Grammer – Publetariat

Quick Links: 5 Words Often Mistakenly Used in Place of Others

August 2, 2016 by Publetariat

Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

At Daily Writing Tips, they are covering some of the words that often get confused with each other. Check it out to make sure you are not making the same mistake.

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5 Words Often Mistakenly Used in Place of Others

Words unless you are Stephen Colbert on the Late Show, in which case it is "werds". — “Words” unless you are Stephen Colbert on the Late Show, in which case it is “werds”.

By Mark Nichol

When writers, amateurs and professionals alike, employ words or phrases they have heard spoken but not seen written, they often mistakenly use a homophone or near homophone of the intended word. Each of the sentences below includes a word that is often used erroneously. A discussion and revision accompanies each example.

1. Given punk rock’s innate tendency to flaunt convention, the style fits the subject matter in its own roughshod sort of way.

Flaunt, a verb meaning “show off,” is frequently confused for flout, a verb meaning “show disregard for”: “Given punk rock’s innate tendency to flout convention, the style fits the subject matter in its own roughshod sort of way.”

Read the full post on Daily Writing Tips

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Quick Link: 5 Cases of Dangling Modifiers

April 28, 2016 by Publetariat

Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

It’s grammar time! Are you embarrassed when your modifiers dangle in public? Me too! Good thing Mark Nichol at Daily Writing Tips is here to help us out.

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5 Cases of Dangling Modifiers

Words Written In Plastic Kids Letters By Mark Nichol

Take care that when you begin a sentence with a subordinate clause—a string of words that does not stand on its own as a complete statement but supports the main clause—the modifying phrase pertains to the sentence’s subject and not to some other noun or noun phrase. Here are five sentences that fail the test, with explanations and revisions.

1. Despite being reluctant to start a film career, Alan Rickman’s initial foray into cinema found him nearly stealing Die Hard away from Bruce Willis and cementing his status as a master of memorable bad guys.

This sentence suggests that Alan Rickman’s movie debut was reluctant to begin a career in film. The modifying phrase must refer specifically to the person, not to a reference to something about the person, to repair this illogical error; simply insert his name, change the adjective reluctant to the noun reluctance, and, in the subject of the sentence, change his name to a pronoun: “Despite Alan Rickman’s reluctance about starting a film career, his initial foray into cinema found him nearly stealing Die Hard away from Bruce Willis and cementing his status as a master of memorable bad guys.”

2. Stopped up on blocks, I can see the boat from keel to top deck.

Writers (or their editors) can often fix dangling modifiers—here, the writer describes herself, not the boat, as being stopped up on blocks—by starting the sentence with a subject and inserting the modifier as a parenthetical in the middle of the sentence: “I can see the boat, stopped up on blocks, from keel to top deck.”

Read the full post on Daily Writing Tips

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The Singular They is Now Officially Correct

January 27, 2016 by Publetariat

So have you heard? According to the Washington Post and other sources, you now don’t have to worry about awkward he/she him/her sentences but can now use the gender neutral they/them. Dave Bricker on The World’s Greatest Book has the details in his post dated January 21, 2016. I personally am a fan, although it will take some getting used to. How about you? Will you switch over?

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The Singular They is Now Officially Correct

peace,union and frienship concept (I, You, Them, Big Family) on a corkboard with color notes

Find your favorite writer and give them this message: They no longer have to mire their writing down with awkward “his or her” and “he or she” and “he/she” usages. According to The Washington Post, the singular they/them has been adopted as officially correct English by over 200 linguists at the American Dialect Society. The Washington Post has already integrated the new rule into its style guide.

Traditionally, they and them have been plural, referring to groups of more than one person. When referring to one person of unknown gender, the generic masculine served well until feminists took issue with practice.

Find a teacher in the hall and give this gift to him. I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

became:

Find a teacher in the hall and give this gift to him or her. I'm sure he or she will appreciate it.

Speed bumps? No. You know those tire shredders they have at car rental facilities that prevent drivers of stolen cars from driving out the entrances? What a quandary! Is eviscerating our sentences truly a sign of respect for women? Good prose is music. This is noise. Some settling of contents occurs during shipping and handling. Not good.

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The 58 most commonly misused words and phrases

January 3, 2016December 8, 2015 by Publetariat

Today’s post is by Richard Feloni, off of the Independent website, on November 30, 2015. In the article, Richard reviews linguist Steven Pinker‘s “The Sense of Style” and the most commonly misused words and phrases, some of which you will find in the recent post Quick Hacks for the Top Misused Words.

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Whether you’re trying to sound sophisticated or simply repeating what you’ve heard, word fails are all too common and can make smart people sound dumb.

In his latest book, “The Sense of Style,” Harvard cognitive scientist and linguist Steven Pinker explores the most common words and phrases that people stumble over.

The book is like a modern version of Strunk and White’s classic “The Elements of Style,” but one based on linguistics and updated for the 21st century.

Since there is no definitive body governing the rules of the English language like there is for the French language, for example, matters of style and grammar have always remained relatively debatable. Pinker’s rules and preferences are no different, but the majority of the words and phrases he identifies are agreed upon and can help your writing and speaking.

We’ve highlighted the most common mistakes according to Pinker using examples directly from his book along with some of our own.

Here are the main ones to look out for:

• Adverse means detrimental and does not mean averse or disinclined.

Correct: “There were adverse effects.” / “I’m not averse to doing that.”

• Appraise means to ascertain the value of and does not mean to apprise or to inform.

Correct: “I appraised the jewels.” / “I apprised him of the situation.”

• As far as means the same as but cannot be used the same way as as for.

Correct: “As far as the money is concerned …” / As for the money …

• Begs the question means assumes what it should be proving and does not mean raises the question.

Correct: “When I asked the dealer why I should pay more for the German car, he said I would be getting ‘German quality,’ but that just begs the question.”

• Bemused means bewildered and does not mean amused.

Correct: The unnecessarily complex plot left me bemused. / The silly comedy amused me.

Read the full post on the Independent website

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5 Words Often Mistakenly Used in Place of Others

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5 Cases of Dangling Modifiers

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The Singular They is Now Officially Correct

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