Post AY5nZdC4yJS7ZHIEam by StephanieACain@mstdn.plus
(DIR) More posts by StephanieACain@mstdn.plus
(DIR) Post #AY5mnIZWLARFi6D8Xg by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-26T16:54:24Z
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I got a new cold-brew coffeemaker, and as I am making coffee for the first time, I do exactly what the instructions say not to do: bump it so that the grounds go flying into the part that holds the water.And every time something like this happens — which is often — I think, "This is why I no longer work in a biology lab."I mean, it's not the only reason I dropped out of grad school, but it was certainly *a* reason. I'm as clumsy as a panda.
(DIR) Post #AY5n0bg6cCuGjQdXqS by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-26T16:56:47Z
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And in case you are wondering, "coffee maker" is typically two words, but Merriam-Webster says "coffeemaker" is a variant spelling, and I thought it worked better with a compound modifier ("cold-brew" before it.
(DIR) Post #AY5n5Yw0F92LfdR4kK by chrisdecibel@c.im
2023-07-26T16:57:42Z
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@grammargirl Cold brew has such a more well rounded and rich flavor. The same coffee in a regular coffee maker doesn't even start to compare.
(DIR) Post #AY5nQej7u1vZiTTGGu by CStamp@mastodon.social
2023-07-26T17:01:27Z
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@grammargirl I love that you took time to explain that, especially since I doubt anyone would've questioned your spelling. :)
(DIR) Post #AY5nZdC4yJS7ZHIEam by StephanieACain@mstdn.plus
2023-07-26T17:03:10Z
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@grammargirl This is actually super interesting to me because my office is currently having a passionate debate about the use of hyphens in nouns vs in compound modifiers.
(DIR) Post #AY5ng6tXSPU1QBi6VM by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-26T17:04:15Z
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And in case you are wondering about my use of the present tense to describe something in the past, Neal Whitman wrote about this for me back in 2021. It's called the historical present, and you can use it to make stories feel more exciting. I did it on purpose. :)https://web.archive.org/web/20220403230927/https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/using-present-tense-in-a-story-about-the-past-0#grammar #linguistics
(DIR) Post #AY5p0BLohPIszI4WyO by thymos@mastodon.nl
2023-07-26T17:19:05Z
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@grammargirlAs a native Dutch speaker I wonder if there are any rules in English spelling as to which compound nouns get spelled as one word and which as two. In Dutch, like in German, we spell all compound nouns as single words. When I write in English though, I often have to look up what the correct spelling is, or at least *a* correct spelling. It seems so inconsistent to me.
(DIR) Post #AY5r1gqhH8L4sJMYsa by grammargirl@zirk.us
2023-07-26T17:41:49Z
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@thymos Compound nouns are frustratingly inconsistent in English. Here's the entry from my forthcoming book, "The Grammar Daily."
(DIR) Post #AY5rlNFQU4qRP6iIbY by thymos@mastodon.nl
2023-07-26T17:50:04Z
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@grammargirlOh wow, I didn't even know about the changes. Thanks for the tip!
(DIR) Post #AY5tP6Hd4p7GKLFcAa by UncleJosh@wandering.shop
2023-07-26T18:08:18Z
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@grammargirl Thanks for that. I just workshopped a story where most everything was in past tense but one line (in a single paragraph) was in present tense. It made me stop to read it twice. I'm not sure it's a technique I'd use in my fiction for the narrative voice.
(DIR) Post #AY5td8cdB6r1dPlfgu by dernub@universeodon.com
2023-07-26T18:10:59Z
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@grammargirl oh no! Now the panda anti-defamation society will come after you! 🤣🐼
(DIR) Post #AY61KdUQzI4RV6cecS by MichaelPorter@ottawa.place
2023-07-26T19:37:16Z
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@grammargirl I’m convinced that coffee grounds have some strong mutually repulsive force that causes them to spill all over the place, no matter how careful you are. Don’t blame yourself, it’s physics 😄
(DIR) Post #AY65JgAVwUEJKs6WbQ by shadychars@mastodon.social
2023-07-26T20:21:56Z
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@grammargirl I have nothing to add on the historical present thing, but I did also use my own cold brew coffee maker wrongly the first time round. There seems to be something uniquely challenging about making coffee without heat 🙃
(DIR) Post #AY67z8RXvEygoExyJk by StaceyCornelius@mstdn.ca
2023-07-26T20:40:50Z
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@grammargirl Which means you're equally as charming 😁
(DIR) Post #AY86OwI3uyf93RcukS by Editrix_Rachel@mstdn.social
2023-07-27T19:43:26Z
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@grammargirl now I'm imagining a panda holding a test tube and then promptly falling over.