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Pam Nelson: The Grammar Guide

 

Archive for December 2006

Number of comments in parentheses

16: Pursuing my own happiness

Craig D. Lindsey’s review of “The Pursuit of Happyness” didn’t answer the one question I had about the movie: Why is happiness misspelled? I had to know, so I Googled. From Wikipedia and other critics’ reviews, I found out that a sign the lead character sees in a day-care center spells the word as “happyness.” A teacher’s explanation about the sign prompts him to ponder the nature of happiness and its pursuit. I am relieved to know. Of course, caring more about this makes me either a nerd or a geek. But then, that’s what the pursuit of happiness[.....]

12: Are we done yet?

“Man’s work lasts till set of sun, Woman’s work is never done.”Readers objected to a headline on Monday’s front page: Done eating that oyster? The state wants the shell. As one reader put it, “cakes are done; people are finished.” [More:] Those readers who found this usage wrong have older usage guides on their side. Apparently this rule was widely taught in mid-20th century English classes, Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage suggests, because many people know about it. My copy of Theodore H. Bernstein’s “The Careful Writer” advises writers to use “finished,” instead of “done,” unless they are[.....]

2: Diagramming sentences

A new book traces the history and practice of diagramming sentences. I heard about Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog by Kitty Burns Florey on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday. I learned a bit of sentence diagramming, but that way of teaching grammar was falling out of favor in the 1970s. I don’t know whether that hurt my education. Some people swear by the practice, but I think that it appeals mostly to people who think visually. Not everyone learns that way. What struck me about diagramming is how short-lived it was as a teaching technique. It was devised in the 1870s[.....]