CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - Novenber 22, 2009

Here are the corrections and explanations forlast week's entries.

Monday

PERSPECTIVE/PROSPECTIVE

“Perspective” is usually a noun and has to do with displaying objects to express dimensions and spatial relations. It also refers to the relationship of parts to one another or a mental view of things.

“The architectural perspective was a three-dimensional drawing of beauty and functionality.”

“Prospective” is usually an adjective and refers to the future or one’s expectations of the future.

“The prospective future for the young physics genius, Einstein, was immortality and he achieved it.”


Tuesday

LITERAL/LITTORAL

“Literal” (adj.) means following the exact words of an original text, following the letter of the law or sticking to the strict meaning of something.
“The literal translation of the Bible is often changed to ease understanding for children.”

“Littoral” (adj.) refers to the region of the shore of a lake, sea or ocean.
“The littoral region of east Florida is beautifully sandy and is saturated with tourists.”


PUNCTUATION REVIEW - PERIOD

A “period” is punctuation used to end a sentence that is declarative or a command. It is also used with abbreviations.

“The cat sat on the mat.”
“Marcus Welby M.D. was a well-known TV doctor.”


Wednesday

PUNCTUATION REVIEW - COMMA

A “comma” is used to indicate a pause in a sentence, to separate elements in a series or to separate coordinate conjunctions with different subjects.

A “COMMA” CANNOT BE USED IN PLACE OF A PERIOD even though Dickens did.

Get a Gold Star if you can identify Dickens’s very famous misuse of the comma.

“Tom is wise, intuitive and fully in love with himself.”
“Tom looked at himself in the mirror, and Mary gagged.”


Thursday

PUNCTUATION REVIEW - SEMI-COLON

A “semi-colon" can be used in place of a period to connect sentences that are related to each other or to help sort out a huge list.

“Tom looked at himself in the mirror; Mary gagged.”
“The candidates in the race are: John, from Windsor; Mary, from, Winnipeg; Isabelle, from Belle River; and Angelo, from Amherstburg.”


Friday

PUNCTUATION REVIEW - COLON

A “colon” is used before a list or explanation that is preceded by a clause that can stand by itself.

See the use of the colon in the example for semi-colons for the use of a colon in a list.
“There is one thing yet to do: confess your wrongs and beg forgiveness.”


WORTH A SECOND GLANCE

“There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.”

There is a clue to the identity of the author of the line. You get a gold star if you can find and explain the clue.

The clue is the word “humorist”. The saying was penned by Will Rogers, an American humorist (1879 - 1935).


LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Obdurate” (adj.) means stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing, perverse or unrepentant.

“Rancid” (adj.) means sour, foul, stale or smelly.

“Irreconcilable” (adj.) means cannot be harmonized or adjusted, incompatible or opposed to agreement.

“Presumptuous” (adj.) means excessively forward, brash, cheeky, nervy or assumptive.
“Presumption” is the noun form.
“Presumptive” is another adjectival form meaning affording grounds for presumption or assuming to be true.

“Pedantry” (n.) is a ostentatious, undue or inappropriate display of learning.