Search results for 'tag:Apostrophes tag:Semicolons' matching tags 'Apostrophes' and 'Semicolons'

Re: Memos show Clinton Turmoil Part 1

Feebs11 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:47:13 GMT

Question: I would have written ''Clinton's turmoil''. Why didn't the author use apostrophe? It is a headline - they do not use standard grammar.

Question: Why is semicolon used instead of comma to separate the email addresses above? Addresses are better separated by semicolons - it establishes that they are different.

Question: Clinton didn't embrace Penn's approach because she did not consider it seriously. Therefore, what campaign aides were saying is redundant. They are the people to whom the journalists talked in order to find out what is happening.

Memos show Clinton turmoil

Jackson6612 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:05:10 GMT

Memos show Clinton turmoil

Question: I would have written ''Clinton's turmoil''. Why didn't the author use apostrophe?

BY CRAIG GORDON AND TOM BRUNE | <email addresses removed by mod.>
August 13, 2008

Question: Why is semicolon used instead of comma to separate the email addresses above?

WASHINGTON - In a fresh postmortem (=an examination of a plan or event that failed, done to discover why it failed, =autopsy) on Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid (=attempt to obtain or do something), newly published staff memos (=a short official note to another person in the same company or organization) and e-mails reveal a campaign hobbled (=to hobble something or someone means to make it more difficult for them to be successful or to achieve what they want) by internal rivalries (=a situation in which two or more people, teams, or companies are competing for something), faulty planning, bloated (=more than needed, =excessive) spending - and perhaps most important, Clinton's own failure to make the hard decisions.

Clinton offered herself to voters as a hyper-competent (=extra competent) executive ready to be president from day one. But atop (=on top of something) her own campaign, she was a hesitant leader, who allowed bitter infighting (=when members of the same group or organization argue, or compete with each other in an unfriendly way) to fester (=If an argument or bad feeling festers, it continues so that feelings of hate or dissatisfaction increase) among staffers over whether to go negative against Barack Obama, according to the Atlantic magazine.

The most bare-knuckled (=characterized by disorderly action and disregard for rules) lines of attack came from Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, who urged Clinton to highlight Obama's "lack of American roots" due to his upbringing in Indonesia and Hawaii - saying he could only win if he faced Attila the Hun ((?406-453 AD) a king of the Huns (=an ancient people from Asia) who attacked and took control of large parts of the Roman Empire. He is famous for being violent and cruel).

But Clinton didn't embrace Penn's flag-waving (=the expression of strong national feelings, especially when these feelings seem too extreme) approach (=way of doing something), which campaign aides (=someone whose job is to help someone who has an important job, especially a politician) insist was never seriously considered.

Question: Clinton didn't embrace Penn's approach because she did not consider it seriously. Therefore, what campaign aides were saying is redundant.

The article also says that Clinton at times grew frustrated and short-tempered - including on the morning after her stunning third-place finish in Iowa in January, when aides on a call were silent. Clinton's camp dismissed the story as "inside-the-Beltway gossip" and "old news." And former campaign aides sharply disputed the notion of Clinton as an indecisive leader, with one campaign veteran saying, "Nobody seems to want to remember the fact that we had so many successes and come-from-behind victories in this campaign ... and they are due in large part to Senator Clinton's leadership."

Question: What does the line including on the morning...when aides on a call were silent mean? If she finished third place, then why would the author describe it as stunning? What does call mean in when aides on a call were silent?

Question: What does the phrase inside-the-Beltway gossip mean?

Question: What does the line Nobody seems to want to remember...to Senator Clinton's leadership'' mean?

But the e-mails and memos offer vivid (=very clear and detailed) new details about what had long been reported - that Clinton's headquarters was beset (=to make someone experience serious problems or dangers) by caustic (=bitter) internal battles involving Penn and former President Bill Clinton, who wanted to forcefully attack Obama, and others who wanted the New York senator to take a more positive tack (=method, =way of doing something). At one point, it was Bill Clinton - and not Hillary - who approved the famed 3 a.m. phone call ad.

Question: what had long been reported is passive past perfect tense. Am I right?

Question: I think headquarters should take plural verb. What do you say?

Question: Why are the hyphens used in -and not Hillary-? I believe commas would do instead?

Adding to the turmoil was the fact that the campaign had little strategy and no money left to seriously compete in the post-Super Tuesday contests - having (=the form having with a past participle can be used to introduce a clause in which you mention an action which had already happened before another action began) burned through $106 million before Iowa. That allowed Obama to win 12 straight contests and effectively wrap up (=to finish a job, meeting etc) the nomination.

Question: What does burned through mean?

In the end, the campaign's strategy came to reflect some of the internal turmoil, as Clinton veered (=changed course) from attacking Obama to emphasizing her personal side.

Question: What does her personal side mean?

Penn did offer some advice in March 2007 that proved on the mark - Clinton's path to victory lay with women and lower- and working-class voters.

Question: What does proved on the mark mean? I couldn't find it in the dictionary.

But by the time Clinton finally settled on that strategy to win the later primaries, it was too late.

Excerpts from the memos

"All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light ... It also exposes a very strong weakness for him - his roots to basic American values and culture are at best (=even when considered in the most positive way) limited. I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values." Strategist Mark Penn, from a March 19, 2007, memo to Hillary Rodham Clinton advising her to attack Barack Obama for his "lack of American roots."

Question: What does centre mean in the above context?

"The right knows Obama is unelectable except perhaps against Attila the Hun, and a third party would come in then anyway." Penn, from the same memo.

Question: Does right refer to right wing in the above context?

"This has been a very instructive call, talking to myself." Clinton, before angrily hanging up on a staff conference call the day after coming in third in Iowa in January. "She complained of being outmaneuvered (=to gain an advantage over someone by using cleverer or more skilful plans or methods) in Iowa and being painted as the establishment candidate," according to the Atlantic - but was met with near-silence.

Question: I would have written This has been..., talking to me. Why did she use myself?

Question: What is a conference call? Is it some kind of telephone call which address many poeple?

Question: Why is in used in coming in third?

"STOP IT!! I have help my tongue for weeks. After this morning's WP story, no longer. This makes me sick. This circular firing squad that is occurring is unattractive, unprofessional, unconscionable, and unacceptable ... It must stop." Robert Barnett, a Clinton lawyer and Washington insider, from a March 6, 2008, e-mail to campaign staff after a Washington Post story detailed the infighting.

Question: What does I have help my tongue for weeks mean?

Question: What does This circular firing squad mean?

Question: Were the comments in the last paragraph made by Robert Barnett?

Re: Some sentence questions on apostrophe use, capitalization, and quotes

Mister Micawber — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 13:49:01 GMT

1-- Capitalize; if the quotation is set off syntactically from the matrix text by a comma, semicolon, or colon, the first word is capitalized, irrespective of its status in the original text.
2-- Mormons; no apostrophe
3-- Capitalize as in #1
4-- She is saying it. BrE (I believe) would put the period outside the closing quotation marks. (And I would put a space between the single and double quotation marks, for clarity.)
5-- No capitalization. Both forms exist, but since you have prefaced the phrase with the indefinite article, it is not Paradise per se you are speaking of.
6-- You are correct. Reeses are the Reese family members as a group.
7-- It is not even remotely ambiguous with the were. Without were, the reader pauses to assess the syntax.
8-- Both her parents: parents'.
9-- He, and I would change was to were. If you don't, you might as well use him; they are equally informal
10-- Capitalize as mentioned above, and the same comment as above re the quotation marks.
11-- All three forms -- farmer's, farmers' and farmers-- seem to be popular. I would opt with you for farmers'.

Re: I am rusty after 25 years. I need essay(argument) correction

Mister Micawber — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 14:36:00 GMT

This is generally fine. There are a few things that need repair:

learning it (comma)
gang related (hyphen)
hips allowing (comma)
shirt and (comma)
where the focus is (delete all except 'focus')
News âA (punctuate or restructure the clause)
comment, (no comma here or at the other end)
show (shows)
styles that accentuates
code there (comma)
child sense
Parents would find most parents (huh??)
the cage with a lion (a lion's cage)
means, to (no comma)
decisions, about (no comma)
decisions of (on)
by ways of
students choice (apostrophe)
based own
on by studying
what is issue (a misquote?)
if the decision of what to wear to school was cut (were)
Stated on BlueSuitMom.com... (this sentence is not a sentence)
peer approved (hyphen)
defiantly (wrong word)
out weigh (one word)
in who has the best clothes (of who-- and add a comma)
be able to focus (delete all except 'focus')
students (apostrophe)
TheEducation
Beach California comma)
uniforms since (semicolon)
percent; (comma)

Re: Another Punctuation Question

Mister Micawber — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 14:00:12 GMT

You can't put a semicolon before the 'however', because there is no independent clause preceding it. The bit needs re-working; it is awkward. You can keep the semicolon if you wish, but I would prefer a full stop and a new start on the complex sentence to follow:

'There are no absolute rights and wrongs in this matter. However, when many people wrote to ask why St. Thomas' Hospital in London has no "s" after the apostrophe, I did feel that the answer should closely echo Dr Johnson's when asked to explain his erroneous definition of a pastern: "Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance." '

Re: Help with commas

rommie — Wed, 25 Feb 2004 13:41:19 GMT

The second example is indeed a comma-splice - but the point is that comma splices are NOT all right. Comma-splicing is BAD. Don't do it. Replace your comma with a period or a semicolon.

Rommie

PS. There is no apostrophe in "commas"

Students: Commonly faced problems

hitchhiker — Wed, 13 Aug 2003 20:13:03 GMT

Tips for getting fast and full responses

Help me login! I'm confused! Do you need any money? <- No it's free!

Problems with the 'Guest'/'Anonymous' question

Common questions

Apostrophes, Using apostrophes, (its, it's It's again)

'An, A' and Articles, Usage, Examples Words that are articles A / An hotel

Affect, effect Affect, effect pt2

May, would, could

Spaces, commas and punctuation Quotation marks and punctuation Some rules, including commas Using commas before 'and'

Semicolon, Comma, Colon More semicolon examples

Using 'Me' or 'I' I are, me are

Yours sincerely / Yours faithfully

Examples of metaphors

Common topics

Grammar, and the origins of English

English is crazy moonie_piranha

Excellent resources

The Internet TESL Journal

Common errors in English Added by jiaoqiang1

The (incomplete) Punctuation FAQ

Einstein's riddle - For fun!

Glossary of Linguistic Terms
Added by MrPedantic