CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - October 18, 2009

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

Tuesday

There are four errors in the examples below. Find them, fix them and give your reasons for your choices.

“The 26 year-old man from the nearby suburb of New Westminster had been out drinking when he saw a couch on a east Vancouver sidewalk and decided to lay down to sleep.”

“An”, not “a”, is required before a word beginning with a vowel.
“Lay” is incorrect. When the subject is acting on some other object, “lay” is used. When the subject is lying down, “lie is used”.

“The 26 year-old man from the nearby suburb of New Westminster had been out drinking when he saw a couch on an east Vancouver sidewalk and decided to lie down to sleep.”


“Which means if there is any skimping on materials, design or construction, the fallout will come back to bite the hindquarters of the contractors' heirs.”

“Which” is a subordinate conjunction and makes its clause dependant. So the whole thing is an incomplete thought.

“If there is any skimping on materials, design or construction, the fallout will come back to bite the hindquarters of the contractors’ heirs.”


“Which is why the list of partners and subcontractors named by each of the successful bidding consortia reads like a who’s who of the world’s building industry: the names include Spaniards, Brits, Germans, Americans and Aussies.”

See the explanation for the example above.
The colon is misused; it should be a semi-colon.

“The list of partners and subcontractors named by each of the successful bidding consortia reads like a who’s who of the world’s building industry; the names include Spaniards, Brits, Germans, Americans and Aussies.”


Wednesday

Correct the three errors in the following units.

“A super pest, a circus act, a small, nasty bundle of balled-up menace who, when healthy competed like a giant.”

This is an incomplete thought.

“Darcy was a super pest, a circus act, a small, nasty bundle of balled-up menace who, when healthy competed like a giant.”


“Blue collar; hard working and gritty.”

This, too, is an incomplete thought.
The semi-colon should be a colon because a list of qualities about blue collar workers is being implied.

“He was blue collar: hard working and gritty.”


Thursday

AMBIVALENT/INDIFFERENT

“Ambivalent” (adj.) means being pulled in two directions about something thus creating uncertainty or indecision.

“Indifferent” (adj.) means having no particular feelings, concern or leanings about something.


Friday

CONFLICTED/CONFLICTING FEELINGS

“Conflicted” and “conflicted feelings” are jargon and should not be used, particularly in correct writing.
The term “conflicting feelings” is acceptable. Having “ambivalent” feelings is also acceptable.

“I feel conflicted about that,” is not acceptable.

“I have conflicting feelings about that,” is the way to say it.


A THINKER

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

Albert Einstein, 1879 - 1955, said this.


LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Funereal” (adj.) means gloomy, suggestive of a grave or a burial.

“Machiavellian” (adj.) relates to the philosophy of Niccolò di Bernardo Machiavelli, an Italian statesman (1469-1527), who held the political doctrine which placed expediency above political morality and condoned the use of craft, unscrupulousness and deceit in order to maintain the authority and effect the purposes of the ruler. In short, it refers to a person who puts deceit above morality.

“Succour” (v.) means to help, assist, aid or suckle, particularly in a difficult situation. The American version is “succor”.

“Ungainly” (adj.) means lacking grace of movement or posture, gawky, unwieldy or awkward.