Pet Peeve #27 - Double Meanings
Please submit a list of all employees broken down by sex.
We know what that should means, but we also know what that could mean.
I dislike double meanings when I’m reading a story because it distracts me from the novel. I truly hate sentences that could mean more than one thing when filling out legal documents or reading things for research.
Basically put, this is a lesson in paying attention to what you’re writing. The English language is a funny thing with multiple meanings and words that sound the same but have three different ways to spell them.
To, too, and two. Their, there, and they’re. These aren’t quite the sentence above, but they’re all the more reason to pay attention and get your intended meaning across. It’ll safe you from instant slush pile, and it might just save you from embarrassment.
A lot of embarrassment.
June 26th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Yesterday I sat on a counter with a cup of coffee. I looked at a woman shouting something obscene. Than I left.
June 27th, 2007 at 5:54 am
Nicely done.
June 27th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Un-huh. While I enjoy deliberate double entendres, it’s not a good idea to have a character tell a woman with her cat to ” hold your pussy tight.”
June 27th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
They can be fun, admittedly, but I’d rather read them when the author intentionally wants them there.