Paul Yeager's weather book
Paul Yeager's language book
Category Archives: writing
Mmmmmm, Probly (Probably)
While this is not a terribly common written error—-although I have at times seen it spelled this way on the information superhighway—-the pronunciation of probably as probly is constant and irritating. You should probably have a good lawyer if you … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged English, grammar error, probably, probly, pronunciation
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Smarter Planet; Dumber Advertising
It must be something about companies with initials for names since both IBM and BMW are producing “smarter” products. In fact, IBM, which always has grand plans, wants to make the entire planet smarter. Smart, as an adjective, typically means … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged advertising, BMW, grammar, IBM, IBM Smarter World, language, marketing, Smarter, writing
3 Comments
Waiting for You, Waiting on Table #3
There’s a song whose lyrics include Must I always be waiting on you and I can’t always be waiting on you. When I hear must I always be waiting on you, I can’t help picturing him wearing a bowtie and … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged English, grammar error, language, Must I always be waiting on you, Waiting for you, Waiting on you, writing
1 Comment
Like a Bull in a China Shop
Most cliches have enough truth to them that, while the use of the phrase is monotonous and ineffective, there is at least some logic behind using it. That’s apparently not the case with the ever-popular like a bull in a … Continue reading
Posted in language, off topic, writing
Tagged bull in a china shop, cliches, Discovery Channel, English, language, mybusters, writing
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We versus Us: We the People
I’ve already written about general pronoun choice, but the we/us dilemma is worth tackling separately. We is a nominative pronoun, which means that it is used as a subject, and us is an objective pronoun, which means that it is … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged English, grammar error, language, nominative pronoun, objective pronoun, pronouns, we or us, We the people, writing
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It’s Not What It’s Cracked Up To Be
I don’t know the origin of the phrase It’s not what it’s cracked up to be, and I’m not particularly interested in finding out. The phrase is overused and doesn’t make sense to most people who use it. It’s not … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged colloquialisms, grammar, idioms, It's not what it's cracked up to be, language, writing
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Can’t Help But Cringe at This Construction
Try to avoid the can’t help but construction. While it has been around for a while, most grammarians agree that it’s not the most logical construction. It’s considered to be a confused mix of the expressions can but and can’t … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged can't help but think, can't help thinking, English, grammar error, language, writing
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Is It Amount, or Is It Number?
The number of times that I’ve seen these words confused is more than I can count—and that’s actually the point of the amount/number topic. Number refers to things that can be counted as individuals. Amount refers to a mass quantity, … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged English, grammar error, language, number or amount, writing
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The “C” in Arctic Stands for Cold!
While the blast of bitterly cold Canadian air will be the major weather story across the country for the next several days, I thought that it was a good time to correct a common pronunciation (and possibly spelling) error. The … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, weather, writing
Tagged Arctic, Artic, English, language, meteorology, spelling errors, writing
2 Comments
Quarter of a Century of Sports Cliches
One of my favorite chapters in the book I wrote (Is having a favorite chapter in my own book against author etiquette?) is the one on sports cliches since we’ve been talking about sports (fans, media, and athletes) for much … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, sports, writing
Tagged Gene Collier, language, manage the game, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Sports cliches
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Everything Language and Grammar 