0

I want to slip the phrase "let me call it" into a sentence like in this example from a movie review.

I got tired of the, let me call it monster.

I wonder where or if to put commas. The above feels most natural to me but LanguageTool complains, so I decided to ask here.

Thanks!

Lambie
  • 14,826
timakro
  • 103
  • 2
  • 1
    Yes, I've seen this way of expressing what is first cousin to a parenthetical (As well as I got tired of the X, the string let me call it 'monster' is really a unit, so we don't have a true parenthetical here. So << I got tired of the – let me call it – monster >> isn't strictly 'correct' either {though nobody knows the actual rules surrounding the use of dashes [there are only guidelines for the grey areas, really]}, but it's what I'd use to transcribe a spoken 'sentence' if necessary.) People do use this sort of expression. // As fev says, given the choice, rephrase. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 12 '21 at 12:04
  • 2
    I think it is a mistake to split the noun phrase "the monster" -> I got tired of ... let me call it, "the monster". – Greybeard Nov 12 '21 at 12:26
  • The sentence is not parsed properly. Commas don't work here. The movie review is poorly edited. – Lambie Nov 12 '21 at 15:21
  • The comma is representing a pause in speech. It probably makes more sense to put "let me call it" in round brackets, but some style guides and usage books tell people to avoid brackets. – Stuart F Nov 12 '21 at 17:38
  • @StuartF Yes, I see you completely ignored my answer. Em dashes are often used for meta comments, etc. – Lambie Nov 12 '21 at 18:50
  • It's a speech phenomenon, like most interpolations, and therefore you can punctuate it whatever way you think makes sense. Punctuation is strictly about printing and therefore doesn't really have resources or rules for speech. – John Lawler Nov 12 '21 at 18:54
  • @JohnLawler Sure, you can punctuate it any way you want: commas, parentheses or em dashes. Because this: "I got tired of the, let me call it monster." is unpunctuated, as far as I can tell from what the OP said. That said, I think em dashes works best here to reflect the intonation changes surrounding "let me call it", as spoken text. – Lambie Nov 15 '21 at 16:36
  • There are a lot of hits for "the['] shall we call it" ["wild" / "wooden shack" / "master file" / "inclement weather" / " 'glitz and glamor' " / " 'borrowing' from other media products" / " 'gay area' of the island" / ... ... .... They are variously punctuated, mostly with zero punctuation after 'the' but with the occasional comma, dash .... – Edwin Ashworth Nov 15 '21 at 17:18

3 Answers3

2

These are basically parentheticals. In utterances (spoken language), if something is inserted which is a meta comment (a comment on a comment) by the speaker on what is being said, this is often set off by em dashes:

Examples:

Em dashes in place of parentheses A pair of em dashes can replace a pair of parentheses. Dashes are considered less formal than parentheses; they are also more intrusive. If you want to draw attention to the parenthetical content, use dashes. If you want to include the parenthetical content more subtly, use parentheses. [Bolding mine]

[...]
Upon discovering the errors (all 124 of them), the publisher immediately recalled the books.

Upon discovering the errors⁠—all 124 of them⁠—the publisher immediately recalled the books.

  • I got tired of —let me call it— the monster.

As this is speech, parenthesis are not really a good way to go here.

em dashes

Here is a further definition of this usage:

An em dash—inserted by typing Control+Alt+Minus between the words it separates—signals an abrupt break in thought. It can be seen as “surprising” the reader with information. If used judiciously it can mark a longer, more dramatic pause and provide more emphasis than a comma can.

[...] [Used in writing also]

Example: The actors bowed—except for the horse—knowing they blew everyone away!

em dash

Lambie
  • 14,826
  • But this is not a true parenthetical structure. As stated above, 'let me call it monster' and 'I got tired of the monster' are conflated here, so one can't merely mention the normal rules surrounding parentheticals. Your rewrite ('I got tired of —let me call it— the monster.' qualifies. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 13 '21 at 11:19
  • @EdwinAshworth Call it what you will, that's how in speech it is inserted into a sentence. You say it is conflated. I say it is mis-transcribed. If this was some movie review, on say, Rotten Tomatoes, it could have all sorts of mistakes. The OP wants to slip "let me call it" into a sentence. That's what I did. – Lambie Nov 13 '21 at 15:25
  • << ... do not not exist within the let me call it "education period" ... >> is one of many examples not using dashes (or here even 1/2 comma/s) on the internet, many in professional-looking business reports. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 13 '21 at 16:29
  • @EdwinAshworth What you dredge up online does not invalidate what I am saying or my examples. I am so sorry you are not familiar with the use of em dashes in this way. – Lambie Nov 13 '21 at 18:22
  • You can read my answer elsewhere on the various offsetting punctuation used for parentheticals (commas, dashes, brackets, and even sometimes zero punctuation), together with the pragmatic differences between them. It probably makes the above a duplicate answer. But OP's example is one of too many similar examples online (and I've heard a similar example) not to be considered as a usage at least on the way to becoming acceptable. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 13 '21 at 19:10
  • @EdwinAshworth You know the take away for me here? Sour grapes and doing anything at all to ruin a perfectly good answer. If you want to vote to close, do it. But please do not continue to make these arcane, hard-to-understand comments. *The* OP's usage as you call it, is merely a non-native attempting to make sense. At worst, it requires commas. Commas or em dashes work. – Lambie Nov 13 '21 at 19:48
  • The links I give at Do sentences need to remain grammaticaly correct if text in parentheses is ignored? show that an ELU answer on parentheticals needs to be far from basic. If OP were in need of an incontrovertibly correct variant, ELL would be the place to request it. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 14 '21 at 14:51
0

Let me call it (a monster) is a full sentence so it is not easy to integrate it in another sentence without repeating the word monster. There are ways around it though. You could say

I got tired of the monster, if you let me call it that way.

or

I got tired of the monster, if I may call it that (way).

or again

I got tired of the monster, if I may use the expression/if I may say so.

The linked expressions are the most common.

fev
  • 33,009
0

The "Language Tool" grammar check was upset with your sentence because you separated the article ("the") from any noun. In English, articles almost always immediately precede their noun: 'the dog,' 'the monster'; or the article precedes any adjective that accompanies the noun: 'the old, shaggy dog.' Your writer placed the verb 'let' after the article, and the computer had a heart attack! The better way to phrase the sentence would be something like: I got tired of the thing that, for lack of a better word, I will call a "monster." OR, I got tired of the so-called monster since it was not even very scary! The first example states that the writer is picking the term "monster," while the second example ('so-called') suggests others have called this thing a monster, and the writer is skeptical in using that word.

Patrick
  • 51