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Pam Nelson: The Grammar Guide

 

Archive for January 2008

Number of comments in parentheses

31: Why it’s apiece, not a piece

A reader calls us to task for using “a piece” as two words. The word is apiece, an adverb that means “for each one.” My colleagues and I know this, of course, but we overlooked it. The reader’s note led me to think about a way to explain to people why it is apiece and not “a piece.” The answer can be found in the dictionary. The etymology of apiece refers to a-, a prefix from Old English that meant “in” or “on.” The prefix is the same in current English. It means, the dictionary says, “in, into, on,[.....]

29: Sneaked or snuck

This is a line from the State of the Union address on Monday night: The people’s trust in their government is undermined by congressional earmarks — special interest projects that are often snuck in at the last minute, without discussion or debate. Maybe usage is taking another turn: Snuck as the past tense of sneak is so pervasive, even though it is still considered nonstandard, that even the president and his speech writers use it. Those who argue that it doesn’t matter whether someone uses standard grammar would point to this and say, “Everyone understood perfectly well what the[.....]

21: More grammar-usage peeves from readers

I posted some comments Monday. Here are a few more: Why, oh why, do people use the word “first” to inappropriately modify verbs? For example: “When I first started …”; “When we first moved here, …”; “When I first met Jane, …”; or “When he first began working here, ….” One does not first start, or first move, or first meet someone, or first begin doing almost anything, unless the activity is done more than one time. For example, normally one does not “start” or “begin” something more than one time. It is absentminded redundancy to use the word[.....]

20: Grammar-usage-pronunciation problems that bug you

Here are a few peeves from readers: My personal language pet peeve is the expression “I could care less.” If people thought about what they were actually saying they would realize that by saying they “could care less” means that they care quite a bit. “I couldn’t care less” is the correct way to express a lack of regard for a particular circumstance or situation. Arguably is a pet peeve of mine as well, less because of redundancy than because, frequently, it falls into the “could care less” school of reverse meaning: while it accurately softens the absolute certitude[.....]

18: Try a Triangle Grammar Guide quiz

This quiz has 10 sentences, instead of the usual five. I hit the jackpot this week with several examples coming my way. My gratitude goes to a reader who spotted one sentence that shows up on this quiz. I truly enjoy hearing from any reader, even one who takes me to task. It may sting a little to be criticized, but I appreciate people taking the time to read the blog and to write. As usual, choose the correct (or the better) word of two choices in parentheses. Click here or on the question mark icon to begin. This[.....]

15: A copy editing scandal?!?

I have watched the first couple of episodes of HBO’s “The Wire” this season because the plot involves a newspaper, a fictional version of The Baltimore Sun. I can’t make any sense of the rest of the story because I haven’t watched during the other seasons, but I certainly understand the newsroom parts. I was especially interested in a scene in the season opener when an editor, backed up by a rewrite man, explains to a reporter that one evacuates a building or an area, not people. [More:] Apparently, that scene has raised a ruckus.Executive producer David Simon, the[.....]

13: A new Triangle Grammar Guide quiz

At last, I have a new quiz. This one is hodgepodge (or, as a smart but crotchety copy editor once said, “It’s not even hodgepodge; it’s just podge.”) I threw in a usage question that many people will disagree with. (Oy, I ended a sentence with a preposition! Horrors!) Please leave a comment if you wish. Because some readers might be new to the blog and the quizzes, here is a short explanation. The quiz has five sentences. You choose the correct (or the better) of two words in the sentence. You click through each page of the quiz[.....]

7: Another “word of the year” list

The American Dialect Society chose subprime as its word of the year. Subprime refers to those risky loans to people who do not qualify for the best rate. The society chose Googleganger as the most creative word of the year. A Googleganger is a person who shows up when you Google yourself. Here is a PDF of the society’s news release about the notable words of 2007. I like global weirding, an increase in unusual environmental activity attributed to global warming. This article was originally posted by the Raleigh News & Observer, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Co.; is[.....]

2: An old grammar problem lies there

Just in case anyone has any doubts, this head from Monday (Dec. 31) uses the wrong verb. To lay low is an idiom for knocking someone down or overpowering someone. (The big boxer will lay low his opponent.) To lie low is an idiom that means to conceal oneself or to do nothing while waiting for the right moment to act. (The gang will lie low until the posse passes.) Even in these idioms, lay always takes an object and lie does not. You could argue, I suppose, that lay low has become standard usage. The problem is that[.....]

1: A list of overused words

Some people at Lake Superior State University have compiled their 33rd annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness. Included on the list are four of my least favorites overworked phrases: “perfect storm,” “give back,” “it is what it is” and “back in the day.” “Give back” is particularly grating because it usually appears in the context of some celebrity doing a good deed. The phrase and the act just sound so phony. “I just want to contribute” or “I want to do something to help” would sound less insincere. What words[.....]