Speaking Words of Wisdom?

Here's a new one on me: A reader who went to parochial school tells me a nun was "very adamant" about the idea that people's names used in apposition should not be set off with commas, because that would risk confusion with direct address.

In other words, you'd have to say "My mother Mary is at home," because "My mother, Mary, is at home" would be telling someone named Mary that your mother was at home.

Anyone else ever heard of this wacky "rule"?

It's absurd, of course, for a number of reasons. (Even if all your readers were named Mary, most would presumably realize you weren't writing directly to them.) But I suppose some people would roll their eyes at the logic most of us apply -- using commas if we have one mother and no commas if we have two or more.

A Homework Assignment

I could care less about "I could care less," but I couldn't care less -- at least not a whole lot less -- about the passive voice.

If you're one of the haters, or a particularly enthusiastic cheerleader for the active voice, your assignment is to win me over to your side, without mentioning "Mistakes were made." Give me real-world examples of the passive voice just ruining everything, and keep your argument free of passivity.

I'm Off the Wagon

Sorry for the silence -- it's been a busy time. (Stay tuned for more on that front.)

Meanwhile (or "In the meantime ...," but, please, not "Meantime ..."), here's a little something I wrote for my actual employer, about life in the correctional system.

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter, where I do most of my writing in this short-attention-span age.

Scholarships for Copy Editors!

Attention, college students: You still have a month and a half to apply to the ACES Education Fund for one of five nifty four-figure scholarships. In addition to the money -- four $1,000 awards and one prestigious $2,500 prize named for Merv Aubespin, the "godfather" of the American Copy Editors Society -- winners get some high-quality exposure to the kind of people who hire copy editors, to the extent that people hire copy editors these days. The application deadline is Nov. 15.

About That Lawyer ...

... there's good news and bad news.