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Pam Nelson: The Grammar Guide

 

Archive for December 2007

Number of comments in parentheses

30: A matter of writing style: redundancy

A reader calls our attention to this sentence from Saturday’s (Dec. 29, 2007) page 2A: There may be biological reasons why. To this reader and others, the phrase “reason(s) why” is an example of redundancy. The sentence would work just fine and sound better without “why.” However, the sentence above is not ungrammatical. Avoiding redundancy is a matter of style. Another often cited example of redundancy is “consensus of opinion.” We copy editors are trained to fix redundancy, along with faulty grammar, unclear constructions, misused words and a million other problems. Still, readers will find plenty of examples in[.....]

23: The year in words

This is the time for word of the year lists. The New York Times Week in Review has an article about the buzzwords of 2007. We in the Southeast who are living in areas of exceptional drought will recognize Navy shower, a water-saving way of getting clean. MSNBC has a piece about 2007 buzzwords, too. I like narcissurfing, a term for searching for your own name on the Internet. The term wOOt leads Merriam-Webster’s list of the words of the year. It’s an interjection expressing great joy, the dictionary publishers say. I can hardly wait to use that in[.....]

16: Was Hansbrough on the ground or the floor?

A reader takes us to task for this sentence in a sports story: With 5:47 left at Louis Brown Athletic Center, UNC’s leading scorer and rebounder was trying to take a charge when he banged his head on a cameraman’s knee under the basket, and lay flat on the ground for several moments. And farther down in the story: “I would have got up earlier,” said Hansbrough, who was on the ground when Ndiaye dunked a putback to cut UNC’s lead to 77-56, “but they told me to stay down.” The reader points out that Tyler Hansbrough was on[.....]

14: How to make a word geek happy

I have now in my possession the Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, on CD-ROM, Version 3.1. When it landed in my hands Friday, I was giddy with anticipation. The CD only works on a PC, so I couldn’t try it out on my Mac at work. I finally got it installed on my PC at home this morning. (I had a little Microsoft update to do before it would work.) The CD version has the whole 20-volume dictionary (published in 1989) and the additions series of three volumes (1993 and 1997). The copyright date on this CD-ROM version is[.....]

12: The errors writers and editors make

Do you know what’s wrong in this sentence? Growing up in Minnesota, one of my favorite things was going to the state fair each summer and watching the guy who would guess your weight within 5 pounds. – “Losing Weight in the Gulf,” Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times, Dec. 12. The participle at the beginning of the sentence is dangling — hanging out there the way Wile E. Coyote does when he runs out of cliff while chasing Road Runner. A participle phrase at the beginning of a sentence should modify the subject of the sentence. But[.....]

4: Triangle Grammar Guide’s gift guide

Having edited several gift guides in the past week or so (and facing another when I go in this morning — let me tell you, I am running out of headline ideas), I decided to issue my own gift guide. Here are three ideas for anyone who cares about writing. A good hardcover dictionary. Any of the dictionaries listed on this Amazon.com page would be fine. I like “Webster’s New World College Dictionary,” but I wish I had a version of the Oxford English Dictionary. I also think it’s good to have a computer version of a dictionary to[.....]

2: Today’s word choice tip: Uncharted

A familiar phrase in news stories refers to uncertainty. Here is an example: After coming out as a gay man eight years ago, Brett Webb-Mitchell left his wife, his Carrboro home, and his job to start a new and uncharted course at the age of 44. “Uncharted” means unmapped, so an “uncharted course” means that someone is on a journey without the benefit of a map. Sometimes “uncharted” is rendered as “unchartered.” It happens commonly enough that when I put the phrase “unchartered waters” in a Google search, the program asked me if I meant “uncharted waters.” I found[.....]