I ran across the same homonym problem twice today (June 28) in two pieces of copy — there (the adverb),… Read more »
Monthly Archives: June 2005
It’s bad all over
My family and I took a vacation trip to Pennsylvania last week. (It’s a beautiful state, by the way.) Just… Read more »
Feeling all right
This headline gave me pause this morning (June 18): He’s got them feeling alright. I spent quite a bit of… Read more »
Evil, not just big
I heard the word “enormity” used correctly this morning (June 18) as I listened to public radio’s “On the Media.”… Read more »
No place like home
A few years ago, I answered a phone call from a reader who took us to task for using “home… Read more »
I’m OK, you’re okay
Like many newspapers in the United States, The N&O follows the Associated Press Stylebook. For copy editors, the stylebook is… Read more »
A homonyms list
Sometimes it seems that the most widespread problem with written English is the confusion of homonyms, those words that sound… Read more »
Apostrophe madness
I saw this on the screen during the weather report on NBC’s “Today Show” this morning (June 13): A plural… Read more »
You’re entitled; a book is titled
This sentence from an Associated Press report of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s piano performance at a concert for ailing… Read more »
A choice word: dilemma
Copy editors are sometimes regarded as persnickety pests in newsrooms. We ask about words and phrases that other people use… Read more »
Too proud to beg (the question)
I heard Bob Schieffer of CBS’ “Face the Nation” utter the phrase “begs the question” on Sunday morning (June 5)…. Read more »
Testing, testing
Interactive online grammar tests can be great tools for learning, and they are fun. Here is a Web site that… Read more »