Paul Yeager's weather book
Paul Yeager's language book
Monthly Archives: July 2009
Comma with Because
I often see writers and editors putting a comma before the word because, for example, This won’t surprise anyone who has known her for a long time, because she has always espoused both liberal and conservative perspectives. The problem with … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged comma use, dependent clause, grammar errors, punctuation, writing
Comments Off on Comma with Because
Are You Killing the Apostrophe?
Years ago, I came across a column on the demise of the apostrophe, called Are You Killing the Apostrophe. It makes no sense to me to discard a perfectly good and useful mark of punctuation simply because some people don’t … Continue reading
Sci-Fi Marketing
While flipping through the television stations recently, I noticed that the Sci Fi Channel is now the SyFy Channel, and not knowing what SyFy was, I did a little research (Sci Fi Becomes SyFy). As it turns out, Sci Fi … Continue reading
Posted in language
Tagged language, marketing, pop culture, Sci Fi channel, SyFy Channel, telvision
2 Comments
Mac Versus PC, Weather
Everyone loves arguing about which type of computer is better, Mac or PC, but now that Bill Gates has patents on a weather modification system (Hurricane-calming technology? Bill Gates has a plan), which computer giant would produce the best weather … Continue reading
Posted in humor, weather
Tagged bill gates, humor, mac versus pc, off topic, paul yeager, weather, weather modification
Comments Off on Mac Versus PC, Weather
Tsunami is a Thrilling Prospect?
Anytime I hear Quicksilver President and CEO Bob McNight say “A tsunami in surfing is a thrilling prospect, but the tsunami in business is terrifying” in an advertisement, I am shocked that something so stupid and insensitive is used as … Continue reading
Posted in language, writing
Tagged Bob McKnight, language, outrageous commercials, Quicksilver, tsunami, writing
Comments Off on Tsunami is a Thrilling Prospect?
Comfort-Coated Goodness
I doubt that many people who started on the career path of marketing ever dreamed of the day when they would need to promote a laxative, and it’s not exactly the type of product that’s easy to market. We know … Continue reading
Rarely Is Hardly Ever
The rarely ever grammar goof is really just a hybrid of rarely and hardly ever, which both mean the same thing; thus, together, they create a type of redundancy. Use either rarely OR hardly ever, not rarely ever. I rarely … Continue reading
Posted in language
Tagged English, grammar errors, hardly ever, rarely, rarely ever, writing
Comments Off on Rarely Is Hardly Ever
More Language Pet Peeves
I always like to say that everyone has at least one pet peeve, and based on the number of comments that we’ve received on the Your Pet Peeves page, I’m obviously right! We’ve decided to occasionally highlight some of your … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged grammar, grammar errors, language, pet peeves, writing
2 Comments
Hot as a Firecracker for the Fourth of July
Language and meteorology are intertwined, of course, since communicating the forecast accurately is just about as important as getting the forecast accurate in the first place, and cliches in meteorology are as ineffective (and annoying) as they are in any … Continue reading
Posted in language, weather
Tagged cliches, cloudyandcool.com, hot as a firecracker, meteorology, weather
Comments Off on Hot as a Firecracker for the Fourth of July
Everything Language and Grammar 
Comment on Comments
Behavior We know that there is a tendency for discussions on the Internet to become personal, petty arguments and attacks, but we’ve been lucky. Nearly everyone leaving a comment on our blog has been respectful and polite (thank you), but … Continue reading →