It is still happening. The dreaded one of the only is being heard on radio and television, maybe right this minute. Duh-duh-duh-duh. I heard it again on the radio last week and was glad I didn't call in a pledge. I have even seen it in print. What is so bad about the phrase? It really doesn't mean anything. I shouldn't have to guess whether the speaker means the only, one of only a few, or one of the only two remaining restaurants in the city. You get the idea. Of course I would never use an unclear or confusing group of words such as one of the only.
Or would I? The previously mentioned offending phrase obviously makes no real sense and should therefore be illegal. But I'm sure I have used and heard equally vague terms such as one of the first or its fraternal twin, one of the last. These too should have qualifiers, such as one of the first three explorers or one of the last few rows in the theater.
It all goes back to Gramma's idea that accuracy breeds understanding and clarifies intention. A little time to think, to listen to yourself, or to re-read can be valuable for you and for your listeners or readers. I'm sure I am not one of the only people to think that way.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Possessive vs Plural
This week's blog is inspired by a help wanted ad in an IL newspaper. It read
Now Hiring
Students, Retiree's, Mother's, Others
Apparently students and others are plural, but retirees and mothers are possessive. As you know, all four singular nouns, should merely have an s added to make them plural. By adding 's, the words become singular possessive. Compare these two sentences.
The retirees enjoyed two weeks of travel last month.
The retiree's pension allowed her to travel.
The first is plural, talking about more than one retiree, and the second is talking about the pension that is the property of one retiree. Therefore, it is possessive rather than plural. Using the correct form of a word makes the meaning much clearer, and it makes the writer appear singularly intelligent.
Now Hiring
Students, Retiree's, Mother's, Others
Apparently students and others are plural, but retirees and mothers are possessive. As you know, all four singular nouns, should merely have an s added to make them plural. By adding 's, the words become singular possessive. Compare these two sentences.
The retirees enjoyed two weeks of travel last month.
The retiree's pension allowed her to travel.
The first is plural, talking about more than one retiree, and the second is talking about the pension that is the property of one retiree. Therefore, it is possessive rather than plural. Using the correct form of a word makes the meaning much clearer, and it makes the writer appear singularly intelligent.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Watch the Words!
An Illinois newspaper printed the following story:
Police say a 15-year-old boy has died and eight people wounded in a shooting at a party.
One of the criteria for a group of words to comprise a sentence is that they have to make sense. In the above sentence, wounded needs a helping verb unless the people did the wounding. I am sure that the writer intended to say and eight people were wounded in a shooting. We now have two subjects and two complete verbs as part of the police description.
You may have noticed that there is no comma after died. That is because the sentence is an informal quote from the police rather than a sentence describing the tragedy. If it were just a news story, it would read A 15-year-old boy has died, and eight people were wounded in a shooting.
To clarify our example sentence, it would accurately read Police say a 15-year-old boy has died and eight people were wounded in a shooting at a party. What is the lesson here? Don't bring guns to a party. It can be more dangerous than lawn darts. Also, watch what you write to make sure it makes sense.
Police say a 15-year-old boy has died and eight people wounded in a shooting at a party.
One of the criteria for a group of words to comprise a sentence is that they have to make sense. In the above sentence, wounded needs a helping verb unless the people did the wounding. I am sure that the writer intended to say and eight people were wounded in a shooting. We now have two subjects and two complete verbs as part of the police description.
You may have noticed that there is no comma after died. That is because the sentence is an informal quote from the police rather than a sentence describing the tragedy. If it were just a news story, it would read A 15-year-old boy has died, and eight people were wounded in a shooting.
To clarify our example sentence, it would accurately read Police say a 15-year-old boy has died and eight people were wounded in a shooting at a party. What is the lesson here? Don't bring guns to a party. It can be more dangerous than lawn darts. Also, watch what you write to make sure it makes sense.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Anyway You Splice It
An e-mail ad contained the following sentence:
We know how important giving is to you, we're no different, we feel the same way.
Admittedly, advertising isn't always textbook writing, and it can be creative. However, this example feels and sounds wrong, even for advertising. This is an example of comma splice. The term comma splice refers to the use of commas to separate sections of a sentence that should be separated by periods or semi-colons. There are three independent clauses in the example, and no conjunction is used.
The best way to write the sentence is
We know how important giving is to you. We're no different; we feel the same way.
Three separate sentences would also be correct, but it would feel more choppy because of the short phrasing. When you write, check for complete sentences containing a subject and verb, and make sure that you don't join them with a comma. Punctuation is important for comprehension, comfort, and accuracy of a sentence. Period.
We know how important giving is to you, we're no different, we feel the same way.
Admittedly, advertising isn't always textbook writing, and it can be creative. However, this example feels and sounds wrong, even for advertising. This is an example of comma splice. The term comma splice refers to the use of commas to separate sections of a sentence that should be separated by periods or semi-colons. There are three independent clauses in the example, and no conjunction is used.
The best way to write the sentence is
We know how important giving is to you. We're no different; we feel the same way.
Three separate sentences would also be correct, but it would feel more choppy because of the short phrasing. When you write, check for complete sentences containing a subject and verb, and make sure that you don't join them with a comma. Punctuation is important for comprehension, comfort, and accuracy of a sentence. Period.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Hay You!
There is a handy little word in the Spanish language. It is hay, and it means there is or there are. For example, Hay una escuela en la esquina means There is a school on the corner. Hay dos pajaros en el arbol means There are two birds in the tree. In other words, number, or singular and plural, doesn't matter in the case of hay.
In English, however, it is important for accuracy and understanding to make them agree in number. Read these two quotes from Illinois and Georgia newspapers.
A little bird told me there's some voters here.
There's so many venues in the city, and they keep building more.
These lines should read there are some voters and there are so many venues because both refer to plurals. You will be happy, as I was, to read the following correct usage in a Georgia newspaper:
There are many ways to lose.
The plural ways corresponds to the plural there are. If it isn't clear, try turning around the order, as in Some voters are there or Venues in the city are there. The meaning is different, but it helps with whether to use there is or there are. And hay, it does make a difference.
In English, however, it is important for accuracy and understanding to make them agree in number. Read these two quotes from Illinois and Georgia newspapers.
A little bird told me there's some voters here.
There's so many venues in the city, and they keep building more.
These lines should read there are some voters and there are so many venues because both refer to plurals. You will be happy, as I was, to read the following correct usage in a Georgia newspaper:
There are many ways to lose.
The plural ways corresponds to the plural there are. If it isn't clear, try turning around the order, as in Some voters are there or Venues in the city are there. The meaning is different, but it helps with whether to use there is or there are. And hay, it does make a difference.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Effectively Affected
Read what was written in a Georgia newspaper.
Some people are calling on politicians to undo some of the law's unintended affects.
In this sentence, the last word, affects, should be effects. What is the difference? The word affects is a verb, as in The gloomy weather affects her mood. The word effects, on the other hand, is a noun and belongs at the end of our sample sentence or in the sentence The effects of his actions were widespread.
As with many grammar rules, there are exceptions. Effect can be a verb when it means to cause to happen. A common use of this is to effect change.
Keep it simple, and remember that affect is usually a verb and effect is usually a noun. You'll be right most of the time, and if you aren't, you can effect change in your usage.
Some people are calling on politicians to undo some of the law's unintended affects.
In this sentence, the last word, affects, should be effects. What is the difference? The word affects is a verb, as in The gloomy weather affects her mood. The word effects, on the other hand, is a noun and belongs at the end of our sample sentence or in the sentence The effects of his actions were widespread.
As with many grammar rules, there are exceptions. Effect can be a verb when it means to cause to happen. A common use of this is to effect change.
Keep it simple, and remember that affect is usually a verb and effect is usually a noun. You'll be right most of the time, and if you aren't, you can effect change in your usage.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Hwo Decided How to Pronounce Interrogatives?
Today's topic is based on the spoken word again. It involves commonly used interrogatives, or words used to ask questions, such as what, when, where, and why. I hope that I am not the only person who is bothered by the "correct" pronunciation of the aforementioned words.
A childhood memory (and that goes way back) is of my mother returning home from a teachers' conference and telling us that an alleged English expert confirmed that the correct pronunciations are hwat, hwen, hwere, and hwy. Hwy is that? I promise not to confuse where with wear because the meaning will be obvious from the surrounding words. Only a well-known football player should verbally mix the order of the letters and pronounce them out of order. The rest of us should be happy to ignore the Hs and pretend that they are as silent as the t in listen.
Who makes the decisions regarding correct pronunciation? I don't know, but maybe it should be I. Whenever I hear television announcers or game show hosts or people with otherwise good radio programs using the proper form of those interrogatives, I think about how ignorant it sounds. This usage doesn't seem to have the excuse that it is based on a language of derivation, either. Please join me in my campaign to end the use of hw words. It isn't sophisticated, it's ingorant.
A childhood memory (and that goes way back) is of my mother returning home from a teachers' conference and telling us that an alleged English expert confirmed that the correct pronunciations are hwat, hwen, hwere, and hwy. Hwy is that? I promise not to confuse where with wear because the meaning will be obvious from the surrounding words. Only a well-known football player should verbally mix the order of the letters and pronounce them out of order. The rest of us should be happy to ignore the Hs and pretend that they are as silent as the t in listen.
Who makes the decisions regarding correct pronunciation? I don't know, but maybe it should be I. Whenever I hear television announcers or game show hosts or people with otherwise good radio programs using the proper form of those interrogatives, I think about how ignorant it sounds. This usage doesn't seem to have the excuse that it is based on a language of derivation, either. Please join me in my campaign to end the use of hw words. It isn't sophisticated, it's ingorant.
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