A colleague gave me a copy of the ninth edition of “Style Guide” from The Economist newspaper. Here is the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Uncategorized
Hey, Grammar Guide can be cool, too
Grammar Guide wants to be cool like On the Beat, TV Eye and Uncle Crizzle, so here is the “Grammar… Read more »
Subjects don’t have to be nouns
Writers use a variety of sentence structures. The normal order of English declarative sentences is Subject-Verb. When we are first… Read more »
You could win a bet with this book
Grammar-usage books make it to my desk often. I rarely write about them because they are irritating to read and… Read more »
Take a Triangle Grammar Guide quiz
The quiz returns with five sentences I have encountered in print. Today’s quiz is all about word choices. Click on… Read more »
If it’s a verb, it’s probably “affect”
Here is a screen caption from a recent MSNBC newscast: The caption writer needed “affect” here, of course. One way… Read more »
This means “war”? No, it doesn’t
A thoughtful reader wrote to ask that we at The N&O avoid using the language of war to refer to… Read more »
Pervasive spelling error hits CBS
This was on the screen Monday night (March 3) on “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric” during Bob Schieffer’s commentary… Read more »
A new quiz on the grammar blog
Try the quiz. Click on the icon or here to begin.Tuesday is National Grammar Day. Martha Brockenburgh, founder of the… Read more »
The semicolon in the spotlight
If you think that we who care about grammar, usage and punctuation matters are always in the minority, take a… Read more »
Try a Triangle Grammar Guide quiz
Today’s quiz has the usual mix of word choice problems. Choose the correct (or better) of two words in parentheses… Read more »
A new Triangle Grammar Guide quiz is up
Today’s quiz has five sentences that illustrate two of the most common problems in grammar and usage: subject-verb agreement and… Read more »
What is a battle royal?
The reference from page 1A last week might have puzzled some readers. Is it “battle royale” or “battle royal”? A… Read more »
Hold the homophone
Today started with considerable embarrassment on our desk. Readers pointed out that in the Life, etc., display story today we… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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,… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
Those holiday cliches
An editor recently sent around a note in our office reminding writers and editors to avoid certain cliches that appear… Read more »
Changing usage: Fun as an adjective
A reader sent this note: On page 5C of the Monday, October 30, 2007 N&O, under “FINALS”, the blurb begins… Read more »
Adverbs that modify a whole sentence
Suzanne Brown, a veteran editor in the Features Department, talked to me a few minutes last week about why she… Read more »
Word choice: Breached and broached
A reader wondered about this sentence in Under the Dome on Monday: Edwards said someone had broached a confidentiality agreement… Read more »
Take a quiz on word choice
I’ve run across some interesting word choice problems in the past few weeks. A reader sent me a note about… Read more »