Location: W Train; New York, NY
Picture taken: July 2007
Textual representation of image: CHANGE IS: WISHING FOR A LONGER FLIGHT”
We found this Delta ad on the subway on the way back to our hotel from the Met, I believe. Yes, that was after the torrential thunderstorm in which we ran from awning to awning and ended up finally on the train totally drenched.
The problem with this ad is the unnecessary colon. (We won’t even mention the capital letters and lack of a period here; advertising is, after all, a different beast. . .) Colons are generally used to signal an upcoming list or a definition, something to which the writer really wants to bring attention, yes, but not in all cases.
Rule: Colons should follow an independent clause, i.e. a group of words that has both a subject and its verb, and can stand alone.
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Most of my teaching resources are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License, which means you can feel free to use them with attribution as long as you don’t use them commercially. If you’re not sure, don’t hesitate to ask me. Unfortunately, I am currently unable to send out my tests and quizzes, but I am hoping to establish a less time-consuming alternative for this in the near future. Sorry!!
