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Monday, March 5, 2012

Poll Results 170

Here was the question:

Is this sentence correct? "Jet fuel poured down the surface of Turn 3 at Daytona International Speedway, creating a fiery lasting image of NASCAR's biggest race of the year."

Yes
18 (36%)
No
32 (64%)

I agree with 64%. The order of the adjectives seemed odd to me. I would have said, "...creating a lasting fiery image..."

The image was fiery, and the fiery image was lasting.

3 comments:

Crystal A Murray said...

I voted "No" for a reason other than the fiery image. For a liquid to pour down a surface of something, doesn't it have to be vertical rather than horizontal? I would say it "poured OVER the surface" if I were to write it. I know it's at an angle and could work like saying "down the gutter" due to the slant, but it just seemed wrong to me, especially after seeing the pictures with a wide wash of fuel all over.

Anonymous said...

What also struck me is odd is the notion that a fiery image would be anything but ephemeral. Perhaps I'm too literal-minded--I suppose the idea is that the mental image created by this accident was a lasting one--but I think I'd delete "lasting."

Anonymous said...

To myself, I voted no, Turn 3 is capitalized. Turn 3 is not a proper name or does the rule, capitalize for dramatic effect apply here? Is this a rule?