The Troublesome Three

When it comes to grammar, these three are the most troublesome for me: commas and the correct use of affect and effect. I’m sure you’ve maybe caught my mistakes/ misuse of these throughout my posts. All I can say is oops. 😬

Commas…if I think there should be a pause, I will stick in a comma. I’m not a comma scholar but I am aware that I have overused and misused commas. I am trying to tone down it down. Sorta. What can I say? I like commas.

If I read a sentence as though I am speaking to you directly and there is a pause in my speech, I will insert a comma. I just want my sentences to flow as though we are engaged in a verbal conversation. Maybe I am just a pauser. (Oh, yeah…I make up my own words too. If you haven’t already noticed.)

I am also an Oxford comma gal. I like that comma before the and in a series. You won’t change my mind so just enjoy that cute little extra black mark.

The correct usage of affect/ effect…well, you might just have to overlook this one and just pretend that I know what I’m doing. I’m never going to get it straight even though I know the rule.

I have a little story about those two words that still give my right eye a good twitchin’. I was almost thrown into Facebook Jail, or even kicked off Facebook. I didn’t let it get that far.

I had responded to a post. I believe it was political in nature but that’s not really so important. Well, maybe in a way it is. In my comment, I had misused affect/effect. I don’t even remember which I used. And I don’t care. But what I do care about is that a person who went by the name of Linda Flowers called me out on the misuse. She spoke nothing for or against my comment in relation to the post. Only my misuse of the word. I went back in and edited my comment. No worries. I was okay with that. But then she made another comment, laughing, that I corrected it. I responded that I would prefer to use the correct word so I changed it and added an LOL too. Well, it didn’t stop. This woman badgered me relentlessly. Comment after comment, senseless and stupid, about me being wrong and correcting the word. Absolutely nothing in relation to the post. Or, so I thought…

Finally, I realized that because of the nature of the post I commented on, she was there just to stir up trouble and push people to say or do things that would eventually get them in trouble. There’s a word for that and I finally used it. I called her a troll.

In a matter of minutes Facebook sent me an “important” message stating I was in violation of their terms and conditions and I was accused of bullying. Then I was asked if I wanted this incident investigated. I typed in yes. As soon as I hit send, immediately, I mean immediately, I received a message that stated an investigation was performed and I was guilty of bullying. I was not happy. I can’t remember whose arse I had to kiss to stay on Facebook but soon after that I downloaded all my data and permanently deleted my account. Life is stressful enough. I haven’t looked back even once.

Moving on…

I’ve also noticed that after I had Covid the first time, I have some stupid quirky writing issues. The most troubling is that I double words. I may write “and and” or “then then”, for example. It’s quite irritating to me and I have to be very mindful of that. Sometimes I do not notice until after I publish. (Of course.) I will edit on site, but sadly it’s too late for my email people. Please overlook. 😬

So I apologize for my grammatical errors which cause you grief. It’s not my intention to cause you any type of discomfort or to ruin your day. 😊

I hope your weekend is amazing and that you are blessed beyond measure. No matter what, though, always always be grateful. ♥️

Andi