Slog - Comments on Copyeditors?

Comment by Justy

Justy — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:37:35 -0800

If they are going to offer so many selections, perhaps they should also add "pretend."

Comment by Sara

Sara — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:40:56 -0800

Hey, if the content's not there, the grammar hardly matters. But that's some sweet-ass alliteration!

Comment by Chris

Chris — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:45:15 -0800

I believe this saying comes from C.S. Lewis.

Comment by dirge

dirge — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:45:33 -0800

Isn't that a bastardization of a C.S. Lewis quote? His "trilemma" I think.

Comment by Just Me

Just Me — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:46:33 -0800

Yes, that is exactly correct: Jesus is a lying, lunatic lord.

Comment by Amy Kate Horn

Amy Kate Horn — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:47:05 -0800

Where to begin? First off, Denny Park Lutherans, a colon can't go anywhere where a period wouldn't make sense (colons must follow independent clauses). Pull the colon off. (2) Buy some goddamn commas! (3) Pop "the" in before "Lord" to make that structure parallel and more rhythmic. (4) Adding an exclamation point never improves a fucked-up sentence. Are you emphatically proclaiming this statement? This exclamation point is totally out of place.

Comment by dna

dna — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:47:49 -0800

mommy is one of god's chosen people and daddy thinks jesus is magic

Comment by Amy Kate Horn

Amy Kate Horn — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:54:42 -0800

C. S. Lewis said it better:

(From Mere Christianity "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us."

Comment by Katelyn

Katelyn — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:01:45 -0800

On the bus the other day, I saw an ad for a tutorial service... it misspelled the word 'tutorial'. Thereby continues the vicious cycle of ignorance.

Comment by Haiku Guy

Haiku Guy — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:03:26 -0800

Jesus is either
A liar, a lunatic.
Worship ten o'clock

Comment by infrequent

infrequent — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:33:57 -0800

he could also be legend or lore.

and why can't a lunatic say great things? i had some pretty crazy teachers growing up.

Comment by ECB

ECB — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:43:16 -0800

I think the error Dan was referring to is that "either" can only reference two things: "Either this or that." You can't have either this, that, or the other thing.

Comment by flamingbanjo

flamingbanjo — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:44:56 -0800

If they wish to spice up their tagline while continuing with the lovely alliteration they've established, I'd like to suggest the following "L" words:
"Luscious."
"Lemon-scented."
"Lumberjack!"

Am I missing any other good "L" words?

Comment by Nick

Nick — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:46:02 -0800

Is the "copyeditors" reference about the use of "either" with multiple alternatives? Because barring the lack of commas in the alternatives, I believe it is accepted to use "either" to introduce multiple "either...or" comparisons. But I think the construct could only be taken to mean (with commas):

Jesus is either a liar or Lord.
Jesus is either a lunatic or Lord.

and never:

Jesus is either a liar or a lunatic.

Comment by W. Churchill

W. Churchill — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:00:24 -0800

Poor grammar is something up with which I shall not put.

Comment by jameyb

jameyb — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:03:54 -0800

jesus was clearly a lesbian.

Comment by Original Andrew

Original Andrew — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:07:23 -0800

Amy Kate Horn @ 8,

I made C.S. Lewis write that because I control the Universe, including the past, present and future, with my mind! It�s very Outer Limits.

THE SECRET!!!!!

Comment by SDA in SEA

SDA in SEA — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:08:38 -0800

"Jesus is either: a liar a lunatic or lord!"...

Bad grammar aside, I might add "fictitious" to the list of possibilities.

Comment by PA Native

PA Native — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:49:30 -0800

I'm starting to think Kelly O should take her camera into The Stranger's copy edit meetings. They sound fascinating. Or maybe do a "How Was It?" after one wraps up.

Comment by duncan

duncan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:23:38 -0800

jesus was a capricorn

Comment by keshmeshi

keshmeshi — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:41:56 -0800

@13,

Lickable

Comment by war pigs

war pigs — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:45:22 -0800

nothing beats ritual cannibalism in the morning!

catholic flashback: mom, why does jesus taste like stale crackers?

I am recovering nicely, thank you

Comment by horatiosanzserif

horatiosanzserif — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:35:01 -0800

Copy editors = 2 words

And on first read, I thought the sign read, "JESUS IS ETHER," which blew my mind like it was hiding in the Volunteer Park bushes in its best leather chaps. Z-zang!!

Comment by sepiolida

sepiolida — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 17:10:00 -0800

I think it's telling us to worship loam. Loam is just soil, so not as much complicated debate.. or is there supposed to be an "at" there?

Comment by Karen

Karen — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 17:23:23 -0800

I guess they didn't have "bullets" or list-numbers available to stick into the sign...

Besides, that particular topic of discussion is really old. It's been brought up for decades by people who don't really know how to discuss things...

Comment by Vooodooo84

Vooodooo84 — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:49:52 -0800

The entire congregation of Denny Park is octogenarians so i don't really think they can read that sign with out glasses

Comment by lawrence clark

lawrence clark — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 23:54:33 -0800

Drop the colon and add the word "and" between "liar" and "a lunatic". The grammatical issues will be corrected and the statement will be correct english. (Was that a run-on sentence?)Please excuse me now, I must go tell GW what must be done to solve the world's problems.

Comment by lawrence clark

lawrence clark — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:02:30 -0800

@27, Add the word "for" between "now," and "I". The grammatical issue will be corrected and the sentence will be correct. Thank you, Lawrence.

Comment by anal retentive

anal retentive — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:59:40 -0800

@27, Lawrence, while your response is correct, another possible correction would be to eliminate "either:" and add a comma between "liar" and "a lunatic". ( I think I need to relax now).

Comment by Bob in Rochester

Bob in Rochester — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 06:44:58 -0800

I believe the signer was tryiing to summarize the day's assigned scripture reading: "For if [you use Old testament to judge people] then Christ died iin vain.Galatians 2:11-20

O Geeze, look at me quoting scripture. AAAAAARGH

Comment by Fooey

Fooey — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 07:40:06 -0800

The CS Lewis quote is one of the least logically defensible arguments in favor of Jesus Christ being divine, ever. Begging the question, false trichotomies; holding this up as the high water mark in Christian theo-logic is just embarassing.

Just for example: how do we know that Jesus claimed, himself, personally, to be Divine (something CS Lewis assumes in context of this quote)? What we have are accounts of what Jesus said written by his followers long after he was dead. You don't have to make the assumption that Jesus himself was a liar to think that those who wrote ABOUT him could be lying.