CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - February 14, 2010

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

Monday

“Alternate”, as an adjective, means another choice or something different.
“Alternate” can also be a verb but the emphasis is on the last syllable.
“Alternate” can also be a noun.

“Alternative”, as an adjective, means every other as in meeting on alternative weeks throughout the year.
“Alternative”, as a noun, refers to another choice, as in, ‘My alternative to becoming a lazy retiree is to write a daily blog about using English correctly’.


Tuesday

COMMON WORDS/COMMON MISTAKES

What do “phenomena”, “criteria”, “media”, “data” and “stadia” all have in common?

The words are all plural forms.
“Phenomenon”, “criterion”, “medium”, “datum” and “stadium” are the respective singular forms.
The most commonly misused examples are “data” with a singular verb and “stadiums” instead of “stadia”. “Criteria” is often misused when only a single “criterion” is needed.


Wednesday

Correct any errors and give reasons for your choices.

“ ‘Dr. Bernie Warren is a very unique individual who is highly recognized in the medical community,’ said Bird.”

“Unique”, an absolute modifier, means one-of-a-kind and cannot be compared.

“ ‘Dr. Bernie Warren is a unique individual who is highly recognized in the medical community,’ said Bird.”


Thursday

FLOE/FLOW

“Floe” (n.) is a flat mass of ice floating at sea.

“Flow” (v.) means to move smoothly or to stream.


Friday

POPULACE/POPULOUS

Populace”, a noun, refers to the population, as a whole, or the people of a country.

“Populous”, an adjective, refers to the density of population within a country, as in California is more populous than all of Canada.


I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE

“Patterning your life around others' opinions is nothing more than slavery.”
Lawana Blackwell, a Louisiana writer penned this line in her book, “The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark”.

PET PEEVES - NEW DEPARTMENT

“NO PROBLEM”

Suggest an improvement for the word exchange below.
“Thank you for doing that job.”
“No problem.”

“No problem” has become a substitute for “you’re welcome” and places the importance on the job done by the server instead of responding to the politeness of the job receiver. It suggests the server is doing a favour for the receiver and sounds self-centred. It is better than no response at all but it is not as polite as "Thank you" and is a pet peeve.

“Thank you for doing that job.”
“You’re welcome.”


LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Abhorrent” (adj.) means detestable, repulsive or obscene.
“Abhor” is the verb form.
“Abhorrence” is the noun form.

“Kibosh” (n.) refers to nonsense or to rendering something as definitely impossible or out of the question.

“Ruminate” (v.) means to chew, to masticate or to think about or ponder about at length and in depth.
“Rumination” is the noun form.
“Ruminant” refers to any chewing type animal.

“Foppish” (adj.) means affecting extremes in dress and manner or dandyish.
“Fop” is the noun form.
“Foppishly” is the adverb form.

“Expediency” (n.) refers to advantageousness, advisability or something that is quick, easy  or politic rather than something that is right and just.