Grammar Quirks: S.A. Barnes on Shifting Points of View

Grammar Girl: What’s your favorite word and why?

S.A. Barnes: Oh, it changes all the time! At the moment, I’m loving “mercurial” and “parsimonious,” just because of how it feels to say them. My parents got me a shirt for Christmas a couple years ago that reads, “Eschew Obfuscation.” I love it.

But this reminds me of something I’d completely forgotten about. Back in high school, I used to have a dictionary in my bedroom, and I’d open it to a random page and read until I found a word or definition that I found interesting or one with story potential. It was how I first learned the word “lycanthropy.” #wordnerd

GG: What’s a word you dislike (either because it’s overused or misused) and why?

SAB: "Orientated." The real word is "oriented." (Though, apparently, “orientated” is acceptable in British English, per the internet.) I grit my teeth with this one all the time, as everyone is “orientating” themselves these days. “Get orientated with the new guidelines.” NOOOOOOO.

GG: What word will you always misspell?

SAB: "Rhythm." And "rhythmic." I can’t ever seem to get the “y” in the right place on the first try.

GG: What word (or semblance of a word) would you like to see added to the dictionary? Why?

SAB: "Consideringly." As in, “He eyed her consideringly.” But it’s bad writing, so even if the word existed, I would still try to avoid that phrasing. And yet, I catch myself writing it into almost every terrible first draft.

Also, I believe my sister and I have a long-standing agreement that “deceptuous” should be a word because it sounds worse—more manipulative and somehow sleazier—than “deceptive.”

GG: Any grammar pet peeves we should know about?

SAB: The Oxford comma should be law as far as I’m concerned. Why is more clarity a bad thing? I was a corporate copywriter for years before writing books, and I’ve spent more time arguing for the Oxford comma in marketing copy meetings than I would care to admit.

The $10 Million Comma

GG: To what extent does grammar play a role in character development and voice?

SAB:...

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