Booher's Rules of Business Grammar - Dianna Booher 2009

“… Which is what i always say …”
Modifier mishaps

DANGLING WHICHS

Blame this common error on multitasking. People have so many things going on that they start a sentence on one topic and finish it on totally different terrain. For example, my colleague just said to me: “I just finished a pile of evaluations. So glad to have those off my desk, which reminds me that I am supposed to call Amber and tell her I can’t keep our lunch date because I have a client conference call during the noon hour.” What’s the which—did the desk remind him?

Yes, I’m guilty of speaking in this unedited, stream-of-consciousness manner myself on occasion. But we shouldn’t write this way, leaving whichs rippling behind us for the reader to wade through.

Which has to substitute for a specific noun in the sentence. It can’t refer to a general concept hidden in the reader’s mind: “I’ve been sick, which reminds me: I need to have my prescription refilled.” Yes, we understand that the writer probably means the fact that she’s been sick reminds her. But which must refer to a specific noun—and no noun in this sentence logically connects to the which.

Does the following ramble sound similar to some you’ve heard?

I was planning to drive to Denver to visit my family last weekend, which is always a riot because you never know what’ll happen. (What’s always a riot—Denver? The family? Weekends?) And so I ran into this guy that I used to date off and on a couple of years ago when I pulled into a service station for gas. We chatted a few minutes and decided to get a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant, which is something I don’t typically do. (Chat? Eat? Interrupt a planned trip? Date an old boyfriend?) He spent the first half hour talking about himself, only stopping to order day-old spaghetti, which is why I stopped dating him in the first place! (Because he ordered spaghetti? Because he talked about himself incessantly?)

Rid yourself of this bad habit before it sends your friends and family to an early grave.

Memory tip

Whichs must stand for something, or readers will mistake them for everything.