101–110 of 206 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"took him to hospital" sounds very weird. Are you sure that's standard in american english?
Why is it weird? Genuinely interested because, as a non-native speaker, I would have said exactly like that.
This does not address the primary way I (ab?)use these brackets: to fill in the subject explicitly when the original author refers to it only implicitly. So quoting the last clause in the above paragraph, I might write > when the author refers to [the subject] only implicitly. The obvious alternative is to quote a longer passage. Maybe this is one of those cases where conciseness fights with authenticity. Another sol…
For example, in Scocca’s first specimen, how do we know he’s referring to the use of square brackets, or if the square brackets that appear are his own interpolation? The context makes it clear, but in other places it might not be.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is it weird? Genuinely interested because, as a non-native speaker, I would have said exactly like that.
In the US, you would use an article before "hospital": either "a" or "the".
On the other hand, Commonwealth English treats "hospital" as something more like a state. You go to hospital just like you go to work.
The author might as well be spitting into the wind. No one cares about your pedantic opinion on a common and grammatically acceptable usage.
Hard disagree, the shift in perspective from third-person to the first-person quote is jarring. You use the brackets to mold the quote into the grammatical context of the sentence that surrounds. Extra emphasis on the context of the grammar , as changing the overall context alters its message. You can also use those brackets to cut out unnecessary/irrelevant/extraneous words. A necessity, sometimes, and one that is e…
I'm sorry, but you are simply wrong. Quotes are, well, quotes , and if their grammar absolutely needs to be edited to fit your prose, then that means you shouldn't be using that quote. Editing a quote should be done with grave solemnity -- you are changing someone else's words -- and only to clarify meaning that was disturbed when you extracted the quote from its natural context. Anything else can be handled in your…
Why is your third paragraph in parenthesis? Using your own logic, you should either remove that paragraph or re-write it without parenthesis.
I could go on, but it doesn't matter because I understand what you are saying. Writing is about conveying meaning in a chain of endless signifiers, "words, words, words..." On one hand, this is utterly impossible if we nitpick to hell, on the other, it's an amazing piece of technology that works because of convention, which you and the author eschew.
"Ah yes, convention, that's why we shouldn't be using brackets in quotes becau..."
The author might as well be spitting into the wind. No one cares about your pedantic opinion on a common and grammatically acceptable usage.