MG Siegler Destroys the English Language – Episode 3

Today on MG Siegler Destroys the English Language, MG seems to be having a better day in terms of competence. But in “The Mac Versus PC Debate Has Never Been Clearer“, he proves once again that he has no idea what an em dash is supposed to do. Oh, and some other things.

The point MG makes in the article is a great one: the Mac vs. PC debate is very much like a Porsche vs. Camry comparison. But that doesn’t make his writing any less aggravating to read.

You need look no further than numbers released today by NPD to understand Apple’s strategy. Its revenue share of the “premium” price market — that is, computers over $1,000 — is a staggering 91%.

Better, MG. Much better than your previous efforts. In fact, you came so close to a successful em dash use there. But you just had to throw in a “that is.” Without the “that is,” you could’ve used these em dashes so well, MG, and I’d have been so proud, but with two little words, you turned the whole damn phrase into a parenthetical. You know, the half-circle thingies that you use to make sad and happy faces? Or, to put it another way, the things you used in the next paragraph:

Analysts and journalists are often quick to point out Apple’s relatively low overall market share (less than 10%).

That’s a correct use of parentheses, MG, and the fact that you were able to do that makes me wonder if you see any difference in all these punctuation symbols. They do different things; em dashes are for long, emphatic mid-sentence pauses, and parentheses are for shorter, more subdued asides. Listen to yourself talk, and it’s not very hard to figure out.

At least this time you didn’t use em dashes where there should have been commas, though. I’ll give you that.

Other minor errors include “naive” instead of “naïve” (normally something I’d let slide, but you’re a Mac user, MG — press option+u before typing the i, it’s easy) and “lets” instead of “let’s” (typo, maybe, I can’t tell with you). Alone, they’d be minuscule, but overall they deplete my confidence in you even further. I don’t like seeing you fail, MG, and I don’t like having to write these things; this blog doesn’t give me ad revenue. I think I speak for all literate people when I say, please join us.

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• Quick! Tell Everyone!