CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS - July 22, 2007

Monday

Example 1
"It wouldn't be him that finished first."
Correction
“Him” is objective case and the subjective case is needed after a copula verb.
A personal pronoun, “who”, must be used when referring to people.
"It wouldn't be he who finished first."


Example 2
"Here's the thing. I'm delicate. Delicate and lazy."
"Frankly it frightens me. Which is why I never should have bought a house."
Correction
In an effort to be a poet this writer doesn’t use complete sentences. He should use complete thoughts id newspaper writing
"Here's the thing. I'm delicate. I’m delicate and lazy. Frankly it frightens me, which is why I never should have bought a house."

Tuesday

The number of speeding charges on the Thames are on the rise."
Correction
Subjects and verbs must agree.
The number of speeding charges on the Thames is on the rise."

WEATHER/WHETHER/WETHER

“Weather” refers to the state of the atmosphere.
“Whether” is used to introduce an alternative.
“Wether” identifies a castrated male sheep.

Wednesday

Headline: "Rash of cemetery thefts hurt families"
Correction
Subjects and verbs must agree.
Headline: "Rash of cemetery thefts hurts families"

Thursday

INCIDENCE/INCIDENTS/INSTANCES

“Incidence” refers to degree or extent of the occurrence of something
“Incidents” is merely the plural of “incident,” meaning “occurrences”.
“Instances” are examples.

Friday

“Sarcastic” (adj.) refers harsh or bitter derision, taunts or gibes.
The critic became very sarcastic in his evaluation of the poor writing of the columnist.
“Ironic” (adj.) refers to a figure of speech in which the literal meaning is the opposite to that which is intended.
It is ironic that the traffic cop failed the sobriety test

THE WORDS

“Nefarious" (adj.) means extremely wicked or iniquitous.

“Matriarchy" (n.) is a form of social organization in which the mother is the head of the family.

“Idiot" (n.) refers to a person who is utterly foolish or insensitive or who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental level of three or four years.

“Imbecile" (n.) refers to a silly person or a mentally feeble person who is slightly above the grade of idiot.

“Moron" (n.) refers to a person of arrested intelligence whose mentality is incapable of developing beyond a child of ten or twelves years.
In psychiatry, idiot, imbecile and moron are terms used to determine the placement of people on the IQ scale.

“Platitudinous" (adj.) means given to flat, dull or trite remarks as if they were fresh or new.
“Putridity" (n.) is a state of foulness or decay.