CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - December 16, 2007

Here are the corrections and explanations for last week's entries.

Monday

ORDINANCE/ORDNANCE

A law is an ordinance or rule.
A gun is a piece of ordnance or a military supply.


SETUP/SET UP

“Setup” is a noun meaning a device such as in "check the setup”.
“Set up” is a verb meaning to found or to launch such as in "set up the experiment”.


Tuesday

Identify and correct the errors in the following:

"Because the members of Ontario's Ministry of Transportation licence plate review committee seem like a dour bunch with too much time on their hands and not enough sense in their heads."
This is an incomplete thought. “Because” makes the clause subordinate or incomplete and should be removed.
"The members of Ontario's Ministry of Transportation licence plate review committee seem like a dour bunch with too much time on their hands and not enough sense in their heads."

"Hopefully, this panel will have a sense of humour. And some restraint."
“And some restraint” is an incomplete thought. The punctuation in the middle should be removed.
"Hopefully, this panel will have a sense of humour and some restraint."


Wednesday

BROOCH/BROACH

“Brooch” is a noun meaning a decorative pin.
“Broach” is a verb meaning to bring up or introduce a topic.
The two are not interchangeable but are pronounced the same.


Thursday

Identify and correct the errors in the following:

"...with myself, Arms Bumanlag at Radio 800 CKLW..."
“Myself” is a reflexive pronoun and cannot be used as the object of a preposition. Replace “myself” with “me”.
"...with me, Arms Bumanlag at Radio 800 CKLW..."

"There were a bunch there."
“Bunch” is a collective singular noun and demands a singular verb.
"There was a bunch there."

"A crash at Lincoln and Wyandotte has now cleared."
How can a crash clear itself? This is poor word construction and does not make sense.
"A crash at Lincoln and Wyandotte has now been cleared."


Friday

CAN/MAY

This is only about the verb forms of “can” and “may”. The noun meanings of these words are not relevant here.

“Can” is a verb meaning the ability to do something.

“May” is a verb meaning being allowed to do something.

“He can do the job because he is strong but he may not be allowed to do it without permission from his boss.


THIS WEEK’S WORDS

“Confluence" (n.) means a place where things come together, a junction or a flowing together.

“Mordant" (adj.) means grimly humourous, sardonic or biting.

“Inveterate" (adj.) means chronic, habitual or long-standing.

“Simulacrum" (n.) means a vague or insubstantial semblance such as a sculpture of a person.

“Anomaly" (n.) means a deviation from the normal, an oddity or mutation from the usual.


QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

Who is the author of the following quotation?

"Everything is funny as long as it is happening to Somebody Else."
Will Rogers, Illiterate Digest (1924).