Results tagged “Grammar” from Bill's Words

Ω The "Say Hey" Verbal Tic

|

Am I the only person who recognizes and loathes the verbal tic “Say, ‘Hey…’”?

An example:

Bob: So we could get together and say, “Hey, what’s wrong with the part?”

If you notice yourself doing it, you could simply eliminate the entire fictitious dialog.

The example again, improved:

Bob: We could get together and discuss what’s wrong with the part.

Ω Jurnalizm

|

If the number of errors I’ve seen this week in big-name, highly regarded online wings of print publications (most were homophone errors, e.g. “it’s” vs “its” and “rappels” vs “repels”) is indicative of the quality of journalism in this country, then it’s a no wonder why I don’t trust journalists to sweat the details and to report them correctly.

If they can’t do what they supposedly know correctly, can I trust them to report what they don’t know correctly?

It does look like an interesting read. But Philip Klein needs an editor who graduated from 12th grade with me. That’s where I learned that this use of “whomever” is flat-out wrong:

…by whomever happens to be at the helm of the GOP.

Ouch.

My English teacher in 12th grade retaught us everything we were supposed to have already learned about in previous grades. (Thanks, Mr. Floyd!) I overlook some stuff intentionally—dangling participles, for example—but never this kind of error.

(Don’t trust Mr. Floyd? See here for a couple of rules to help you out.)

Obama: “The odds of me being reelected are much higher than the odds of me being elected in the first place.”

In related news, the odds of his using a possessive with a gerund? Exactly zero.

The headline reads:

“Christian Terrorist” Arrested…

and it should read:

“Christian” Terrorist Arrested…

Subtle, but I think a more accurate portrayal of a person who is a real terrorist and a fake Christian.

Article here.

Another take: Did I miss something? When did “G” start to mean “thousand?”

Article here.

Another take: BostonHerald.com editors attended same DC school as FoxNews.com editors

(It’s since been fixed. Here’s the original headline as it appeared on Google News:

Picture 2.png

Maybe it was just a typo after all.)

Article here.

Another take: FoxNews.com editors apparently went to D.C. schools, skated through science and math, mistake “G” for “K”