Thanks to Lauren for making me laugh hard at this great headline.
Three cheers for local news!
Posts Tagged ‘grammar’
Grammar Emergency
Friday, February 26th, 2010Can Times Be Economic?
Saturday, December 26th, 2009Not really. But this hasn’t stopped many intelligent and well-educated people from using the phrase “economic times” as a substitute for “hard times.” My father first pointed this out several months ago, at which time I thought it was a fairly rare phrase. Then I started to notice it a lot more often:
“Whenever the holidays coincide with lean economic times, visions of handicrafts begin to dance in my head.” (The Wall Street Journal, December 19)
“Even in hard economic times, sport continues to be big business.” (The New York Times, December 21)
“School officials have said the fee is a necessary alternative during tough economic times to cutting sports programs.” (Chicago Tribune, December 22)
While these sentences are all erroneous, most offensive to me is the phrase “these economic times,” which can be found in all three of the above sources — and in hundreds of other places. The problem is that “economic” is not a charged word; it simply refers to the sphere of economics. So, in that sense, all times are economic times. The proper construction is “economically ____ times,” where the blank would reflect either something good (prosperous, optimistic) or bad (difficult, challenging.)
When in doubt, just say what you mean; don’t try to make it sound pretty. Directness is its own eloquence.
A New Job
Friday, December 18th, 2009A couple of days ago, I met with one of my husband’s classmates at MSU. She is choosing a written thesis instead of a project, which is a little unusual for an architecture student, but her subject involves a lot of history and research, so it makes sense: she’s writing on Nature Deficit Disorder, a tongue-in-cheek term for the behavioral, intellectual and physical problems that result from a loss of creative, unstructured outside play during childhood.
So this lady mentioned needing an editor, and Rob mentioned he had a wife who kindly corrected his grammar in every turn. (Just then his phone rang; it was me, sending him a text that read, “at every turn, honey. Love you!”) So, after that, she had no choice but to call me.
It’s tough to edit your peers’ work. It’s much easier to edit your students’. As a teacher, I can be firm, unyielding, even a bit harsh, and the students understand it’s for their own good. But for someone your age — or, in this case, someone twice my age — it’s trickier, especially when it comes to style. I don’t want to invade too much of what is really a very personal project. I’m nervous (especially about learning a THIRD style of citations — I used MLA in high school and college, have been forced to learn APA for grad school, and now will have to become fluent in Chicago / Turabian as well.) She has a lot of confidence in me, which makes me twice as nervous. I hope I’m up to the task!
50%
Sunday, December 13th, 2009You’d expect more from an English teacher on a grammar quiz, but that’s what I got on this one. Take it first, then read my scores below:
“Due to the Fact That” and Other Heresies
Saturday, December 5th, 2009Where have you been all my life, Grammar Girl? I think I’m in love.
Is there a nonchalant way to slip a link to one of her posts into an e-mail? I often wonder how I might politely correct someone without causing offense; I don’t like seeming like a know-it-all, but I also hate to see my loved ones embarrassing themselves when they are nauseated (feeling sick) but say they are nauseous (causing others to feel sick.) I’ve thought of saying pertly, “Oh, you’re not nauseous to me.” Unless they’ve continued by saying, “I think I’m going to lay down for awhile,” in which case I might start to look a little peaked.
Yes, I know that most people will not realize your error. But there’s always the chance an English major may be listening; there are a lot (not alot) of us. And between you and me (not I,) if your e-mails begin without a proper greeting*and are peppered with unnecessary . . . ellipses . . . and apostrophe’s, you might be losing business as well as respect. Call it tough love. Someday you’ll thank me.
*Boo to “widespread to the point of becoming acceptable!”