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getify / You-Dont-Know-JS

A book series on JavaScript. @YDKJS on twitter.
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Fix grammar #1665

Closed henrebotha closed 4 years ago

henrebotha commented 4 years ago

I already searched for this issue :upside_down_face:

getify commented 4 years ago

Thanks for the suggestions. Not clear to me that these are strictly "fixes" as opposed to just preferences.

henrebotha commented 4 years ago

These are indeed fixes. The expression is "for the sake of X" or "for X's sake". It is grammatically invalid to say, "I did this for clarity sake."

getify commented 4 years ago

Do you have a reference for that assertion? I ask because I've had the books copy-edited and the editor did not assert this rule to make such corrections.

henrebotha commented 4 years ago

You can search Cambridge, Merriam-Webster, etc. None of them have a reference for "for sth sake", it's always "for sth's sake". See also this question on English Stack Overflow. Just like "for the graduation of my son" becomes "for my son's graduation", "for the sake of clarity" becomes "for clarity's sake". The possessive doesn't go away.

The only argument you could really make for "for sth sake" is distortion from colloquial use; but there's little reason to use such colloquial language in a technical book.

getify commented 4 years ago

there's little reason to use such colloquial language in a technical book.

In general, I agree, but I have indeed used a fair bit of colloquial/relaxed/informal language in these books, and many people credit that "voice" as part of what they appreciate about my books as opposed to other ones.

Since the book was already published several months ago and has already sold a few thousand copies (both print and ebook), I'm reluctant to make changes unless there's clearly a strong reason to. I couldn't argue about a misspelling or a technical inaccuracy -- those should be fixed, and I do! -- but debatable grammar choices are somewhat less clear cut.

I'll consider this change, but only if/when I find other more substantive changes to make and can roll them in at that time.