I have learned a great deal since I started working for the AICPA‘s magazine and newsletters group about four months… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Usage
Don’t trust a machine to do a human’s job
Pros don’t need to be told, but Microsoft grammar checker once again proved to me this morning that it can’t… Read more »
Verbs and the problems they give us – Quiz No. 67
Copy editors need to keep their eyes on verbs. Readers notice when verbs don’t agree with their subjects. Yet it’s… Read more »
Irregular verbs: Splitting from or clinging to old forms
A verb in a newspaper report sent me to the dictionary and usage books. Presbyterian churches around Charlotte now face… Read more »
Pronouns: “They” is too much with us
I am almost ready to come around on the view that “they,” “them” and “their” are acceptable after a singular… Read more »
Word choice quiz: More tricky sentences
I’ve run across some interesting examples of confused words lately. Sometimes, even in context, these sentences can be quite challenging…. Read more »
Tricky word usage quiz: Distinctions you might know
My new job requires me to use The Economist Style Guide for some of the copy I edit. Today as… Read more »
Talking like my generation: apoplectic
Presidential adviser David Axelrod described President Obama as “apoplectic” about General Services Administration spending. I think Axelrod was showing his… Read more »
The questioning editor: Isn’t it ironic? No, it’s not
Copy editors can help writers by questioning the logic of a passage or the use of a word. Writers often… Read more »
Good usage: Home in vs. hone in
This sentence from a piece by Frank Bruni in the New York Times illustrates the standard use of “home” in… Read more »
Grammar Guide word choice quiz – No. 63
I have a new 10-sentence multiple-choice quiz for you to try. I was reminded by something I read recently that… Read more »
We beg you to stop “begging the question”
I read this sentence in a story recently: The churches say they have no money for upkeep, and the world-renowned… Read more »
A tricky agreement problem: Neither-nor
I encountered this sentence in a news story today: Neither Prince nor Malloy were wearing seatbelts, according to the accident… Read more »
Lessons in grammar never go to waste
A lesson I learned years ago helped me spot the error in this suggested headline from a writer: The ice… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
The year in words
This is the time for word of the year lists. The New York Times Week in Review has an article… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
A copy editor’s hero
Today’s New York Times carries the obituary of Evan Jenkins, a longtime editor at the Times and the author of… Read more »
Grammar Guide: A rule on forming plurals
A headline that was briefly displayed on CNN.com illustrates the violation of a rule on forming plurals. To form the… Read more »
Take a Triangle Grammar Guide quiz
It’s a new week, and it’s time for another five-sentence quiz just for fun. Today’s quiz has the usual mix:… Read more »
Words we love
Shall we start a list, word lovers? Here are two entries to start. agnorant: Slang, adjective. Describes someone who is… Read more »