HERE IT IS!
For those of you who eagerly sought a posting yesterday and were bitterly disappointed when you were unable to find one, it can be found as the first Archive Entry.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
ANOTHER PRO OFFERING! THANK YOU!
DANGLING REDUNDANCY
What is the error in the sentence below?
I know this error has been cited before but it is worth repeating. I wonder if they all went to the same Grammarless High School?
"Where did you get your supplies from?"
Cheryl Weedmark, The A Channel Morning Show, Friday, July 13, 2007, 7:25 am.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "specious".
Define the word and use it in a sentence.
FYI
Corrections and Explanations will be posted Sunday morning.
What is the error in the sentence below?
I know this error has been cited before but it is worth repeating. I wonder if they all went to the same Grammarless High School?
"Where did you get your supplies from?"
Cheryl Weedmark, The A Channel Morning Show, Friday, July 13, 2007, 7:25 am.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "specious".
Define the word and use it in a sentence.
FYI
Corrections and Explanations will be posted Sunday morning.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
AGAIN, PRO WRITERS, THANK YOU
MY DIATRIBE
I cannot believe how poorly so many newspaper writers present their material. They cannot make subjects and predicates agree. I suspect many do not even know the meaning of the terms "subject" and "predicate". They use words incorrectly. They use wrong words. They cannot punctuate their word groups. They would not know a comma splice if it hit them in the face. They rarely proof and correct their efforts. And, what is worse, newspapers do not seem to have any proof readers in their employ.
So, when I find errors, I draw attention to them.
If there are errors, the message is unintelligible.
If a writer cannot take the time to proof and correct his work, he should try another profession. Marshall McLuhan stated that the "medium is the message". If the medium is incorrectly presented, what is the message? Draw your own conclusions.
Amen.
MY PROOF
"Assuming the same proportion of Canadian guys are into shoulder furniture, each with a content value of $680, a staggering $7.1 billion worth of goods are being routinely carried about by men coast to coast."
Misty Harris, "Men turning to metrosexual bag", The Windsor Star, Thursday, July 12, 2007.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "nescient".
Define the word and use it in a sentence.
I cannot believe how poorly so many newspaper writers present their material. They cannot make subjects and predicates agree. I suspect many do not even know the meaning of the terms "subject" and "predicate". They use words incorrectly. They use wrong words. They cannot punctuate their word groups. They would not know a comma splice if it hit them in the face. They rarely proof and correct their efforts. And, what is worse, newspapers do not seem to have any proof readers in their employ.
So, when I find errors, I draw attention to them.
If there are errors, the message is unintelligible.
If a writer cannot take the time to proof and correct his work, he should try another profession. Marshall McLuhan stated that the "medium is the message". If the medium is incorrectly presented, what is the message? Draw your own conclusions.
Amen.
MY PROOF
"Assuming the same proportion of Canadian guys are into shoulder furniture, each with a content value of $680, a staggering $7.1 billion worth of goods are being routinely carried about by men coast to coast."
Misty Harris, "Men turning to metrosexual bag", The Windsor Star, Thursday, July 12, 2007.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "nescient".
Define the word and use it in a sentence.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
HUMP DAY OFFERINGS
MORE EASY MIX-UPS
PREDOMINANT/PREDOMINATE
Explain the difference between the two words listed above.
Use the words in sentences.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "chivalrous".
Define the word and use it in a sentence.
PREDOMINANT/PREDOMINATE
Explain the difference between the two words listed above.
Use the words in sentences.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "chivalrous".
Define the word and use it in a sentence.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
MY CONSTANT CONTRIBUTOR!
A TRIPLE PLAY! SO SAD!
"City authorities maintain $1.8 million loaned to the theatre in the mid-1990s give the city rights to the building following the recent bankruptcy."
Dave Battagello, "City aims to oust Capitol trustee", The Windsor Star, Monday, July 9, 2007.
"The bridge company is competing to build the next Windsor-Detroit border crossing against a government-backed bid to instead build a new bridge by 2013 in an area further downriver linking the communities of Sandwich and Delray."
Dave Battagello, "Twin-span impacts 'glanced over', The Windsor Star, Monday, July 9, 2007.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "atrocious".
Define the word and use it in a sentence.
A TRIPLE PLAY! SO SAD!
"City authorities maintain $1.8 million loaned to the theatre in the mid-1990s give the city rights to the building following the recent bankruptcy."
Dave Battagello, "City aims to oust Capitol trustee", The Windsor Star, Monday, July 9, 2007.
"The bridge company is competing to build the next Windsor-Detroit border crossing against a government-backed bid to instead build a new bridge by 2013 in an area further downriver linking the communities of Sandwich and Delray."
Dave Battagello, "Twin-span impacts 'glanced over', The Windsor Star, Monday, July 9, 2007.
TODAY'S WORD
The word for today is "atrocious".
Define the word and use it in a sentence.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - July 8, 2007
Monday
SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT
WHICH IS CORRECT?
The climate in both places are mild.
“Climate” is the subject and is singular and must have a singular verb.
The climate in both places is mild.
A group of senators is calling for an investigation.
“Group” is the subject and is singular and must have a singular verb.
A group of senators were calling for an investigation.
Neither her brothers nor Mary knows what happened.
This sentence is correct. When using “neither”/”nor” the noun immediately preceding the verb is the determining factor; “Mary” is singular so the verb must be singular.
Wednesday
INTERESTING TEASERS
What is the difference between "sensuous" and "sensual"?
“Sensual” usually relates to excessive physical desires and implies sexy or voluptuous.
“Sensuous” means of or pertaining to the senses and usually has aesthetic connotations.
What is the difference between "median" and "medium"?
“Median” is the middle number in a sequence of numbers. It is also the ground between highway lanes.
“Medium” is a balance between extremes, the middle. It also means the environment in which something exists.
"Parameters" have come to mean a set of physical properties or a characteristic of something.
"Perimeters" means the outer borders or circumferences of figures.
Create your own sentences.
Thursday
“Because the city's hired gun on border issues has apparently been muzzled by city politicians and prevented from speaking to the city residents who pay his salary.”“Because” is a subordinate conjunction which means that the thought after it is dependent and cannot stand by itself. Therefore the sentence above is an incomplete thought.
Corrected version:
“The city's hired gun on border issues has apparently been muzzled by city politicians and prevented from speaking to the city residents who pay his salary.’
Friday
"Backward" is an adjective or an adverb.
His backward glance at the girl was furtive and lecherous
"Backwards" is an adverb only.
Michael Jackson walks backwards when he moonwalks.
IS ANYTHING WRONG IN THE SENTENCE BELOW?
She used all kind of objects in her juggling act.
“Kind” in this context must be plural because it refers to many objects. Multiple objects are not “kind”.
She used all kinds of objects in her juggling act.
THE WORDS
"Complement" (n., v.) means that which makes perfect or completes something.
She will wear a string of pearls to complement her dress.
"Nirvana" (n.) means freedom from pain, worry, and the external world; a state of bliss.
One can achieve a sense of nirvana through the practice of Zen.
"Exculpatory" (adj.) means tending to clear from a charge or fault or guilt. Its roots in Latin are “ex” meaning “out of” and “culpa” meaning fault.
The lawyer presented exculpatory evidence to prove his client innocent.
"Excoriate" (v.) means to flay, remove the skin from, or censure.
Cruel generals often excoriate their underlings to bring them to submission.
"Supercilious" (adj.) means haughtily disdainful or contemptuous in bearing.
The self-centred actor had a supercilious sneer on his face when he encountered the extras on the set.
Monday
SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT
WHICH IS CORRECT?
The climate in both places are mild.
“Climate” is the subject and is singular and must have a singular verb.
The climate in both places is mild.
A group of senators is calling for an investigation.
“Group” is the subject and is singular and must have a singular verb.
A group of senators were calling for an investigation.
Neither her brothers nor Mary knows what happened.
This sentence is correct. When using “neither”/”nor” the noun immediately preceding the verb is the determining factor; “Mary” is singular so the verb must be singular.
Wednesday
INTERESTING TEASERS
What is the difference between "sensuous" and "sensual"?
“Sensual” usually relates to excessive physical desires and implies sexy or voluptuous.
“Sensuous” means of or pertaining to the senses and usually has aesthetic connotations.
What is the difference between "median" and "medium"?
“Median” is the middle number in a sequence of numbers. It is also the ground between highway lanes.
“Medium” is a balance between extremes, the middle. It also means the environment in which something exists.
"Parameters" have come to mean a set of physical properties or a characteristic of something.
"Perimeters" means the outer borders or circumferences of figures.
Create your own sentences.
Thursday
“Because the city's hired gun on border issues has apparently been muzzled by city politicians and prevented from speaking to the city residents who pay his salary.”“Because” is a subordinate conjunction which means that the thought after it is dependent and cannot stand by itself. Therefore the sentence above is an incomplete thought.
Corrected version:
“The city's hired gun on border issues has apparently been muzzled by city politicians and prevented from speaking to the city residents who pay his salary.’
Friday
"Backward" is an adjective or an adverb.
His backward glance at the girl was furtive and lecherous
"Backwards" is an adverb only.
Michael Jackson walks backwards when he moonwalks.
IS ANYTHING WRONG IN THE SENTENCE BELOW?
She used all kind of objects in her juggling act.
“Kind” in this context must be plural because it refers to many objects. Multiple objects are not “kind”.
She used all kinds of objects in her juggling act.
THE WORDS
"Complement" (n., v.) means that which makes perfect or completes something.
She will wear a string of pearls to complement her dress.
"Nirvana" (n.) means freedom from pain, worry, and the external world; a state of bliss.
One can achieve a sense of nirvana through the practice of Zen.
"Exculpatory" (adj.) means tending to clear from a charge or fault or guilt. Its roots in Latin are “ex” meaning “out of” and “culpa” meaning fault.
The lawyer presented exculpatory evidence to prove his client innocent.
"Excoriate" (v.) means to flay, remove the skin from, or censure.
Cruel generals often excoriate their underlings to bring them to submission.
"Supercilious" (adj.) means haughtily disdainful or contemptuous in bearing.
The self-centred actor had a supercilious sneer on his face when he encountered the extras on the set.
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