that rule. never.

Posted by zyg at October 25, 2009 4:19 PM

comment #7

iamanerd says ...

Ah...grammar. A comma would be correct, so would a colon, and so is the period used. An incomplete sentence, dependent clause, whatever you want to call it ending with end punctuation is not incorrect.

It is a stylistic choice since there are at least three choices. An exclamation point would have been a fourth choice used to show emphasis.

Without these choices, we wouldn't have some of the greatest writers in the English language: Shakespeare, Dickens, Faulkner, Joyce, etc.

We don't have to agree with the choices, but their point is to help get meaning across to the audience. I would say that the ad works.

Posted by iamanerd at October 25, 2009 5:56 PM

comment #8

iamanerd says ...

Not to derail this thrilling grammar conversation, but did anyone see Paranormal's weekend take at the BO??!!

Wow, that thing is pushing 70 million total earned! It was good, scary. Wish more movies made these days were simple and solid. Quality won't get as big an audience as hype, but it has a much better chance at making money, getting a loyal following, and being respected. Sort of what District 9 did for sci-fi this summer.

Posted by iamanerd at October 25, 2009 6:04 PM

comment #9

LexG says ...

One of my biggest grammatical pet peeves of the Internet age is:

ROLLOVER TO EXPAND.

"Roll over" should be two words in that usage; It's akin to people who say "We'll have fun everyday."

Posted by LexG at October 25, 2009 6:45 PM

comment #10

iamanerd says ...

Yep, everyday/every day seems to be used incorrectly in ads constantly.

Posted by iamanerd at October 25, 2009 6:54 PM

comment #11

Gabe Rodriguez says ...

No, no, zyg. All a sentence MUST have is a verb. A verb alone does not make a sentence, as you definitively pointed out above. It's the foundation of any sentence, without which a sentence cannot function and is therefore a phrase.

Posted by Gabe Rodriguez at October 25, 2009 7:38 PM

comment #12

Gordon27 says ...

am I the only one who caught Jeff's misused semi-colon above?

Posted by Gordon27 at October 25, 2009 8:05 PM

comment #13

Bob Violence says ...

Wells "genuinely shocked" by typographical conceit in use for hundreds of years; internet community "not at all shocked"

Posted by Bob Violence at October 26, 2009 2:17 AM

comment #14

Bob Violence says ...

The only thing required of a sentence is that it contain a verb; the rest would be editorial choice.

The "requirement" that a sentence contain a verb is as much an "editorial choice" as anything else mentioned so far.

Posted by Bob Violence at October 26, 2009 2:29 AM

comment #15

zyg says ...

gabe

so, 'yours.' is a phrase not a sentence. so what? writers often use one word sentences (or phrases). correct? it's semantics. you may write the word 'really' or 'guess' or 'no' or 'stop' or 'shit' or etc followed by a period.

while a sentence in the classical sense must have certain elements, a word or words, which are followed by a period may also be called a 'sentence' for convenience sake. otherwise, you would have to say phrase and/or fragment, or 'line', or such. i called 'yours.' a sentence out of practicality. to me, as a writer, it's the same -- although, sometimes i'll say 'line'. for the pedagogue that might be off-putting.

you would rather see:

the internet is under new management; yours.

you think that's better. i don't. of course it's a more classical structure, but i think 'yours.' is better looking. that is, it looks better looking despite being a compromise of grammar. while it would make for a better sentence, i don't think a semi-colon belongs on an ad for yahoo!. it's unfortunate but true that most kids would wonder what ; means. the ad is aimed primarily at kids. therefore...

call 'yours.' a sentence or phrase or fragment. i'm suggesting it doesn't matter. one-word 'sentences' are used. while sentences must have certain elements i think 'yours.' may be called a sentence for convenience sake.

Posted by zyg at October 26, 2009 7:04 AM

comment #16

TJ Smoov says ...

I'm a copywriter at an ad agency. I'm also a freelance proofreader. These two jobs are often at odds with each other, so I have to remember to be flexible. The Yahoo ad copy is certainly acceptable, especially since the font size and color of "Yours" is used to illustrate the same point an em dash or colon would have made. Sometimes, you just have to take a breath, relax, and let it go. No one was harmed in the reading of this advertisement.

Posted by TJ Smoov at October 26, 2009 9:16 AM

comment #17

Gina Delicioso says ...

gordon is totally right about jeff wells' improper use of the semicolon-- was this meant as a subtle joke, or did wells fuck up his punctuation while grinding his teeth at the startlingly poor punctuation of the others?

personally i think a billboard like this yahoo one doesn't have to operate under the normal rules of prose grammar any more than the text of a mamet script does. i think the "voice" they're meaning to convey with the text should feel like it's "speaking" to you instead of writing at you, and so it's okay. it's more like a line of dialogue.

This was a nitpicky thing to post about, no question. Even worse if the semicolon mistake was unintentional...

Posted by Gina Delicioso at October 26, 2009 9:36 AM

comment #18