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Pam Nelson: The Grammar Guide

 

Archive for March 2007

Number of comments in parentheses

25: Monday is quiz day!

Today’s five-question, multiple-choice quiz is about word choice. I hope I don’t sound like a broken record, but we copy editors see problems with word choice every day. Homonyms are easy to mistype as we are writing and easy to miss as we are editing, so we have to be alert to the possible errors. Click here to begin the quiz, or click on the blue question mark. This article was originally posted by the Raleigh News & Observer, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Co.; is posted here to provide continuity; and is copyright © 2011 The News &[.....]

19: Wait for me

A reader wrote recently to say that he enjoys reading our newspaper, but he added that he hoped the editors “will get around to hiring someone who is sufficiently adept at American English usage to eliminate some horrendous errors.” One of the “horrendous errors” he finds in our pages is “wait on” instead of “wait for.” He and others would keep “wait on” for the sense of standing by to serve, as in a waiter or a clerk waiting on customers. I don’t think that using “wait on” instead of “wait for” qualifies as “horrendous,” but, apparently, “wait on”[.....]

18: Today’s quiz

Today’s quiz is about word choices. It’s the usual five-question, multiple-choice format. Give it a try here or click on the question mark. As always, I appreciate comments or questions. When you look at the answers at the end of the quiz, if you have an answer incorrect, you will see a short explanation. Feb. 6, 2008 update: A student at Campbell University named Ashlyn spotted an error in one of these quiz questions. The error didn’t involve the answer; it was a typo in the sentence. I have corrected the typo. Thanks to Ashlyn for spotting the error![.....]

15: Can you feel it?

A reader wrote with a good question from one of her students. She had admonished the students not to use “I feel badly” unless they were trying to say they had numb fingers. Then a student asked why we say “I feel strongly” instead of “I feel strong.” In fact, we do say “I feel strong” when we mean that we can lift a heavy weight or that we can overcome any metaphorical obstacle. But we say “I feel strongly” when we have a definite opinion about something. Barbara Wallraff, the author of Word Court, explains that “feel” can[.....]

12: Northern accents

A few readers have taken the newspaper to task for reporting that police had said that a suspect in a crime “spoke with a Northern accent.” The readers thought that either was too vague to make any sense or was unfairly stereotyping people who speak differently. I think it’s interesting that readers objected to the description and that the police included it with the physical description. I’ve heard the argument that calling a way of speech a “Northern” accent is too vague. I agree that there is no such thing as one Northern accent, just as there is no[.....]

11: Quiz yourself

Today’s quiz features five multiple-choice sentences about “who,” “whom,” “whoever” and “whomever.” Click here to begin or click on the question mark. If you need to take a refresher on objective case pronouns, you can check out The Tongue Untied or you can review some postings on this blog. This article was originally posted by the Raleigh News & Observer, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Co.; is posted here to provide continuity; and is copyright © 2011 The News & Observer Publishing Company, which reserves the right to remove this post.

10: Say what?

I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the way “trespassed” is used on this sign at Schenck Forest in Raleigh. I thought that “trespass” is what the folks who are entering a place without permission are doing, but this sign indicates that it’s something that will be done to such folks. Some legal glossaries gave me an inkling that being “trespassed” means being sued for doing something wrong. Still, the meaning is clear: Don’t take your dogs on a walk at Schenck. This article was originally posted by the Raleigh News & Observer, a subsidiary[.....]

6: “Fall guy” and other terms

Tuesday night, I heard Chris Matthews of MSNBC correct a lawyer he was interviewing about the Lewis “Scooter” Libby verdict. The lawyer for journalist Matt Cooper, Dick Sauber, had used the term “scapegoat.” A scapegoat, Matthews said, is a person who didn’t do anything wrong but has to take the blame for others. Denis Collins, the Libby juror who talked to the press after the verdict, said that the jurors wondered if Libby was the “fall guy.” A fall guy is someone who is left to take the blame when a scheme fails. Matthews was right to note the[.....]

4: Monday is Quiz Day!

I have another five-question multiple-choice quiz ready for you. This one is about “lay” and “lie.” Click here to begin. [Added later--once I figured out how to do it] You can also click on the question mark on the right. This article was originally posted by the Raleigh News & Observer, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Co.; is posted here to provide continuity; and is copyright © 2011 The News & Observer Publishing Company, which reserves the right to remove this post.