Grammarly... is it wrong?

[TadOverdon]

Grammarly would like me to find the missing article that belongs in "smash them to death."

 

[gordo12]

Grammarly would like me to find the missing article that belongs in "smash them to death."

You know, I don't think we give Grammarly enough credit for the hours of entertainment it provides us.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I think if you removed the word "you" from the original sentence, the software might recognize it as a command instead of a potential question.

"Don't pass out on me again, Mary." sounds like a command.

"Don't you..." sounds like the beginning of a question, as if inquiring about their opinion.

 

[TadOverdon]

You know, I don't think we give Grammarly enough credit for the hours of entertainment it provides us.

Too true.

 

[Ezeerider]

Dear Grammarly,

I do not mean to say that "She was tall, long-legged, and hard." I wish to say that "She was tall, long-legged and hard."

I cannot explain to you why I want it. I just do.

OTOH, I will HAVE the comma in "He was deferentially polite, and dressed only in a thong and straw sandals," despite your Borg-brained pronouncement of its superfluity.

Furthermore, I sneer at your clueless insistence that "completely wind and solar" ought to be rendered as "completely winding and solar."

I didn't have time to go back through the whole thread here, but just to save you guys some time, it appears that what you're arguing about is what is known as the Oxford comma - and it's been the subject of ongoing arguments among grammarians for a long time now. However, it's now pretty well mandated in most of the American style manuals.

For my own purposes, I rely on context when deciding whether or not to include it, with a preference for including it when I feel a pause after the series would either prevent any confusion, or simply cause a pause which would sound better there (often a prime purpose for a comma anyway).

And in re Lee Child and his Jag comment, while I've read almost all his novels, I wonder when he wrote that bit of opinion, since Ford owned Jag for about 8 years at one time.

And as someone who's owned a Jag and twisted wrenches on a lot of others, I have to wonder if Lee ever has. The coachwork was/is beautiful, but they were never known for dependability. Unless you count on the probability of failure. I was able to greatly expand my lexicon of obscenities in several languages during my Jaguar years. I think Lee would approve.