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Tag Archives: English
Brain ISSUE? Sounds Like a PROBLEM to Me!
In the Buffalo/Jets game on Sunday, quarterback Trent Edwards took a hard tackle and was knocked to the ground, where he hit every part of his body, including his head. He didn’t leave the game, but the announcers were concerned … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, sports, writing
Tagged Buffalo Bills, concussion, English, football, grammar error, language, New York Jets, NFL, Trent Edwards, writing
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Complete Lack of Tolerance for Tolerance
Tolerate means to allow or to permit, and a person has no more right to allow or to permit another person (or group of people) to be different from himself or herself than I have to permit or to allow you … Continue reading
True Patriotism
The terms patriotic and unpatriotic have been tossed around in recent years more than a drunken rookie bull rider, with its most common usage being a repeated assertion by the McCain campaign (on many fronts–by himself, Governor Palin, campaign workers, … Continue reading
Posted in language, politics, writing
Tagged election 2008, English, language, McCain, Palin, patriotic, patriotism, politics, Presidential election, unpatriotic
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Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Verbs are either transitive or intransitive. That essentially means that they either need a direct object or they don’t. With a transitive verb, the action (verb) is being done to something else or someone else—a direct object. With an intransitive … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged English, grammar, intransitive verbs, language, passive voice, transitive verbs, writing
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Let Us Proceed from the Preceding
I’d never really considered that proceed could ever be used incorrectly to mean precede—until I saw it on a job application—for a university—a major university that prides itself on admitting only those students with the highest scholastic records. The application … Continue reading
Does This Happen Everyday or Every Day?
Everyday is an adjective; it describes a noun and answers the question what kind of, as in the old song I Am Everyday People (what kind of people are you?), so it normally comes right before the noun. Temper tantrums … Continue reading
See, Saw, Seen: See the Difference?
I seen (or he seen, she seen, you seen, they seen, or we seen) is substandard grammar. Do not use seen as the past tense of the verb to see. The past tense is saw, as in the old movie … Continue reading
Pardon the Interruption
A recent Internet headline read Bear Interupts Live TV Broadcast. I had planned to read the article, but I got interrupted—and sidetracked—by that headline. If it had been possible, I would have interrupted the site editor before he or she … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged English, grammar error, interrupt, interupt, language, spelling error, writing
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No One Ever Graduates College
It’s true. You can’t graduate a college—-or a high school—–or any other institution of learning. It isn’t possible. The preferred usage of the verb graduate is the following: The local high school graduated 300 students this year or He was … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged English, graduate, graduate from, grammar error, language, writing
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If You Think This Is Correct, Then…
Which is correct: If you think that you’re going out of the house in those ripped jeans, then you have another thing coming or If you think that you’re going out of the house in those ripped jeans, then you … Continue reading
Posted in grammar, language, writing
Tagged another thing coming, another think coming, cliche, English, grammar error, language, writing
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Everything Language and Grammar 