CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS

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


Monday

INTERMENT/INTERNMENT

“Interment” (n.) means burial or entombment.

“Internment” (n.) means imprisonment, confinement or incarceration.


Tuesday

I HATE THESE ADS

Find and correct the errors.
Bonus: identify the irony in the Bose commercial.

“I wouldn't trade it for nothing!” Bose, the most respected name in sound.
Bose commercial

There is a double negative in the first sentence which creates the irony of the “most respected name” being so grammatically incorrect. Technically, the second group of words in not even a sentence. Ads are short and pithy but should be correct if the company wants their stated respect.

“I wouldn't trade it for anything!” Bose, the most respected name in souns.


“You don't drive like her, so why should you pay the same insurance premiums as her?”
Grey Power commercial

The subjective form of the pronoun should be used in both clauses.

“You don't drive like she does, so why should you pay the same insurance premiums as she does?”


Wednesday

“Here a truck heads toward the bridge off of Patricia Road.”

“Off of” is two prepositions which can never be put together. The word should really be changed.

“Here a truck heads toward the bridge near Patricia Road.”


“The caller left the vehicle to get a tow truck and when they returned it was gone.”

The “caller” is singular, so why is a plural relative pronoun being used in the second clause to refer to a singular noun? The generic “he” should be used.

“The caller left the vehicle to get a tow truck and when he returned it was gone.”


“ ‘A lot of contracting companies have scaled back and a lot of small businesses have went out west or moved elsewhere where the grass is greener,' said Dinchik.”

“Have went” is an incorrect form of the verb “have”.

“ ‘A lot of contracting companies have scaled back and a lot of small businesses have gone out west or moved elsewhere where the grass is greener,” said Dinchik.”


Thursday

MATERIAL/MATERIEL

“Material” (n.) refers to fabric, cloth, textile or stuff.
“Material” (adj.) means significant or important.

“Materiel” (n.) is a French word meaning the equipment and supplies used by armies and other organizations.

The words are not interchangeable.


Friday

SPIRITUALISM/SPIRITUALITY

Spiritualism” (n.) is the belief in the possibility of communication with the spirits of the dead.

“Spirituality” (n.) refers to religious beliefs and activities.


THINK ABOUT THIS

“Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled, ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort.”
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) wrote this aphorism.


LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Oscillate” (v.) means to swing, to move back and forth or to fluctuate.

“Vacuous” (adj.) means empty-headed, unintelligent or inane.

“Altruism” (n.) means unselfishness, humanity or the principle or practice of seeking the welfare of others before oneself.

“Narcissism” (n.) means vanity, self-absorption, conceit or egotism.

Narcissism is based in the myth of a beautiful youth, Narcissus, who was so entranced with his own image when he looked at himself in the water that he metamorphosed into a showy, bulbous plant.

“Compendium” (n.) is a comprehensive summary of a subject or a concise treatise.