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Post by Barry on Jul 28, 2008 11:18:45 GMT
Has anyone else noticed the rise in the use of dangling participles, or am I just being hypersensitive. I keep hearing them on the radio, and there was even one in the Radio Times last week.
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Post by Verbivore on Jul 28, 2008 11:59:08 GMT
Has anyone else noticed the rise in the use of dangling participles, or am I just being hypersensitive. I keep hearing them on the radio, and there was even one in the Radio Times last week. I'm painfully conscious of them every day - and I recently edited a book-length MS wherein every third sentence (or so it seemed) started with a dangler. It had me tearing my hair out (all 1 mm of it)! If I had charged per dangler I'd be a wealthy man!  |
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Post by Paul Doherty on Jul 28, 2008 13:48:41 GMT
I think it's down to CVs and biographies. They always seem to start "With 25 years of experience in the widget making industry, Lord Gnome ..." which is OK, but sets a pattern. It's a short step to "Married with four children, the Widget Development Advisory Council has appointed 64-year-old Lord Gnome as its new Executive Chairman. Lord Gnome has 25 years of experience at the top of the Widget-making industry and said ..."
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Post by Paul Doherty on Jul 28, 2008 13:55:52 GMT
And CVs and job adverts are rife with cliche, probably because it's so hard to be original. Writers are likely to have been furnished with many examples of the sort of thing expected. All those proven track records and highly-motivated individuals, self-starters heaving with excellent communication skills and wishing to implement their vision, keen to work with a company which is a leader in its field and renowned for its market-leading innovation and world-class employment policies.
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Post by Pete on Jul 28, 2008 18:28:49 GMT
And CVs and job adverts are rife with cliche, probably because it's so hard to be original. Writers are likely to have been furnished with many examples of the sort of thing expected. All those proven track records and highly-motivated individuals, self-starters heaving with excellent communication skills and wishing to implement their vision, keen to work with a company which is a leader in its field and renowned for its market-leading innovation and world-class employment policies. And none of us are going to write in a CV the fact that we are happily married and live in Leicester with a wife and 2 goldfish. ;D So irony / humour is out, too. |
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Post by Tone on Jul 28, 2008 21:02:55 GMT
>And none of us are going to write in a CV ...<
My CV, for the job I've held for the last 20-odd year, said, inter alia:
"I never want to be in charge of people again"!
(They subsequently offered me the job of "Development Manager", but were reminded of my CV.)
Tone
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