Back in the twentieth century, we thought that robots would have taken over by this time, and, in a way, they have. But robots as a race have proved disappointing. Instead of getting to boss around underlings made of steel and plastic with circuitry and blinking lights and tank treads, like Rosie the maid on The Jetsons, we humans have outfitted ourselves with robotic external organs. Our iPods dictate what we listen to next, gadgets in our cars tell us which way to go, and smartphones finish our sentences for us. We have become our own robots.
Punctuation is a deeply conservative club. It hardly ever admits a new member. - Mary Norris
Punctuation is a deeply conservative club. It hardly ever admits a new member.
- Mary Norris
The dictionary is a wonderful thing, but you can't let it push you around. - Mary Norris
The dictionary is a wonderful thing, but you can't let it push you around.
The comma, if it's left out, sometimes can be a problem. There's a slogan on a T-shirt going around that "Let's Eat, Grandma," and "Let's Eat Grandma… - Mary Norris
The comma, if it's left out, sometimes can be a problem. There's a slogan on a T-shirt going around that "Let's Eat, Grandma," and "Let's Eat Grandma…
One of the things I like about my job is that it draws on the entire person: not just your knowledge of grammar and punctuation and usage and foreign… - Mary Norris
One of the things I like about my job is that it draws on the entire person: not just your knowledge of grammar and punctuation and usage and foreign…
Nobody knows everything-one of the pleasures of language is that there is always something new to learn-and everybody makes mistakes. - Mary Norris
Nobody knows everything-one of the pleasures of language is that there is always something new to learn-and everybody makes mistakes.
Many survivors refuse to talk about what they went through but I've never been ashamed to have been in one of those places. The shame is not mine; th… - Mary Norris
Many survivors refuse to talk about what they went through but I've never been ashamed to have been in one of those places. The shame is not mine; th…
There is a phase in the life of every copy editor when she is obsessed with hyphens. - Mary Norris
There is a phase in the life of every copy editor when she is obsessed with hyphens.
Commas, like nuns, often travel in pairs. - Mary Norris
Commas, like nuns, often travel in pairs.
The English language is full of words that are just waiting to be misspelled, and the world is full of sticklers, ready to pounce. - Mary Norris
The English language is full of words that are just waiting to be misspelled, and the world is full of sticklers, ready to pounce.
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