CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - December 6, 2009

TAKE NOTE

I have received some comments that I would like to publish but will not because they are written in Chinese or Mandarin characters. Since I do not understand Chinese or Mandarin, I will not publish them.
ALL COMMENTS MUST BE IN ENGLISH OR I WILL NOT PUBLISH THEM. After all, this blog is about English usage.


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

Monday

Explain and correct the error in the following piece.

“She's so overcome when he breaks up with her that she collapses to the ground in the middle of a forest and lays there all night.”

“Lays” is incorrect; it should be “lies”. “Lays” requires an object. “Lays” in place of “lies” creates some very interesting connotations which I will leave to your imaginations.

“She's so overcome when he breaks up with her that she collapses to the ground in the middle of a forest and lies there all night.”


APPRAISE/APPRISE

“Appraise”, a verb, means to assess the value of something, to rate or to consider the worth of an idea or thing.
“I will appraise your Royal dalton collection of figurines and I assure you it is worth thousands.”

“Apprise”, a verb, means to advise, to notify, to send word or to inform people of a situation.
“When you apprise me of the jury’s verdict, I will immediately publish it.”


Tuesday

Identify and correct the errors in the following piece from a news story about turning in guns for cash.

“No questions asked and no questions as to the amount of guns turned in.”

This is not a complete thought; there is no principal verb.
“Amount” is incorrect; “amount” cannot be used in referring to things that can be counted; it can only be used for quantities that can be counted in bulk.

“There were no questions asked and no questions as to the number of guns turned in.”


Wednesday

EMPATHY/SYMPATHY

“Empathy”, a noun, refers to feeling like or understanding another person.
“Empathize” is the verb form.
“Empathic” is the adjective form.
“Empathetically” is the adverb form.

“Sympathy”, also a noun, means feeling sorry for another.
“Sympathize” is the verb form.
“Sympathetic” is the adjective form.
“Sympathetically” is the adverb form.


Thursday

ALL TOGETHER/ALTOGETHER

“All together” is a phrase meaning in a group.
“All together, the team raised a wonderful cheer.”

“Altogether” is an adverb meaning completely or entirely.
“The jury ruled that the defendant was altogether sane and could stand trial.”


Friday

Identify and correct the error in the following passage.

“ ‘I agree with you, Premier, that five years is a long time,’ replied Harper, who irritated Beijing by criticizing the Communist regime's human-rights record and meeting with the Dalai Lama, among other things. ‘It’s also been almost five years since we had yourself or President Hu in our country.’ ”

“Yourself” is incorrect. “Yourself” is a reflexive pronoun meaning that it cannot refer to another but must refer back only to itself. The correct word to use is “you”.

“ ‘I agree with you, Premier, that five years is a long time,’ replied Harper, who irritated Beijing by criticizing the Communist regime's human-rights record and meeting with the Dalai Lama, among other things. ‘It’s also been almost five years since we had you or President Hu in our country.’ ”


A GOOD CONCEPT

“There is no calamity greater than lavish desires.
There is no greater guilt than discontentment.
And there is no greater disaster than greed.”

This line was created by Lao-tzu, a Chinese philosopher who lived from 604 BC to 531 BC.


LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Luciferous” (adj.) means bringing or giving light. It is from the Latin “lux, lucis”. The word “Lucifer” is derived from this word.

“Foment” (v.) means to stir up, to agitate or to shake up, particularly public feeling.
“Fomentation”, meaning instigation, is the noun form.

“Pique” (v.) means to cause resentment, to goad or to needle.
“Pique” (n.) refers to a sudden outburst of anger.

“Fetid” (adj.) means a putrid smell, foul or stinking.
“Fetidity” is the noun form.
“Fetidly” is the adverb form.

“Malodorous” (adj.) means having a bad odor or unpleasant-smelling.
The association of “malodorous” is to the Prime Minister’s use of the English language. "Fetid" would also probably apply.