I have decided to take a much needed break from blogging here at Grammar Police - My day job is running anywhere from 65-70 hours a week, and trying to stay on top of everything else, not to mention dealing with the after-effects of being sick, is running me ragged.
This gig is supposed to be over in about two-and-a-half weeks, so I should be back up and running right about that time. Should anything strike my fancy between now and then, I’ll be sure to pop in and let you know.
In the meantime, go check out The Typo Eradication Advancement League; I so love a good excuse to travel.
April 16th, 2008 | Author:
keiti |
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By Keiti
Being sick and getting over something called Fifth Disease, (read more about that here), has left me with a couple of days off from work and time to do a lot of nothing. I get bored easily, and spent much of the time staring at the TV Guide channel searching for something that looked even remotely interesting.
Which meant I had to sit through the American Idol show, (I can’t think of the actual name), while looking for something to zone out to. At any rate, they were interviewing one of the recent contestants who had been booted off – I don’t remember what they were specifically talking about, but I distinctly remember hearing the word “uncurable” somewhere along the way.
To say that I cringed would be an understatement. I think I actually took the time to curse at the TV screen.
It wasn’t my finest moment, by any stretch of the imagination, but it did feel wonderful to simply let loose the word snob in me.
That one moment got me thinking about pet peeves in the English Language. I wandered across the internet and stumbled upon the Top 10 Errors in English That Aren’t Errors.
And one of my biggest pet peeves is on the list - #4, to be exact. It drives me absolutely insane when people use “that” when they should use “who”. It’s not a question of being demeaning – at least not for me. It’s just silly to use “that” when referring to a person, regardless of whether it sounds correct or not. Personally, I don’t think it ever sounds correct. And how it sounds is beside the point; our commenter, goofy, will probably disagree with me, but regardless of how it sounds, it still sounds incorrect.
But I digress.
I want to know what you think about this list. Do you agree with the points the author makes? Is there anything that you would have included on the list? What are your grammar-related annoyances?
April 15th, 2008 | Author:
keiti |
8 Comments
As usual, here are the answers to last week’s Saturday Sanctuary:
To Your Health
Dermatophobia ———- Fear of skin disease
Cardiophobia ———- Fear of heart disease
Pathophobia ———- Fear of disease
Iatrophobia ———- Fear of going to the doctor
Emetophobia ———- Fear of vomiting
Insects and Animals
Arachnophobia ———- Fear of spiders
Ichthyophobia ———- Fear of fish
Ornithophobia ———-Fear of birds
Herpetophobia ———- Fear of reptiles
Aiophobia ———- Fear of bees
This week’s Saturday Sanctuary is all in the name of helping others. Head on over to Free Rice and use your dazzling knowledge of word meanings to donate rice to those in need.
April 12th, 2008 | Author:
keiti |
2 Comments
By Keiti
Everyone keeps telling me it’s unladylike to show my age, but I can remember what it was like not to have the modern conveniences the vast majority of us now take for granted: microwave ovens, computers, email, IM, cell phones…
I can vividly remember having to type term papers on an electric typewriter, (something I don’t miss in the least), wasting page after page of paper due to not being able to make a correction because the white “erase” tape was out. One false misspell could cause hours of extra work.
I’m certainly not against new technology – Lord knows I’d be lost without my computer and my cell phone – but with every new invention there arises the question as to whether they’ll do more harm than good in the long run.
What does this have to do with grammar?
Well…let’s take text and instant messaging, shall we?
My friends laugh at me because when I converse via either text or IM, I write longhand. Call me a purist, but I refuse to use the shortcuts that have become the norm. It takes me forever to type a text on a cell phone, but I simply can’t and won’t allow myself to become lazy.
And I do see it as my being lazy. It’s sort of like swearing for me – excessive swearing arises from a laziness to find a more appropriate word. I do have a trucker’s mouth a vast majority of the time and that is enough laziness for me.
But it’s not the actual use of text / IM shortcuts that truly bothers me; it’s the fact that many of the kids who grew up in the thick of the computer generation don’t bother to make the distinction of when it’s appropriate to use shorthand and when it’s not. I discovered this during my brief stint as a high school English teacher and it damn near drove me mad. I’m not sure whether it’s true laziness or if they’ve simply not been taught to make the distinction; I’m not sure it matters.
I recently ran across two articles, one by Brian Arrington and the other by Melinda Mawdsley, which address this phenomenon and I’d like to hear your opinions. Do you think that we’re doing children a disservice by allowing this to creep over into arenas where it shouldn’t? Or do you think it doesn’t matter in the larger scheme?
April 10th, 2008 | Author:
keiti |
9 Comments
By Keiti
I came across an interesting article online today on College Candy. While it’s certainly not my normal reading material, (though it did make me giggle when I pulled the page up; can you guess why?), it got me thinking about how bad someone’s grammar would have to be in order for me to walk away.
Historically, most of my friends have had poor grammar – it’s not that any of them were stupid, but the punk scene was far more conducive to using slang than it was for using proper grammar. Our focus was on more important matters – clubbing, music, friendships, romance, drug and / or alcohol abuse for some. Grammar was the furthest thing from our minds.
But it brought back what both Patricia and I stated in our respective posts about National Grammar Day: No one likes an arrogant smarty-pants.
How arrogant would someone’s grammar attitude have to be before you cut them loose? Would you call them on it? Would you cut them loose? Or would you simply look the other way while they made a complete fool out of themselves?
Do you have any good stories?
April 8th, 2008 | Author:
keiti |
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By Keiti
Here are the answers to last week’s riddles:
Riddle # 1
What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?
answer: A man who crawls as a child, walks upright in his prime, and uses a cane in old age.
Riddle # 2
Think of words ending in –gry. Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English Language. Hat is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is.
answer: Language, because it is the third word in the phrase “The English Language”.
Riddle # 3
I have a bunch of children. When the sun comes out, they hide. When the sun hides, they come out.
answer: The stars.
This week’s challenge is to match the following phobias with the object of that fear:
To Your Health
Dermatophobia ———- Fear of going to the doctor
Cardiophobia ———- Fear of vomiting
Pathophobia ———- Fear of heart disease
Iatrophobia ———- Fear of skin disease
Emetophobia ———- Fear of disease
Insects and Animals
Arachnophobia ———- Fear of Reptiles
Ichthyophobia ———- Fear of birds
Ornithophobia ———-Fear of spiders
Herpetophobia ———- Fear of bees
Aiophobia ———- Fear of fish
As usual, put your answers in the comment section.
April 5th, 2008 | Author:
keiti |
1 Comment
By Keiti
In the first apostrophe post I went over the very basics of using an apostrophe in forming contractions. Today, it’s possession and beyond.
At OWL, they offer a quick way to determine whether you need to use an apostrophe or not by turning the sentence into an “of the” phrase.
For example, the car’s tires becomes the tires of the car.
Pretty easy, huh?
When it comes to the specific rules, however, there is (as usual) a difference of opinion as to what is correct.
RULE # 1: add ’s to the singular form of a word.
The cat’s claws.
Spring’s flowers.
At OWL they state to add ’s to a word even if it ends in an s. I’ve seen it done both ways and, personally, I don’t see the point of adding an additional s.
OWL’s way:
James’s new CD
Alternate way:
James’ new CD
RULE # 2: add ’s to the plural form of a word that doesn’t end in s
The women’s clothing
The men’s hats
RULE # 3: add an ’ to the end of plural nouns that end in s
The dogs’ barks
The cats’ claws
RULE #4: add ’s to the end of compound words
My sister-in-law’s sewing
If it is plural it should look like:
My sisters-in-law’s sewing
RULE #5: add ’s to the last noun to show joint possession
If Tim and James own a house together:
Tim and James’ house
If Tim and James each own a house:
Tim’s and James’ houses
USING APOSTROPHES IN A NOT-SO-NORMAL WAY
Apostrophes can also be used when making plurals out of numbers & letters. This is another case where I’ve seen it done both with and without apostrophes, so… if you’re taking a class or writing for a company, make sure to follow the rules they provide.
Examples:
The 1980’s
Make sure to dot your i’s and cross your t’s.
The IBM’s are non-functional.
And Lastly…
You should never use an apostrophe for possessive pronouns:
His, her, its (unless it means “it is”), yours, ours, etc.
There are two quizzes OWL has. Check out apostrophe exercise one or apostrophe exercise two.
Make sure to pay attention to the rules the site goes by, otherwise you may miss some.
By Keiti
For such a small punctuation mark, the apostrophe serves a pretty large purpose. Not only does it assist in creating contractions, the apostrophe also signifies possession and is occasionally (read: very rarely) used to form a plural.
We’ll get to the trickier stuff on another day, but today I want to go over contractions.
Honestly, I haven’t seen contractions done improperly since I first learned them in school, but I think you’ll probably recall seeing someone write a contraction like this:
Which is, of course, incorrect.
The contractions for couldn’t, shouldn’t, and wouldn’t start out as could not, should not, and would not. And since “not” is the word that’s being contracted, the apostrophe goes where the missing letter should be. That would make the contractions look a little something like this:
Since contractions are the easiest to understand when it comes to using apostrophes, I’ll send you over to take this quiz on contractions.
If there is anyone who finds contractions confusing, let me know and I’ll go more in depth. If not, on Thursday we’ll move on to possession.
April 1st, 2008 | Author:
keiti |
3 Comments
By Keiti
Here are the answers to last week’s Saturday Sanctuary homophones:
· Forbidden group of musicians – banned band
· A rough-sounding stallion - hoarse horse
· Glare at the steps – stair stare
· A special deal on boat cloth – sail sale
· Lacking strength Sunday through Saturday – weak week
· Opportune moment for this seasoning – thyme time
· A frog pulled by a chain – towed toad
· An honest price paid for transit – fair fare
· Posters of male royalty – prince prints
This week’s fun and festivities come in the form of riddles.
Here are three. Put your best guesses in the comments section.
Riddle # 1
What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?
Riddle # 2
Think of words ending in –gry. Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English Language. Hat is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is.
Riddle # 3
I have a bunch of children. When the sun comes out, they hide. When the sun hides, they come out.
Good luck!
March 29th, 2008 | Author:
keiti |
1 Comment
By Keiti
So much has been stated about the importance of grammar – the rules, such as they are, should be followed for a myriad of reasons, and valid those reasons are.
But they all pale in comparison to the fact that good grammar helps us avoid confusion and assists us in deciphering the meaning behind someone else’s words.
In my internet meanderings, I came across a blog post by Coralie at Life More Abundantly entitled Why Grammar is More Important Than You Think. In her post, Coralie makes a good point about a case concerning the second amendment that was heard by the Supreme Court on March 18th.
Being that I have no intention of turning this blog into a political forum I’ll simply point you to it, but it is a good illustration of how grammar does have applications in the real world.
March 27th, 2008 | Author:
keiti |
2 Comments
