Eric Partridge quotes
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“A dash derives from "to dash," to shatter, strike violently, to throw suddenly or violently, hence to throw carelessly in or on, hence to write carelessly or suddenly, to add or insert suddenly or carelessly to or in the page. "To dash" comes from Middle English daschen, itself probably from Scandinavian-compare Danish daske, to beat, to strike. Ultimately the word is-rather obviously-echoic.”
-- Eric PartridgeSource : Eric Partridge (2003). “You Have a Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and Its Allies”, p.70, Routledge
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“Like italics and hyphens, quotation marks are to be used as sparingly as possible. They should light the way, not darken it.”
-- Eric PartridgeSource : Eric Partridge (2003). “You Have a Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and Its Allies”, p.125, Routledge
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“When we are very young, we tend to regard the ability to use a colon much as a budding pianist regards the ability to play with crossed hands: many of us, when we are older, regard it as a proof of literary skill, maturity, even of sophistication; and many; whether young, not so young, or old, employ it gauchely, haphazardly, or at best inconsistently.”
-- Eric PartridgeSource : Eric Partridge (2003). “You Have a Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and Its Allies”, p.54, Routledge
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“War…next to love, has most captured the world’s imagination”
-- Eric Partridge -
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“War…next to love, has most captured the world’s imagination”
-- Eric PartridgeSource : Ralph Hale Mottram, John Easton, Eric Partridge (1930). “Three Men's War: The Personal Records of Active Service”
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“Oft in dreams invention we bestow to change a flounce or add a furbelow.”
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“If a scene is longer than three pages, it better be for a good reason.”
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Source : "Ex-Astronaut Recalls Thrill of 1st U.S. Space Flight" by Marcia Dunn, The Deseret News, p. A, May 01, 1991.
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“Writers are spies. Outsiders. Believers in the turning pages.”
Source : Alexis De Veaux (1974). “Spirits in the street”
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