TUTORIAL – Comment Codes
Here is a list of comment codes, that is, short expressions or marks I use when reading and grading your paper.
| Mark/word | What it means |
| A “T” followed by a checkmark at the top of the paper | You turned your paper in through Turnitin.com, and the site detected no plagiarism. |
| Ö (checkmark) | Good point/sound argument. |
| X | Bad (silly, dubious, false) point/unsound argument. |
| ? (question mark) | A strange point to make in the context. |
| unc | Unclear sentence. |
| irrel | Irrelevant point. |
| awk | Your sentence is awkwardly phrased. |
| gr | Ungrammatical sentence. |
| ref | Pronoun reference is unclear in the context. |
| verbose | Too many words used. |
| loaded | Loaded words, i.e., words that build in a conclusion by connotation instead of evidence. |
| duh | You are making a point so obvious that it is not worth elaborating. |
| frag | Sentence fragment. |
| rep | Repetitious |
| word | Wrong word to use in the context. |
| sp | Incorrect spelling. |
| means? | What does this sentence mean? |
| contradiction? | Your point seems to contradict something you said earlier. |
| IP | You need a paragraph here. |
| exc quote | Excessive quotation (that is, you are stringing together quotes from a source when you should be paraphrasing). |
| your words? | You are quoting something loaded with technical terminology without paraphrasing it after words or otherwise showing that you understand it). |