...has been called a lot of things. Experimental. Risky. Bold. Impractical, even.

[Nedks]

What are your opinions about using singular adjective sentences? It is very common in a variety of journalism, probably to make an article sound more lively, and perhaps conversational.

It is obviously a more informal use of the language, but is it fair to call it incorrect? Are there rules which allow for this sentence structure?

Is the sentence below more correct? If so, do you think it reads as well? In my opinion, it does not carry the same amount of emphasis or 'oompf' as its original form.

...has been called a lot of things: experimental, risky, bold, even impractical.

Very interested to read people's thoughts.

 

[probus]

First of all I confess that I haven't a clue what a singular adjective sentence is.

Correctness, in my view, is more a continuum than a yes-or-no question. At one end are the prescriptivists who tend to believe in rules that must be followed. At the other extreme are the descriptivists (like me) who contend that anything commonly used by native speakers must be considered correct in suitable contexts. Of course there is always the question of register. Plenty of expressions are common in everyday chat but not appropriate in more formal situations.

 

[5jj]

What are your opinions about using singular adjective sentences?

I think your question might have received more response if you had phrased it as "What are your opinions about composing a sentence of nothing but a single adjective?" You could have then given again, as an example, the words you used as a subject: ... has been called a lot of things. Experimental, Risky, Bold. Impractical, even. Many people don't look back to the subject line once they have started reading a post.

​

 

[jutfrank]

You should drop this idea of being 'correct'. This is journalism. As a journalist, you can do what the hell you want. Your job is to express what you mean effectively, engagingly, clearly, convincingly, interestingly, humorously, etc. The way a writer chooses to punctuate her writing determines the way her readers read the text. It's up to the writer to decide that. That's all there is to it.