CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS - May 6

GRAMMAR & PUNCTUATION

"Rostropovich...was hospitalized in Paris in early February, and after he took a turn for the worst, his family arranged for him to be flown back to Russia, longtime manager Ron Wilford said."
"Rostropovich...was hospitalized in Paris in early February, and after he took a turn for the worse, his family arranged for him to be flown back to Russia, longtime manager Ron Wilford said."
“Worst” should be “worse”.

"Particularly, if you lose the opener in a playoff series as the Detroit Red Wings did against the San Jose Sharks."
This is an incomplete sentence.

He longingly stared acrost the room at her.
He longingly stared across the room at her.
“Acrost” is a non-standard word, sometimes used to show dialect.

The convicted assassins were (hung/hanged).
The convicted assassins were hanged.
He (hanged/hung) the sheets over the window because he had no curtains.
He hung the sheets over the window because he had no curtains.
Hanged means “executed by hanging”. “Hung” means “suspended”.

"It ends right here where it started from."
"It ends right here where it started."
Do not end a sentence with a preposition.

"...irregardless of where it starts from..."
"...regardless of where it starts..."
“Irregardless” is an unacceptable, non-standard word.
“From”: check the previous comment.

"You don't drive like him and you shouldn't pay the same for insurance as him."
"You don't drive like he does and you shouldn't pay the same for insurance as he (does)."
“Him” is the objective form of the pronoun and is incorrectly used.

Padraig Harrington...wasn't satisfied with hardly anything but his score."
Padraig Harrington...wasn't satisfied with anything but his score."
“Wasn’t hardly” is a double negative.

We got it for free.
We received it free.
“For free” is an unacceptable colloquial expression and I hate the word “got” because it is so often misused.

"Don't be alarmed, I only know where you are because I'm one of ******'s friends...Mel, I was her roommate in her last year at U of W."
"Don't be alarmed. I only know where you are because I'm one of ******'s friends, Mel. I was her roommate in her last year at U of W."
Note the punctuation changes; commas cannot substitute for periods.

WORDS

“Miscarriage” means failure to obtain the right or desired result.
Professional writers’ continuous use of incorrect English is a terrible miscarriage of the their craft.

“Enervate” means to destroy vigour or deprive of strength. (Enervation)
The cutting of his hair enervated Samson.

“Acrimonious” means caustic, stinging or bitter. (Acrimony)
The acrimonious divorce was filled with constant fighting and arguing.

“Incredulity” means a refusal of belief. (Incredulous)
The wife listened with incredulity to her mate’s demands and stormed from the room.

“Perfunctory” means careless, indifferent or superficial.
The copy writer made a perfunctory scan of his writing and missed several mistakes.

“Gratuitous” means being without reason, cause or justification; given freely. (Gratuity)
His criticism of the young ‘Canadian Idol’ contestant was gratuitous and cruel.