# What writing quirks of yours would have you pegged as the "anonymous Op-Ed writer"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2018, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995 "2018-09-08T07:25:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/1 "2018-09-08T07:25:57Z")
Many claimed the use of “Lodestar” pointed to Pence. Others have different theories, most of them based on “Person X said this phrase back in 1995, so it’s obviously her!” logic. So, in that case, what writing quirk, commonly used phrase, or other would make your authorship of an anonymous piece not so anonymous? With me, it’s probably overuse of commas or my irritating tendency to use the same word multiple times. As well as my one-sentence paragraphs, or, better, my one word paragraphs. You? ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/2 "2018-09-08T07:52:17Z")
In French, I realized that I use the phrase “quand même” (all the same, anyway or a “meaningless” intensifier depending on context) far too much. Sometimes three times in as many sentences. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/3 "2018-09-08T08:23:20Z")
I use the semicolon quite a bit more than the average writer. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/4 "2018-09-08T09:53:38Z")
A suspicious number of accidnetl typos. Recently, a tendency to go “WHOOP, WHOOP, WHOOP!” at random times. Also, a certain tone of underlying wistful melancholy, caused by too much time spent being drunk, bald and horny (not necessarily in that order). Apart from, that, n… WHOOP, WHOOP, WHOOP! … not much. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/5 "2018-09-08T12:17:17Z")
Lessee - sloppy spelling of _dunno, gonna, stoopit_, etc as well as liberal use of ellipses…? I’d like to think my formal writing is a tad more disciplined, tho. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/6 "2018-09-08T13:34:30Z")
Can’t think of any. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/7 "2018-09-08T13:54:20Z")
I, have a bad habit of using too many commas (and unnecessary parenthetical clauses (many English teachers tried to cure me of this)(they failed)), and in the wrong places. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/8 "2018-09-08T13:54:48Z")
Heavy focus on numbers. “This was my 5th trip to France.” “That is more than twice his salary.” “This is the fourth championship in this decade.” ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/9 "2018-09-08T13:56:10Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Can’t think of any. > > Regards, > Shodan This wins the thread IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/10 "2018-09-08T14:16:39Z")
You could peg me by counting the number of times I use “earlier” instead of writing “ago.” “Long ago, ASGuy lost the ability to use the word _ago_. This is because years earlier he read that word too often in Sue Grafton novels.” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/11 "2018-09-08T14:27:33Z")
Short sentences. Relatively speaking, shorter paragraphs. (When I move away from that, it tends to be because of lots of parentheticals.) I have a few weird habitual misspellings, but I can’t think of any offhand. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/12 "2018-09-08T14:29:44Z")
Paragraph-long sentences, use of archaic words (oft, betwixt), sometimes throwing in foreign words and phrases like, oh, _je ne sais quoi_. Self-referential snark. And sentences that would get me marked down in 7th grade English for not having subjects and verbs. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/13 "2018-09-08T17:18:42Z")
- Too many semicolons and nested parentheses - Overuse of puns and word games - When I know I’m right, rampant assholism - Overuse of bulleted lists 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/14 "2018-09-08T17:20:52Z")
Pithy bursts of brilliance followed by long stretches that read like a high school freshman trying to pad a term paper. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/15 "2018-09-08T17:43:38Z")
Greg always refers to himself in the third person. That might make it hard to remain anonymous, muses Greg. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/16 "2018-09-08T17:58:12Z")
For over 40 years I’ve spelled words the way most of the English-speaking world spells them, rather than how they’re spelled in the U.S. (More than 40 years if you count ‘litre’, which I learned from the side of my dad’s [Ford Galaxie 500](https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6186/6121557235_b50206475c_b.jpg).) After four semesters of German, I tend to capitalise words that are not generally capitalised in English. I seem to use semicolons more frequently than many people, and more commas as well. And I have a habit of establishing context to lessen the odds of being misunderstood. (That doesn’t work as well as I’d like.) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/17 "2018-09-08T17:59:23Z")
My exquisite composition and Latinate grammar. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2018, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/18 "2018-09-08T18:27:04Z")
My tendency to use contrasting style and tempo for emphasis. One sentence will be full of erudite discursive flourishes with flights of colorful metaphors and similes (parenthetical interruptions) and overuses of conjunctions, the next - blunt vernacular. The passive voice may also be used. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/19 "2018-09-09T01:08:21Z")
Just kind of non-specific, monkey-ass quality of my prose. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2018, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995/20 "2018-09-09T02:46:40Z")
I separate phrases with dashes all too often - it’s definitely one of my tics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-writing-quirks-of-yours-would-have-you-pegged-as-the-anonymous-op-ed-writer/820995.md?page=2)