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The Cowsills admire the Osmonds


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15 hours ago, pogi said:

A Cowsills podcast at 2 in the morning?  I know these are tough times for many, but dang!  

I know this was meant facetiously, but you’re not far off. The family dog is nearing the end of his life and requires nearly constant attention. Surfing the internet is one way I cope while spending the night on the couch next to him. 

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23 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I know this was meant facetiously, but you’re not far off. The family dog is nearing the end of his life and requires nearly constant attention. Surfing the internet is one way I cope while spending the night on the couch next to him. 

Terribly sorry to hear that.

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On 8/6/2022 at 1:23 AM, Scott Lloyd said:

There was a family band popular in the late 1960s called the Cowsills. Their three biggest hits were “The Rain, the Park, and Other Things (Flower Girl),” “Indian Lake,” and “Hair.”*

The fictional “Partridge Family” of sit-com fame was very loosely based on the Cowsills, who recorded and performed with their mom and little sister. 
 

But pursuant to my point, three of the Cowsills (Bob, Paul, and Susan) still tour and perform together. And they do a joint podcast. 
 

I was watching an episode of their podcast just now, when they were on with their brother John, who today drums for The Beach Boys. The conversation turned to the Osmonds, and it was mentioned that they (the Cowsills) had seen the 50th anniversary reunion of the Osmonds some years ago on television. One of the Cowsills commented at the time, “That’s what we’d look like today with good parenting and religion.” 
 

I thought that was kind of cool, so I thought I’d share. 

*As an accommodation to my friend Miserere Nobis, I’m using the Oxford comma in this post. 
 

 

I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of correcting all 8 of the grammatical errors https://quillbot.com/grammar-check  found in your post. 

No need to thank me,

Fair Dinkum

 

 

Quote

There was a family band popular in the late 1960s called the Cowsills. "The Rain, the Park, and Other Things (Flower Girl)," "Indian Lake," and "Hair" were their three biggest hits.

The fictional "Partridge Family" of sitcom fame was very loosely based on the Cowsills, who recorded and performed with their mom and little sister.

But pursuant to my point, three of the Cowsills (Bob, Paul, and Susan) still tour and perform together. And they do a joint podcast.

I was watching an episode of their podcast just now when they were on with their brother John, who today plays drums for The Beach Boys. The conversation turned to the Osmonds, and it was mentioned that they (the Cowsills) had seen the 50th anniversary reunion of the Osmonds some years ago on television. One of the Cowsills commented at the time, "That’s what we’d look like today with good parenting and religion."

I thought that was kind of cool, so I thought I’d share.

As an accommodation to my friend Miserere Nobis, I’m using the Oxford comma in this post.

 

Edited by Fair Dinkum
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I have a serious grammar question that this reminds me of. According to what I was taught and now read, it should be “their brother, John, who…”, but I see a lot of people leave out the comma between the noun and the name in many contexts. Are both allowed or is one viewed as incorrect even if common?  (Such things bug me, so I thought I would ask opinions here to see if it would solidify my thought on this on way or the other.)

Added: and of course, after I post I find a page that answers this specific question where before I couldn’t. 
 

https://thecriticalreader.com/commas-names-titles/

Edited by Calm
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4 minutes ago, Calm said:

I have a serious grammar question that this reminds me of. According to what I was taught and now read, it should be “their brother, John, who…”, but I see a lot of people leave out the comma between the noun and the name in many contexts. Are both allowed or is one viewed as incorrect even if common. 

The comma before and after suggests there is only one brother. Leaving it out suggests there are more brothers. If it’s just the one, the comma before should have been included. 

For example, if I say, “his wife, Emma, …” that means she’s the only wife. If I say, “his wife Emma, …” that means there are more wives.

I looked it up, and there are two more brothers, Barry and Bill, so Scott’s usage is correct. 

Edited by jkwilliams
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8 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

The comma before and after suggests there is only one brother. Leaving it out suggests there are more brothers. If it’s just the one, the comma before should have been included. 

For example, if I say, “his wife, Emma, …” that means she’s the only wife. If I say, “his wife Emma, …” that means there are more wives.

I looked it up, and there are two more brothers, Barry and Bill, so Scott’s usage is correct. 

I found a page that helped, though you concluding that Scott was correct means I understood it correctly, so thank you. Always helps to have confirmation. I don’t remember being taught there were two variations. Was that poor teaching or poor memory?  Obviously, it’s the former. 

Edited by Calm
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1 minute ago, Calm said:

I found a page that helped, though you concluding that Scott was correct means I understood it correctly, so thank you. Always helps to have confirmation. I don’t remember being taught there were two variations. Was that poor teaching or poor memory?  Obviously, it’s the former. 

It just reminded me of editing the conference issue of the Ensign, and one of my fellow editors said, “I didn’t know Elder [don’t remember who] was a polygamist.” The author of the talk had left the commas out. 

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58 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

The comma before and after suggests there is only one brother. Leaving it out suggests there are more brothers. If it’s just the one, the comma before should have been included. 

For example, if I say, “his wife, Emma, …” that means she’s the only wife. If I say, “his wife Emma, …” that means there are more wives.

I looked it up, and there are two more brothers, Barry and Bill, so Scott’s usage is correct. 

Thank you. 
 

There’s yet another brother, Richard (the twin brother of Bob). But he was never part of the performing and recording band, so he is often not mentioned. 
 

Richard, like Barry and Bill, is deceased. 

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From the Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.):

Appositives with or without commas. A word, abbreviation, phrase, or clause that is is apposition to a noun is set off by commas if it is nonrestrictive--that is, omittable, containing supplementary rather than essential information. If it is restrictive--essential to the noun it belongs to--no commas should appear.

My older sister, Betty, taught me the alphabet.

but

My sister Enid lets me hold her doll. (I have two sisters.)

Edited by jkwilliams
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Just now, Scott Lloyd said:

Thank you. 
 

There’s yet another brother, Richard (the twin brother of Bob). But he was never part of the performing and recording band, so he is often not mentioned. 
 

Richard, like Barry and Bill, is deceased. 

Who says I never agree with you? :)

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18 hours ago, jkwilliams said:

The comma before and after suggests there is only one brother. Leaving it out suggests there are more brothers. If it’s just the one, the comma before should have been included. 

For example, if I say, “his wife, Emma, …” that means she’s the only wife. If I say, “his wife Emma, …” that means there are more wives.

I looked it up, and there are two more brothers, Barry and Bill, so Scott’s usage is correct. 

 

18 hours ago, Calm said:

I found a page that helped, though you concluding that Scott was correct means I understood it correctly, so thank you. Always helps to have confirmation. I don’t remember being taught there were two variations. Was that poor teaching or poor memory?  Obviously, it’s the former. 

 

18 hours ago, jkwilliams said:

It just reminded me of editing the conference issue of the Ensign, and one of my fellow editors said, “I didn’t know Elder [don’t remember who] was a polygamist.” The author of the talk had left the commas out. 

A helpful rule of thumb here is to ask yourself whether parentheses might appropriately be used in place of commas that set off the appositive, or explanatory information. 
 

If the answer is no  — because the explanatory information is essential — then leave the commas out.  
 

If the answer is yes  — because the explanatory information is non-essential and would amount only to an aside — then leave the commas in place.  
 

So, for example, in my opening post in this thread, I wrote, “I was watching an episode of their podcast just now, when they were on with their brother John. …” I did not surround the name John with commas, nor did I put it in parentheses, because it was essential to convey that I was referring to this specific brother and not to any of the other three unnamed brothers. 

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