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Learning about Grammar

1/24/2008

4 Comments

 
Posted by BJ
If I were to play on a very old and simple pun (which many of you know very well I am not above doing.) I’d say, “I know all about Grammar. She’s my mother’s mother.”

While flipping through my well worn copy of  “The Complete Idiot’s Guide” on Grammar and Style recently (yes, though my grammar might not show it, I actually do occasionally check how things are supposed to be done.) and I noticed a couple of things.

The first is that it’s possible to review the rules of grammar simply by reading the “call out” boxes that provide cautionary points. These are, in my opinion, rather cleverly titled, “Danger, Will Robinson”. (For the $64, what was the name of the robot who said those words? Hint- it’s from the TV show “lost In Space”. The boxes present the things many of us do that go against the rules of grammar and style.

The book also has several other types call out boxes. These include – “You could look it up.” (which provides a definition of the particular term), “Take my word for it.” (which provides fun facts) and “Quoth the maven.” (which provides hints and tips.)

I find these boxes extremely helpful, especially when I’m moving very quickly and don’t have time to really dig into the information.

I bring attention to these boxes for two reasons. The first is to point out their value when you need a quick reference for grammar. Two, to highlight how such graphic devices can help improve the ease of evaluation of your proposal and help get you the precious extra points.

And yes, I know there are, no doubt, a great many violations of the rules of grammar within this entry. But I’m OK with that because it’s a blog entry, not a proposal. I’m smart enough to have someone who knows and loves the rules of grammar edit my proposals.​
4 Comments
Jeff Elkins
3/26/2016 04:30:50 am

Now BJ, how the HAL we’re supposed to remember all the great tips we read about in this blog? I guess call out boxes would be overkill here!

Reply
Barbara Esmedina
3/26/2016 04:30:58 am

First, kudos to the person that edits your grammar for RFP responses. Everyone should have one of those and treat them with the utmost respect. Nothing will make you lose credibility faster than bad grammar in a written response.

I love call-outs and use them a lot in proposals (not RFPs), to call attention to competitive advantages, etc. They are also a nice graphic device to break up a page and make it easier to read. We use two different colors for call out boxes to make it easy to identify the type of information they contain.

Reply
BJ Lownie
3/26/2016 04:31:10 am

I’m probably remiss in not pointing out that books such as the “The Idiot’s Guide” and “___ for Dummies” do a really good job of making it easy to find critical information quickly and easily.

(and I appreciate you NOT picking on me for my poor Grandma pun.)

Reply
BJ Lownie
3/26/2016 04:31:21 am

To Barbara’s point regarding “treat these people with the utmost respect”.

Indeed. As those of you who are regular reader’s here wil have heard us say often, “Find people who are passionate about what they do and they’ll do it well. They’ll also do it better, faster and cheaper.” (A great case for this is the 24 Hour Company who are passionate about graphics – just try to get Mike P. to talk about anything else – and do an incredible job.)

Grammar is a very specific skill and requires someone who is well versed in the rules of the English language and enjoys this apsect of writing. Defaulting to “whoever is available” will result in errors within your resposne and as Barbara points out, this will cause you to appear unprofessional.

(This reply has NOT bee nedited by a grammar pro…in case that’s not intuitively obvious, due ot dangling particples, conjuntive phrases being subordinated, etc. :-)

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