Whoa, I think this meme has back pain at this point. Wasn’t this an email forward in its first incarnation?
Honestly I have no idea anymore, I have seen it in a dozen forms at least.
Edit: from https://www.plainlanguage.gov/resources/humor/how-to-write-good/ :
The first set of rules (1-23) was written by Frank L. Visco and originally published in the June 1986 issue of Writers’ Digest. The second set of rules (24-53) is derived from William Safire’s Rules for Writers.
That’s remarkable. Like an archaeological dig.
This meme is a millenial
I thought I had seen it in high school, but that would have been before 86. Doesn’t surprise me that it predates viral email forwards though.
First time seeing lol
You are today’s lucky 10.000
For every situation there is a related XKCD
I don’t mean that as any sort of a dig. I was just wondering at…well, I guess at how old I am.
deleted by creator
You can have my parentheticals (which I quite enjoy) when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
Honestly, about half of the examples are good advice and half are just grammar jokes
Unless you’re writing satire, speeches, or stories for children. (Fuck you, #1)
Always avoid the exhausting, tedious habit of creating the longest, most boring run-on sentences that could ruin the attention span of the reader, therefore failing to get your well-encapsulated point across through layers of unnecessary text filler.
.11. Don’t do lists.
12: avoid colons and remember to capitalise the first word of every sentence.
13 ) consistent formatting is important
15: Attention to detail is key
- Remember back ticks are not apostrophes. Don`t you forget it.
Perchance.
Never use a big word when a diminutive one will do.
Never use a sesquipedalian utterance when a diminutive one suffices.
It is perfectly fine to end a sentence with a preposition in English.
This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.
I think of this every time.
i mean really all of these “rules” are guidelines for formal writing at best, in daily speech it doesn’t matter one iota how you type as long as people understand you.
language prescriptivism is wack
I absolutely agree! I’m a descriptivist and not a prescriptivist when it comes to linguistics and I’m much more interested in semantics and semiotics than syntax.
I just love pointing out when even the nominally prescriptivists get it wrong. I treat it like a Los Angeles smug alert.
“How to write WELL” *Ignores rest of post.
(i think you’ve missed the point; deliberately?)
Literally unreadable
I think “Dgar” is meant to be an acronym for “dad-joke aggregator”
Dad Geoke AggregatoR?
I love how these rules basically parodies themselves, like how exaggerations are a “billion” times worse then understatements lol.
Pretty sure that’s the entire joke, my guy.