To celebrate National Grammar Day on March 4, the American Copy Editors Society held a haiku-writing contest on Twitter.
Because grammar — and style and spelling and the like — deserves our complete attention, at least once a year.
Here are some of our favorites (plus a few from BuzzFeed's copy editors!):
1. There were haiku about punctuation:
It's not uncommon/ To be aggravated by/ Stray apostrophe's #GrammarDay #haiku
2.
go away, en dash no one knows how to use you; a hyphen will do #GrammarDay #Haiku
3.
Dear semicolon Our relationship, like your usage, is complex #GrammarDay #haiku
4.
Exclamation point, Like hot sauce you are spicy Best used sparingly #GrammarDay #MarchForth
5.
If you don't use an / Oxford comma, I cannot / be your friend. Sorry. #GrammarDay
6.
Dashes and commas twixt independent clauses make me want to scream. #GrammarDay #haiku
7. And the myriad difficulties of the English language:
Is it lie or lay? To have lied or to have lain? Why, conjugation? #GrammarDay
8.
One deer, two deer, three. Haiku is singular and are also plural. #GrammarDay #StiltedHaiku
9. Some people made word-nerdy quips:
(Nothing lonelier than a parenthetical opened but not closed #GrammarDay #haiku
10.
Proofing too quickly, / the dangling modifier / was carelessly missed #GrammarDay haiku
11.
#GrammarDay #haiku Show us on this doll Where the copy editor Punctuated you
12.
Between the "U"s K And S lie sea, tea, dashes, And that last comma #GrammarDay #haiku
13. Or played with word choice:
Oh, if I were not / in a rare subjunctive mood, / I would wish I were. #grammarday #haiku @copyeditors
14.
The lowdown on "loathe": I'm loath to abuse it. I loathe its misuse. #GrammarDay #haiku
15. There were pleas for improvement:
On holiday cards, please make your last name plural, and not possessive. #GrammarDay #haiku
16.
Tell my English prof Ending with prepositions Has never been wrong. #GrammarDay
17.
"i" before "e" and / STOP HYPHENATING ADVERBS / Forgive my outburst. #GrammarDay #haiku
18. And a little bit of pedantry:
#GrammarDay #haiku "It literally killed me to see him." So you speak now from the grave?
19. Some reminded us that language evolves:
Languages change like People change: slowly, non-stop, Unpredictably. #GrammarDay
20.
"But it's not proper!" say pedants and curmudgeons; Grammars, like us, change. #GrammarDay
21. And is meant to be enjoyed:
It’s just words, people; “rules” are meant to be played with, twisted, used for fun. #GrammarDay
22.
Language is a dance, a mating dance for two minds. Keep it passionate. #GrammarDay #haiku
23. But most important, remember:
#GrammarDay Copy editors Are the doctors of writing, Curing bad grammar.
24.
Hug your editor for National Grammar Day. They make you look smart. #GrammarDay #haiku
Looking for more grammar and style fun on Twitter? Follow BuzzFeed's copy desk @styleguide!
Thumbnail image via Pierre Metivier / Creative Commons
The American Copy Editors Society held the haiku-writing contest. A previous version of this post misstated its name. H/T @andybechtel for the heads-up!