What commonality is shared by the following time-sucking shows?
Give up?
What if I told you that what unites these shows is the preposition “of”? Mind-blowing? No?
Prepositions like “of” are great, don’t get me wrong, but, sometimes, using too many prepositions can be overwhelming for a reader. Consider the following example[5]:
I slept on a hard-as-rock mat in a corner beneath the life jackets in the hull of a ship on the Potomac River near the old shipyard across from Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia.
Confused? That’s probably because of all the prepositional phrases[6]:
- On a hard-as-rock mat
- In a corner
- Beneath the life jackets
- In the hull
- Of a ship
- On the Potomac River
- Near the old shipyard
- Across from Old Town, Alexandria
Where, exactly, did I sleep? Good question. I haven’t any idea.
So, as you write, try to limit your prepositional phrases—for the sake of clarity or, if you’ve been diligently following along, clarity’s sake.
Back to the mind-swallowing shows listed above. I’m not implying that the titles of these shows overuse prepositions; in fact, each title’s usage of prepositions seems appropriate to me. We—the audience—wouldn’t respond as well to Cards’ House, Thrones’ Game, or Lying House, would we?
Why, then, begin this post with these hot-topic shows that seemingly have nothing whatsoever to do with the point of this post?
Would you have listened to me drone on and on about prepositions otherwise?
Be honest, now.
[1] Title quoted from the 1994 film Speed, starring the left-handed Keanu Reeves, Spicy Sandy Bullock, and the devilishly devious Dennis Hopper.
[2] “Ask not what your congressman can do for you; ask what you can do for your congressman.”
[3] “Why read the books,” fans of the show tell me, “when you can watch it on TV.”
[4] You know the one; it’s that Don Cheadle show about lying—in some sort of house, I’m guessing. Haven’t seen the show, so details here are sparse.
[5] This is fictional.
[6] Phrases started with a preposition.
February 18, 2014
