Tag Archives: grammar

Voila!

Posted on March 6, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Yo no hable frances (and my Spanish is kind of rusty, too), but if I did, I would be even more annoyed with how many times I’ve heard the word voila butchered by Americans. It’s not Wa La or Walla … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged grammar, language, misused words, voila, writing | 2 Comments

Scratch and Dent Sale

Posted on February 27, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Language and marketing are inseparable since the key to effective marketing is effective communication, and with that in mind, I’d like to mention that I’m troubled by the frequency of scratch and dent sales that take place at a local … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, humor, language | Tagged appliances, grammar, humor, language, scratch and dent sale, writing | Comments Off

Symbols of Patriotism, Obama Address to Congress

Posted on February 26, 2009 by languageandgrammar

With all due respect to EF Hutton, when President Obama speaks, people listen–well, most people. I didn’t listen to the entire Obama address to Congress; however, I heard an important part of the speech–one that made a fascinating statement about … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, politics | Tagged grammar, language, Obama address to Congress, politics, President Obama, writing | Comments Off

Look Mom, Hands Free

Posted on February 23, 2009 by languageandgrammar

One of the terms that I wrote about in Literally, the Best Language Book Ever was our use of -friendly. We use the same construction, pairing a word with -friendly, in ways that are inconsistent, which leads to understandable confusion. … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged grammar, hands free, hands free phone, language, trendy language, trendy words, writing | Leave a comment

Political Pundits

Posted on February 17, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Being a political pundit must be a great job. That has to be the case with being able to provide opinion, mainly critical, without having the responsibility to do any better—especially when it’s done on national television or in a … Continue reading →

Posted in language, politics, writing | Tagged grammar, language, politics, pundint, pundit, spelling errors, writing | Comments Off

Road to Hoe

Posted on February 10, 2009 by languageandgrammar

If there is anything worse than using a cliche, it’s trying to use a cliche and getting it wrong. You would think we wouldn’t get something wrong that’s been repeated so often! I like to call these instances Close but … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged cliches, English, grammar, language, misused cliches, road to hoe, row to hoe, writing | 4 Comments

Smarter Planet; Dumber Advertising

Posted on February 5, 2009 by languageandgrammar

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

It’s Not What It’s Cracked Up To Be

Posted on January 22, 2009 by languageandgrammar

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 | Comments Off

Coldest I’ve Ever Been

Posted on December 23, 2008 by languageandgrammar

It is with great shame that I must report that I have to write about one of my own language failings. When it was bitterly cold the other morning, I reported that I’ve never been that cold before. While I … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged English, grammar, I've never been that cold before, imprecise language | 7 Comments

User Friendly Is Just Easy to Use

Posted on December 11, 2008 by languageandgrammar

While flipping around the dial (that’s what we used to say back in the good old days), I heard the host of a travel show tell a traveler that Italy is the most user-friendly country. A country is user friendly? … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged easy to use, English, grammar, language, user friendly, writing | Comments Off