Monday
Jan262009

How to Use Your Words

« How to Talk a Friend Through a Problem | How to Go to Your Mental Happy Place »

Reader Comments (54)

AHAHAHAHA! He looks like an indian chief and pedophile combined! =)

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered Commentercoffee whore

Hahaha, my friends tease me about my large vocabulary, so this is awesome!

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterGrant

i am particularly impressed that your character's grandiose eloquence was extemporaneous, sans employment of MS Word Thesaurus. unlike mine. Simply capital comic.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterwhiterabbit11

Hehe, I love vocabulary. There's a word for every level of meaning.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterKirby-oh

I love Panel 3, the Time 'Till I Go Home idea is inspired.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterbil

Aaghhhh - a picture of mullet-haired boss - head on - with extra hair. First thing on a Monday morning .

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterClare

I sincerely hope that Grant's boast about his large vocabulary which was then followed by him saying "awesome", was a subtle form of irony rather than just plain stupidity

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterDJ Bogtrotter

"More than you know"

simply capital, old chap!

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterOMG

I hate to say this, but... anyone else annoyed by that unnecessary comma in the last panel?

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterflmumb

As a fond admirer of sesquipedalian loquaciousness, this warms the cockles of my heart.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMichael

Awesome :) As someone who has used my vocabulary to answer questions without actually answering questions (I've only been caught once!), this is pure comic gold.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterJen

The comma is appropriate.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterTreehog

The comma in the last panel represents the pause in speech that would exist in real life. Even if it's not necessarily grammatically correct, it serves its purpose correctly.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLaminar

And just when you thought a mullet couldn't get any worse. . .

Of course, my mom's hairdresser had a mohawk mullet. . .thing.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterSusan

omg, it's limahl.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterbasexperience

"Subtlety is always worth the trouble" is my new personal motto.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterRev Matt

Outstanding. The robocop-HUD made me snort - no higher compliment can be paid...

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterJim

Dude, the mullet boss is STARING at me. I can't take the hair that early in the morning on a monday . . . or at all on a Monday . . . But Hilarious! It looks like the Mullet Boss just got out of bed, since his hair is messed up and his shirt is unbuttoned . . . anyone else notice that?

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterizzy_wolfe_13

@flmumb: I don't see an unnecessary comma. I see a compound sentence.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered Commentermikehasnoluck

You should probably change that copyright to 2009.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterStuart

what got to me was Mullet Boss' tiny little love patch on his exposed chest - but I was also taken aback by Scott's POV vs the two-shot we're normally given... that might be something to explore, Scott, although I would have to say (and I'm sure I speak for most of your fans here) that we're really only ready to look at your lovely wife from your POV and not your Mullet Boss.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterBI Fan

@flmumb: to which comma do you refer? The one enclosed in the instructions gives us a clear pause and allows the sentence to change direction, and the one in Mullet Boss' reply is his own pattern of speech (I suppose he could have used an all-stop period instead, but then Scott would have had to capitalize "that" - and allow for the additional space that should follow a period).

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterBI Fan

@BI Fan: the "unnecessary comma" is in the instructions. The sentence is two independent clauses joined by a conjunction. A comma should only be used if one of the clauses is dependent on the other. The word "but" accomplishes the change in direction. It is a grammatical error. That being said, the comma ruined the enjoyment of the strip and I doubt I can ever enjoy Basic Instructions again. I have not been so disappointed since the Calvin and Hobbes semicolon affair of 1989.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterSco-Pi

Actually, there was an extra comma. I fixed it quickly then left the house for nine hours. I didn't think about the confusion it would cause. Sorry about that.

I do sometimes use commas, run on sentences, sentences that end in prepositions and words like "dunno" and "gonna" in an effort to emulate the way people really talk. Sadly, this was not one of those times.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterscott

I dunno - just to buck the trend, I didn't think that Mullet Boss' hair was all that bad ... of course, I'm rather fashion-challenged.

January 26, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterBruce IV

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>