Monday, October 15, 2007

So Much for That Ed.D.


Bill Cosby is either one kinky bastard or a guy who never learned about the comma of direct address. Or both.

(Thanks to loyal reader Charlotte for the tip.)

16 comments:

Robyn said...

THANK you! That's exactly what I said when the book arrived at my company. I used it as an example of why commas are vital in clarifying your intent.

Josh said...

Whereas this headline rightly contains no commas, but if it were me, I think comedy value alone would have compelled me to add one...

Unknown said...

I've long thought the same thing about the song "Come On Eileen."

H. Philip Aster said...

I am baffled that a book could make it all the way to print without at least someone realizing that it lacked important punctuation in the freaking title -- especially in such an obvious case.

Apparently the writer of this article thought the title of Cosby's book was going to include the comma.

Barnes & Noble
has added a comma as well.

Girl with the Interesting Hair said...

So, Bob Herbert (or his copy editor at the NY Times) took liberties in adding the comma?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/opinion/16herbert.html?em&ex=1192766400&en=a7a0297607ea0976&ei=5087%0A

Bill said...

You know, I would have taken that liberty myself if (as I've posted before regarding implied colons) the Come On and the People had been printed in different colors, or even significantly different sizes or typefaces. But no -- it's COME ON PEOPLE.

Girl with the Interesting Hair said...

Now I've got
Come on people now/
smile on your brother

going thru my head. I wonder where the comma goes in the lyrics? Is it possible this song has a pornographic element I've missed? At least you should SMILE while you're doing it...?

Julia Bloch said...

In their defense, it looks like a comma *is* used inside the book, and cover type is often treated as "marketing copy." Not that I think it's right...

Violet said...

Well, that's one way of expressing one's development from victim to victor!

pegasusgiraffe said...

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves

Paul Souders said...

The little white graphic blobs all over the cover aren't helping. Yes, I know they're SUPPOSED to be footprints...

Steve Weber said...

Maybe the cover artist thought a comma would detract from the design. Hehe.

Anonymous said...

In the matter of Come On Eileen, I am not sure that was accidental... it's a fairly racy little ditty.

Bill said...

Homer Simpson: "Lisa, did you see the Grammys?"
Lisa Simpson: "You beat Dexy's Midnight Runners."
Homer Simpson: "Well, you haven't heard the last of them."

Alex Nichols said...

I totally made that observation when I first saw the book, too.

We're all cool!

Brendan said...

well, given cosby's reputation for dosing young ladies with rohypnol, maybe he DOES mean "come on people. come all over them while they're unconscious."