CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - February 3, 2008

Below are the corrections and explanations for last week's postings.

Monday

THAN/THEN

"Than" is a conjunction of comparison; for example, this is larger than that.

"Then" is an adverb and refers to time; for example, I wrote and then I rested. ("Then" modifies rested because it answers the question "what" about the verb.)
The two words are pronounced differently and are not interchangeable.


TRY AND/TRY TO

"Try and" is non-standard and should not be used. Think of the logic of meaning: one does not "try" and then "do" something; one "tries to" accomplish together.


Tuesday

ENVIOUS/JEALOUS

"Jealous" (adj.) means feeling resentful, often brutally so, of another's successes or possessions. It also means suspicious fears or intolerance of a rival, particularly in love affairs.

"Envious" means disliking or begrudgement of someone for what he has. It is often a hatred that another has something that one does not have.


Wednesday

PREJUDICE/PREJUDICED

"Prejudice" means a slanted view against someone or something; it is a non-objective view.
When using the verb form, one is "prejudiced against"; one is not "prejudice against".


Thursday

Find and correct the errors:

"It appeared, however, the players in the Toronto sweaters still had visions
of laying on a beach in the sunny south."
"Laying" is a transitive verb and takes an object. The correct verb is "Lying".
"It appeared, however, the players in the Toronto sweaters still had visions
of lying on a beach in the sunny south."

"For instance, Tsunami's glass bowls can be used as back-lit wall pieces."
This is an incomplete thought. "For instance" must connect, via a semi-colon, to the sentence or clause immediately prior to it.
"Tsunami's glass bowls can be used as back-lit wall pieces."


Friday

Identify and correct the errors in the following:

"A 48-year-old Chilliwack, B.C. man driving a Ford Explorer apparently failed to see the flares or the police cruiser and did not change to the furthest lane from the stopped cruiser as required under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act."
There is no such word as "furthest". "Further" means "in addition to" and cannot be used to denote distance. "farthest" must be used."A 48-year-old Chilliwack, B.C. man driving a Ford Explorer apparently failed to see the flares or the police cruiser and did not change to the farthest lane from the stopped cruiser as required under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act."

"For example, young people and high school students are computer savvy and, while they may feel intimidated about calling a phone number, they may be more at ease using a computer."
This is an incomplete thought. See the note about "for instance" above.
"Young people and high school students are computer savvy and, while they may feel intimidated about calling a phone number, they may be more at ease using a computer."

"Police remind drivers that they are required to go to the furthest lane from a stopped emergence vehicle, provided it is safe to do so."
This is the same mistake cited earlier. At least the writer was consistent.)
"Police remind drivers that they are required to go to the farthest lane from a stopped emergence vehicle, provided it is safe to do so."


REALITY CHECK

My all-time favourite)
Identify the author, work and speaker of the following; explain the philosophy put forth:

"Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

This is said by Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, in the play of the same name.
The basic philosophy is that we all perform our lives but eventually, no matter what we do, our bombast and strutting signify nothing and if we think otherwise, we are fools.


THIS WEEK’S WORDS

“Hirsute” (adj.) means hairy, unshaven or shaggy.

“Visceral” (adj.) means instinctual, deep-seated, inward or emotional, as in a "visceral fear".

“Loquacious” (adj.) means talkative, communicative, chatty, gossipy or windy.

“Bacchanalianism” (n.) means given to revelry,lewd or orgiastic merriment. It derives from Roman mythology and the festival in honour of Bacchus, the God of Wine.

“Garrulous" (adj.) means verbose, voluble, expansive or loquacious.