Dear Readers,
According to Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, the idiomatic expression "all right" is used in familiar speech as a detached phrase. It means "Agreed?" or "Go ahead," or "O.K."
It is properly written as two words. Lately I have heard this expression broken down to
"a' 'ight?" Have you?
Example: On the TV show "Army Wives," psychologist Dr. Roland Burton's adopted son's birth father needs to leave the area and return to Chicago. This man says to his son, "When I get back, we'll do things right. A' 'ight?"
Example: Dr. Burton himself says, "He'll be a' 'ight."
Example: New York Hawks football player T.K. on the show "Necessary Roughness" said,
"You'll be a' 'ight."
Example: In the episode "Old Wounds" of the TV show "Blue Bloods," Police Commissioner Frank Reagan is talking with Jordan, the young black man who won the Commissioner for a Day contest. Jordan is upset because his mother's murder case has never been closed. He wonders aloud how fast the case would be closed if it were the Commissioner's wife. Reagan tells him, "It got closed pretty quick. She died of cancer." Jordan responds, "A' 'ight. Sorry."
Example: Young singer/songwriter Avery Barkley on TV's "Nashville" meets with record producer Dominic Wells who wants to promote him. Wells suggests that Avery come to Atlanta to work together and Avery agrees. Wells says, "A' 'ight, that's my man."
Example: Every time that Steve Harvey's TV talk show is aired, one will undoubtedly hear him say, "A' 'ight." at least once.
My first thought was that this must be a black colloquial phrase until I noticed many different types of characters using it.
Example: In the 2000 film "Gone in 60 Seconds," Nicholas Cage plays car thief Memphis Raines.
Memphis and his brother Kip have ducked into an eatery where a police car is parked outside. Memphis calls out, "Look! Cop car. Un hunh. Long as I'm in here, you're just gonna sit out there, aren't ya? A' 'ight?"
Example: Vince Masuka, one of Miami Dade's forensics lab geeks on TV's "Dexter," says to one of the detectives, "If I'm getting shit-handed and you know something about it, just give me
a heads up, a' 'ight?"
Example: On "Law and Order: SVU," New York detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson are eating Chinese food at the precinct one night while they do some research. As Elliot leaves, he tells her, "I'm taking the egg roll." She responds, "A' 'ight."
For the next three examples, it's Matthew McConaughey who says this expression as three different characters in three different movies. It made me wonder if it's just a Matthew McConaughey colloquialism or did all three writers include this for his characters.
Example: In "The Lincoln Lawyer," released in 2011, Matthew plays attorney Michael Haller.
As he is being chauffeured in his Lincoln Town car, they are surrounded by a gang of bikers. His chauffeur asks him what to do. Haller says, "A' 'ight, pull over up here."
Example: "Dallas Buyers Club" is a true story that takes place circa 1985. Matthew's character Ron Woodruff says several times throughout the movie, "A' 'ight."
Example: Matthew plays Willis Newton who, with his brothers, robs banks in the early 1920s in the film "The Newton Boys" (released 1998). They are about to rob two banks at once when Willis gives these orders: "Jess, you go with Glass, Dock, you come on with me, and Joe, you're soldiering the whole damn street. A' 'ight?" *What I found interesting is that after he asks them, "What do you say?" Dock says, "O.K." and Jess says, "All right." I think it really is a Matthew McConaughey thing.
In conclusion, I must ask, Is it a' 'ight to use this expression when you mean to say "all right?"
I think I will continue to use the latter term, if it's all right with you.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
His Way
Dear Readers,
Back in December 2013, I broke from tradition and wrote my blog about one book only. This month I will do the same.
Not long ago I read Paul Anka's autobiography entitled My Way. I found his story interesting but more so, I found lots of errors. I shall categorize these mistakes into three headings: Poor Editing, Wrong Word, and Misspelling.
Mr. Anka co-wrote his book with the help of David Dalton. [Wikipedia reference: David Dalton is a New York Times author and a founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine. He has written several books, including co-writing Paul Anka's autobiography My Way.] I would have expected better editing with his help but I was wrong. Read on . . .
Poor Editing
Example: In comparing ambitious teens, he writes, They did a survey of kids in England about what they expected to do in life. They were asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up? Many just said, "I want to be famous." *Did you notice? There was no close quote mark after his citation.
Example: He writes about his experiences living and working in Las Vegas. Here, he says, "There were the spectacular show girl acts called production shows at the Stardust, the Lido, and the Copa Room. The showgirls would often open the show at the Copa sands." *No capital is used for the name of the casino. Shameful mistake.
Example: "So no sooner had the first casino began rolling the bones that another great American type showed up..." *Two errors here: the past participle should be "begun" and "that" should be "than."
Example: Anka wrote the song "My Way" specifically for Frank Sinatra. The day of recording, he writes, "Frank and and his daughter, Nancy, went into the studio on December 30." *This is obvious.
Example: Paul becomes part owner of his own club. Believing that some of their employees are stealing from them, "Marty puts down a twenty-dollar bill, the bartender takes it, gives us the change but doesn't ring it up the tab on the cash register." *Here, he has used a pronoun [it] but then mentions the noun as well. No one noticed this?
Example: Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia is a frequent visitor to Anka's club Jubilation. He writes, "There was an empty table next to his with couple of seats ..." *He left out the "a."
Example: Referring to mobster Johnny Roselli, Paul writes, "Because of his looks he moved easily in the Hollywood scene in California, and because of his links with the mob they eventually moved him out to Vegas." *Personally, I believe that commas should be used here.
Example: On a visit to Lake Como with Steve Wynn, he writes, "When we got up there we started tooling around the lake on a friend of ours boat." *This is an awkward sentence to begin with but I think it should be "a friend of ours' boat." Without the boat, it sounds like they were riding on top of the friend.
All of the above-mentioned mistakes should have been caught by a good editor.
Wrong Word
Example: "I shared the triumphs from what was a rough journey for my buddy Steve and Skip right down to the ground-breaking in November 1998 ..." *I count two buddies, don't you?
Example: Anka tries to show what a good deed he did for a group of older ladies living in his Las Vegas neighborhood. He mentions that the homes "were owned by elderly widowers" and that some unscrupulous builders "start coming at us to buy our properties and they go after the women."
*Aren't widowers men and widows women?
Example: He describes what life was like working in Vegas: "There's a gorgeous woman perching at the bar in a low-cut dress sipping a martini." *I assume he meant to say that she was "perched" or maybe "parched." In Las Vegas, that would make sense.
Example: In describing a rogue agent working in Vegas who screws a hooker and then refuses to pay her, he says that she calls security and they go after the guy. "They stripped him down bare nude..."
*This is simply redundant, repetitive and he is repeating himself.
Example: This same rogue agent asked his boss for money to buy tires for his car. The boss said no so the agent "went to the gas station where he knew the owner very well and got four new sets of tires for his car..." *My guess is that he only needed one new set of four tires.
Misspelling
Example: In 2005, Anka's friend Steve Wynn is thinking of what to call his hotel-casino. "He originally wanted to call it 'La Reve,' which means 'the dream' in French." *He is correct about the translation, but he used the wrong article. It is actually Le Reve.
Example: He talks about the melody of a French song that became the tune for his song "My Way." He says, "It had been written in February of that year [1967] by Gilles Thibautt and Jacque Revaux."
*Thibault is the correct way to spell this man's last name and Jacques is the correct way to spell the other man's first name. It appears that someone has a problem with French spelling.
Example: Paul talks about Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana who is very powerful in Las Vegas circa 1960. "Sam was seen all over town with one of the MaGuire sisters, Phyllis ..." *The sisters' last name is McGuire. Unlike Paul and his editors, I did the research for all three of these examples.
My friend who had read the book and lent it to me had this comment: It's like he spoke into a tape recorder letting his thoughts flow, and someone [David Dalton?] just wrote down what he said
without checking for spelling, punctuation or continuity. I agree.
And I know that if I were having a book published, I would want to make sure it was edited properly.
Back in December 2013, I broke from tradition and wrote my blog about one book only. This month I will do the same.
Not long ago I read Paul Anka's autobiography entitled My Way. I found his story interesting but more so, I found lots of errors. I shall categorize these mistakes into three headings: Poor Editing, Wrong Word, and Misspelling.
Mr. Anka co-wrote his book with the help of David Dalton. [Wikipedia reference: David Dalton is a New York Times author and a founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine. He has written several books, including co-writing Paul Anka's autobiography My Way.] I would have expected better editing with his help but I was wrong. Read on . . .
Poor Editing
Example: In comparing ambitious teens, he writes, They did a survey of kids in England about what they expected to do in life. They were asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up? Many just said, "I want to be famous." *Did you notice? There was no close quote mark after his citation.
Example: He writes about his experiences living and working in Las Vegas. Here, he says, "There were the spectacular show girl acts called production shows at the Stardust, the Lido, and the Copa Room. The showgirls would often open the show at the Copa sands." *No capital is used for the name of the casino. Shameful mistake.
Example: "So no sooner had the first casino began rolling the bones that another great American type showed up..." *Two errors here: the past participle should be "begun" and "that" should be "than."
Example: Anka wrote the song "My Way" specifically for Frank Sinatra. The day of recording, he writes, "Frank and and his daughter, Nancy, went into the studio on December 30." *This is obvious.
Example: Paul becomes part owner of his own club. Believing that some of their employees are stealing from them, "Marty puts down a twenty-dollar bill, the bartender takes it, gives us the change but doesn't ring it up the tab on the cash register." *Here, he has used a pronoun [it] but then mentions the noun as well. No one noticed this?
Example: Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia is a frequent visitor to Anka's club Jubilation. He writes, "There was an empty table next to his with couple of seats ..." *He left out the "a."
Example: Referring to mobster Johnny Roselli, Paul writes, "Because of his looks he moved easily in the Hollywood scene in California, and because of his links with the mob they eventually moved him out to Vegas." *Personally, I believe that commas should be used here.
Example: On a visit to Lake Como with Steve Wynn, he writes, "When we got up there we started tooling around the lake on a friend of ours boat." *This is an awkward sentence to begin with but I think it should be "a friend of ours' boat." Without the boat, it sounds like they were riding on top of the friend.
All of the above-mentioned mistakes should have been caught by a good editor.
Wrong Word
Example: "I shared the triumphs from what was a rough journey for my buddy Steve and Skip right down to the ground-breaking in November 1998 ..." *I count two buddies, don't you?
Example: Anka tries to show what a good deed he did for a group of older ladies living in his Las Vegas neighborhood. He mentions that the homes "were owned by elderly widowers" and that some unscrupulous builders "start coming at us to buy our properties and they go after the women."
*Aren't widowers men and widows women?
Example: He describes what life was like working in Vegas: "There's a gorgeous woman perching at the bar in a low-cut dress sipping a martini." *I assume he meant to say that she was "perched" or maybe "parched." In Las Vegas, that would make sense.
Example: In describing a rogue agent working in Vegas who screws a hooker and then refuses to pay her, he says that she calls security and they go after the guy. "They stripped him down bare nude..."
*This is simply redundant, repetitive and he is repeating himself.
Example: This same rogue agent asked his boss for money to buy tires for his car. The boss said no so the agent "went to the gas station where he knew the owner very well and got four new sets of tires for his car..." *My guess is that he only needed one new set of four tires.
Misspelling
Example: In 2005, Anka's friend Steve Wynn is thinking of what to call his hotel-casino. "He originally wanted to call it 'La Reve,' which means 'the dream' in French." *He is correct about the translation, but he used the wrong article. It is actually Le Reve.
Example: He talks about the melody of a French song that became the tune for his song "My Way." He says, "It had been written in February of that year [1967] by Gilles Thibautt and Jacque Revaux."
*Thibault is the correct way to spell this man's last name and Jacques is the correct way to spell the other man's first name. It appears that someone has a problem with French spelling.
Example: Paul talks about Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana who is very powerful in Las Vegas circa 1960. "Sam was seen all over town with one of the MaGuire sisters, Phyllis ..." *The sisters' last name is McGuire. Unlike Paul and his editors, I did the research for all three of these examples.
My friend who had read the book and lent it to me had this comment: It's like he spoke into a tape recorder letting his thoughts flow, and someone [David Dalton?] just wrote down what he said
without checking for spelling, punctuation or continuity. I agree.
And I know that if I were having a book published, I would want to make sure it was edited properly.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Bad Vocabulary - Part Deux
Dear Readers,
It was so much fun writing about bad vocabulary in the May 2013 post that I thought I'd write again this month. I hope you will be as amazed as I am at which words people use.
I have divided these words into two categories: vocabulary and grammatical. Let's begin with VOCABULARY. Read on . . .
Example: In the episode "No Son on the Horizon" of the TV show "Scandal," Chief of Staff Cyrus Beene asks the head of a clandestine organization to do a nefarious act. He cautions, "I expect you to wisen up." *The Chief of Staff should know to say, "wise up" instead.
Example: On the reality show "Property Virgins," real estate expert Egypt Sherrod is showing a newly constructed house to prospective buyer Tania. As they are viewing the model home, Egypt tells Tania, "You can decide how many upgrades you want or how many you don't want. Budgetarily, that may make the difference." *She may be an expert in home purchasing, but she needs a little help in the vocabulary department.
Example: A few men who are pursuing bachelorette Desiree on season 9 of "The Bachelorette" call out one of the guys who seems to be there to further his career and not for love. Bachelor Kasey says to the camera about this guy, "All he's trying to do is spin in his head how he can deny, counteraccusate and get out of this situation." *Say what??
Example: On the June 18, 2013 episode of "America's Got Talent," singing contestant Diana has a job rescuing dogs. She says, "I work with the organization called START and we go out and save dogs from euthanization." *Her organization should tell her that the correct word is "euthanasia."
Example: A caller to Larry Elder's talk show on KABC radio used the word mediocrisy. *He obviously meant to say "mediocrity."
Example: I also heard on Talk radio 790 a caller to John Phillips say, "I'm in disagreeance with you." *I disagree with you if you think this is correct.
Example: In a TV Guide interview with Lucy Liu, who plays Dr. Joan Watson to Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes on the TV show "Elementary," she is asked what made her want to play the role. She says, "I was initially very trepidatious as well, because of the history Watson and Holmes have in entertainment." *The adjective she meant to use was "fearful". Trepidation is a noun meaning fear.
Example: The online dating service Our Time likes to say, "He favorited you." *Favorite is an adjective, not a verb.
Example: Celebrity manicurist Gina Epolito was on Steve Harvey's TV talk show to talk about how trendy fingernail art has become. She tells him, "I feel like social media has broughten up nail popularity." *All of the above highlighted words were underlined by Spell Check because they do not exist. I even checked in the dictionary. Not there.
In the next few examples, these words do exist but not in the context of the sentences below. See what I mean.
Example: Someone at an Al-Anon meeting said, "My father was a periodical drinker." * The word periodical refers to regularly issued reading material. I believe the correct expression would be "periodic drinker" but maybe she meant that he only drinks while reading a magazine. Hmmm.
Example: On "America's Got Talent," judge Howard Stern tells country singer Marty Brown, "The way you quieted this room down, you couldn't hear a pin drop." *If the room was that quiet, wouldn't you be able to hear the pin drop?
Example: Author Stuart Woods wrote Unintended Consequences pretty well except for this blunder. His protagonist Stone Barrington, a lawyer, may be doing business with a man he just met. He says to his friend, "Tell me the worst thing you've ever heard about him." She replies, "The worst? I haven't heard anything worst." *Either Mr. Woods didn't check his words or he is creating a sidekick who is not all that reliable. Wouldn't you agree?
Example: There is a segment on Steve Harvey's TV talk show entitled "Is it a deal-breaker?" During this episode, he says to one woman who is asking for his advice, "If I were delving out this advice . . ."
*I'm sure he meant to use the expression "doling out advice." Or am I delving into an unknown area?
Example: On another episode of "The Steve Harvey Show," Steve is talking to guest Sergeant Briggs of the San Francisco Highway Patrol who has saved over 200 people from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Sgt. Briggs explains that he tries to instill hope in these people. Steve says, "I would imagine that's a big part of it, hope, because it's when you lose hopelessness that you're faced with a moment like that." *It's not hopelessness that you lose, it's "hope." This is just hopeless.
Example: This was also heard on Steve Harvey's talk show. Guest Dr. Travis Stork was talking about how to stay healthy during winter but cautions against too much anti-bacterial sanitizers. He says, "You got to be careful. You don't want to be overly cleanly so that your body is never exposed to anything . . ." *OMG. Not only did Dr. Stork use the adverb instead of the adjective (clean) but he pronounced it like the shorter version of the word cleanliness. He's a doctor! He should know better.
Example: Also on "The Bachelorette: Season 9," bachelorette Desiree explains to host Chris Harrison why Bryden decided to leave the show. "He just doesn't feel that the connection is going to be strong enough to withhold what he needs in a relationship." *Did you figure out that the word she meant to say was "uphold?"
Example: This time, realtor Egypt Sherrod from "Property Virgins" is working with a young couple who plan to buy a house in Georgia. When their low-ball offer is rejected, they want to counter offer. Egypt says, "If you come back with something that's more palpable, he [the owner] might be willing to play ball." *Palpable means readily or plainly seen or heard, obvious or evident. I believe the word she meant to use was "palatable," which means pleasing to the mind or feelings.
Example: Mom Frankie Heck on the TV show "The Middle" is arrested for failure to return library materials. At the police station, she asks the officer, "Are you kidding? You're seriously arresting me for overdue library books?" He answers, "That's what happens when you ignore three letters and two summons." Frankie says, "Look, we must not have realized it was an official summons."
*The singular of that word is summons and the plural is summonses. How odd that the writers have the police officer using the wrong form of the word but Frankie uses the correct one.
By far, this is my favorite example: In a profile of a widower on OK Cupid, he writes that his late wife described him as her "knight and shinny armor." *Shinny is a verb, as in " to shinny up a tree." I doubt that's what his wife meant.
In this next section, I'm going to mention words that although are correct in their usage, another word would have been better in its place.
Example: During KCRW 89.9 radio station's membership drive, the female on-air personality offers a free gift to the next "donators." She even asked aloud, "Donators?" as if she weren't sure that was the right word. It actually is correct, but the better, more common word would be "donors."
Example: On an episode of "Dog Whisperer," the owner of a Chihuahua says, "I didn't realize I was sort of passing on my anxiousness on to her." *Yes, that's a word, but why not use "anxiety?"
And the fact that she uses the preposition "on" twice in that sentence makes me anxious.
Example: A scene from the TV show "Scandal" takes place at a funeral in Arlington Cemetery. In the background, song lyrics play and I heard, " Give me more than one caress, satisfy my hungriness."
*Yes, that is an actual word and yes, song lyrics are supposed to rhyme, but the better word would be "hunger." Ever heard of The Hungriness Games?
Example: Patti Stanger, the Millionaire Matchmaker, has set up millionaire Joe with a beautiful law student named Natalie. On their date, Joe explains that he actually comes from humble beginnings. Natalie remarks, "I really like that you want to stay true to yourself and you like to keep your humbleness." *I guess law students like to use big words, but she would sound just as smart if she had said "humility."
Example: Steve Harvey had guest therapist Dr. John Duffy on the show talking about parenting through the years. Steve asks him, "How should parents handle kids when they start to rebel?" Duffy responds, "My advice about rebelliousness is to handle it before the first big act of rebelliousness."
*Twice in one sentence! He could have saved time by using "rebellion" instead.
Example: In John Grisham's novel The Last Juror, the narrator Will Traynor, new owner and publisher of the local Ford County newspaper describes a defense attorney's ranting. "He had lost his attempt to get bail, so he had to impress them with his zealousness." *As a writer, I understand his zeal in presenting the best word to describe his characters.
Example: A caller to Geraldo Rivera on KABC Talk radio said, "You're a bit of a racialist." *The common term is "racist."
In the next two examples, the longer word is used when the shorter word would be just as good.
1. On a "60 Minutes" segment about Dick Cheney's heart, the former Vice President says, "You wake up every morning with a smile on your face because you've got a new day you never expected to have, and there's a sense of wonderment, nothing short of magical."
2. Lori Greiner, shark on "Shark Tank" questions why the entrepreneurs are spending so much money to make their product. She says, "So to make the decision and spend that much money when you're a brand new business is a wonderment to me." *I wonder if they know the short form.
In this last example, it's actually the wrong country being used. On a very old (1993) episode of "Mad About You," wife Jamie is in between jobs and doesn't know what to do with her free time. She's driving her husband Paul so crazy that one night he tells her he has to work late so that he can avoid her. She laments, "It's Mexican night. I was going to make gazpacho." *Gazpacho, per Wikipedia, is a tomato-based vegetable soup served cold . . . originating in the southern Spanish region of Andalucía. The writers should have done their research but Wikipedia did not exist back then. Encyclopedia, anyone?
Now I will focus on a few examples from the GRAMMATICAL category.
Example: I read an article in "People" magazine, dated April 21, 2014 on the two Duggar family daughters who are in love. "In an age of hookups and sexting, these couples take it slow." *I wish the writer had known to use the adverb "slowly" here.
Example: The 2009 movie "Weather Girl" has the titular character Sylvia moving in with her brother Walt after losing her job. She has begun a secret physical relationship with his best friend Byron. When Walt comes home one night and catches them in the act, the three of them have a sit-down where Walt complains, "That was my bed you were fornicating on and that was my friend with which you were fornicating." *I guess he was so upset about all the fornicating that he didn't realize that it was a person with whom she was fornicating.
Example: On the "America's Got Talent" results show of September 2013, the all-girl gymnastics troupe called Innovative Force is not voted to continue. Host Nick Cannon asks the spokesperson,
"How was your time on the show?" She responds, "We're so blessed to have been able to been on it."
*I am blessed to be able to recognize that she used the wrong verb form.
As I come to the end of my post, I would like to leave my readers with a couple of examples of good vocabulary.
Example: One guest on Steve Harvey's talk show wants Steve's help in finding a smooth way to introduce her young children to the new man in her life. She explains, "This will be the first time my children have met someone outside of their dad so there's a little trepidation there." *Yes, she used the synonym for "fear" correctly.
Example: Raymond "Red" Reddington, who helps the FBI find criminals on TV's "The Black List," meets with agent Donald Ressler. Reddington explains to him, "I reached out to you, Donald. And it wasn't to revisit all the times I eluded your littler coterie of door-kickers who pursued me with such fervor and zeal." *These writers give Reddington such colorful language and they do it with such zeal.
Example: In the episode "The Friendship Algorithm" of "The Big Bang Theory," Dr. Sheldon Cooper needs to use a new computer owned by antagonistic colleague Barry Kripke. Sheldon's friend Leonard explains that Kripke only allows his friends to use it. Sheldon says, "Well then, the solution is simple. I shall befriend him." *In this age of Facebook and "friending" everyone on earth, it's a wonder to me that some writers still use good English. Hurray!
Well, Readers, I hope that my indulgence in sharing with you these confounding mistakes will enlighten you a little and perhaps brighten your day.
It was so much fun writing about bad vocabulary in the May 2013 post that I thought I'd write again this month. I hope you will be as amazed as I am at which words people use.
I have divided these words into two categories: vocabulary and grammatical. Let's begin with VOCABULARY. Read on . . .
Example: In the episode "No Son on the Horizon" of the TV show "Scandal," Chief of Staff Cyrus Beene asks the head of a clandestine organization to do a nefarious act. He cautions, "I expect you to wisen up." *The Chief of Staff should know to say, "wise up" instead.
Example: On the reality show "Property Virgins," real estate expert Egypt Sherrod is showing a newly constructed house to prospective buyer Tania. As they are viewing the model home, Egypt tells Tania, "You can decide how many upgrades you want or how many you don't want. Budgetarily, that may make the difference." *She may be an expert in home purchasing, but she needs a little help in the vocabulary department.
Example: A few men who are pursuing bachelorette Desiree on season 9 of "The Bachelorette" call out one of the guys who seems to be there to further his career and not for love. Bachelor Kasey says to the camera about this guy, "All he's trying to do is spin in his head how he can deny, counteraccusate and get out of this situation." *Say what??
Example: On the June 18, 2013 episode of "America's Got Talent," singing contestant Diana has a job rescuing dogs. She says, "I work with the organization called START and we go out and save dogs from euthanization." *Her organization should tell her that the correct word is "euthanasia."
Example: A caller to Larry Elder's talk show on KABC radio used the word mediocrisy. *He obviously meant to say "mediocrity."
Example: I also heard on Talk radio 790 a caller to John Phillips say, "I'm in disagreeance with you." *I disagree with you if you think this is correct.
Example: In a TV Guide interview with Lucy Liu, who plays Dr. Joan Watson to Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes on the TV show "Elementary," she is asked what made her want to play the role. She says, "I was initially very trepidatious as well, because of the history Watson and Holmes have in entertainment." *The adjective she meant to use was "fearful". Trepidation is a noun meaning fear.
Example: The online dating service Our Time likes to say, "He favorited you." *Favorite is an adjective, not a verb.
Example: Celebrity manicurist Gina Epolito was on Steve Harvey's TV talk show to talk about how trendy fingernail art has become. She tells him, "I feel like social media has broughten up nail popularity." *All of the above highlighted words were underlined by Spell Check because they do not exist. I even checked in the dictionary. Not there.
In the next few examples, these words do exist but not in the context of the sentences below. See what I mean.
Example: Someone at an Al-Anon meeting said, "My father was a periodical drinker." * The word periodical refers to regularly issued reading material. I believe the correct expression would be "periodic drinker" but maybe she meant that he only drinks while reading a magazine. Hmmm.
Example: On "America's Got Talent," judge Howard Stern tells country singer Marty Brown, "The way you quieted this room down, you couldn't hear a pin drop." *If the room was that quiet, wouldn't you be able to hear the pin drop?
Example: Author Stuart Woods wrote Unintended Consequences pretty well except for this blunder. His protagonist Stone Barrington, a lawyer, may be doing business with a man he just met. He says to his friend, "Tell me the worst thing you've ever heard about him." She replies, "The worst? I haven't heard anything worst." *Either Mr. Woods didn't check his words or he is creating a sidekick who is not all that reliable. Wouldn't you agree?
Example: There is a segment on Steve Harvey's TV talk show entitled "Is it a deal-breaker?" During this episode, he says to one woman who is asking for his advice, "If I were delving out this advice . . ."
*I'm sure he meant to use the expression "doling out advice." Or am I delving into an unknown area?
Example: On another episode of "The Steve Harvey Show," Steve is talking to guest Sergeant Briggs of the San Francisco Highway Patrol who has saved over 200 people from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Sgt. Briggs explains that he tries to instill hope in these people. Steve says, "I would imagine that's a big part of it, hope, because it's when you lose hopelessness that you're faced with a moment like that." *It's not hopelessness that you lose, it's "hope." This is just hopeless.
Example: This was also heard on Steve Harvey's talk show. Guest Dr. Travis Stork was talking about how to stay healthy during winter but cautions against too much anti-bacterial sanitizers. He says, "You got to be careful. You don't want to be overly cleanly so that your body is never exposed to anything . . ." *OMG. Not only did Dr. Stork use the adverb instead of the adjective (clean) but he pronounced it like the shorter version of the word cleanliness. He's a doctor! He should know better.
Example: Also on "The Bachelorette: Season 9," bachelorette Desiree explains to host Chris Harrison why Bryden decided to leave the show. "He just doesn't feel that the connection is going to be strong enough to withhold what he needs in a relationship." *Did you figure out that the word she meant to say was "uphold?"
Example: This time, realtor Egypt Sherrod from "Property Virgins" is working with a young couple who plan to buy a house in Georgia. When their low-ball offer is rejected, they want to counter offer. Egypt says, "If you come back with something that's more palpable, he [the owner] might be willing to play ball." *Palpable means readily or plainly seen or heard, obvious or evident. I believe the word she meant to use was "palatable," which means pleasing to the mind or feelings.
Example: Mom Frankie Heck on the TV show "The Middle" is arrested for failure to return library materials. At the police station, she asks the officer, "Are you kidding? You're seriously arresting me for overdue library books?" He answers, "That's what happens when you ignore three letters and two summons." Frankie says, "Look, we must not have realized it was an official summons."
*The singular of that word is summons and the plural is summonses. How odd that the writers have the police officer using the wrong form of the word but Frankie uses the correct one.
By far, this is my favorite example: In a profile of a widower on OK Cupid, he writes that his late wife described him as her "knight and shinny armor." *Shinny is a verb, as in " to shinny up a tree." I doubt that's what his wife meant.
In this next section, I'm going to mention words that although are correct in their usage, another word would have been better in its place.
Example: During KCRW 89.9 radio station's membership drive, the female on-air personality offers a free gift to the next "donators." She even asked aloud, "Donators?" as if she weren't sure that was the right word. It actually is correct, but the better, more common word would be "donors."
Example: On an episode of "Dog Whisperer," the owner of a Chihuahua says, "I didn't realize I was sort of passing on my anxiousness on to her." *Yes, that's a word, but why not use "anxiety?"
And the fact that she uses the preposition "on" twice in that sentence makes me anxious.
Example: A scene from the TV show "Scandal" takes place at a funeral in Arlington Cemetery. In the background, song lyrics play and I heard, " Give me more than one caress, satisfy my hungriness."
*Yes, that is an actual word and yes, song lyrics are supposed to rhyme, but the better word would be "hunger." Ever heard of The Hungriness Games?
Example: Patti Stanger, the Millionaire Matchmaker, has set up millionaire Joe with a beautiful law student named Natalie. On their date, Joe explains that he actually comes from humble beginnings. Natalie remarks, "I really like that you want to stay true to yourself and you like to keep your humbleness." *I guess law students like to use big words, but she would sound just as smart if she had said "humility."
Example: Steve Harvey had guest therapist Dr. John Duffy on the show talking about parenting through the years. Steve asks him, "How should parents handle kids when they start to rebel?" Duffy responds, "My advice about rebelliousness is to handle it before the first big act of rebelliousness."
*Twice in one sentence! He could have saved time by using "rebellion" instead.
Example: In John Grisham's novel The Last Juror, the narrator Will Traynor, new owner and publisher of the local Ford County newspaper describes a defense attorney's ranting. "He had lost his attempt to get bail, so he had to impress them with his zealousness." *As a writer, I understand his zeal in presenting the best word to describe his characters.
Example: A caller to Geraldo Rivera on KABC Talk radio said, "You're a bit of a racialist." *The common term is "racist."
In the next two examples, the longer word is used when the shorter word would be just as good.
1. On a "60 Minutes" segment about Dick Cheney's heart, the former Vice President says, "You wake up every morning with a smile on your face because you've got a new day you never expected to have, and there's a sense of wonderment, nothing short of magical."
2. Lori Greiner, shark on "Shark Tank" questions why the entrepreneurs are spending so much money to make their product. She says, "So to make the decision and spend that much money when you're a brand new business is a wonderment to me." *I wonder if they know the short form.
In this last example, it's actually the wrong country being used. On a very old (1993) episode of "Mad About You," wife Jamie is in between jobs and doesn't know what to do with her free time. She's driving her husband Paul so crazy that one night he tells her he has to work late so that he can avoid her. She laments, "It's Mexican night. I was going to make gazpacho." *Gazpacho, per Wikipedia, is a tomato-based vegetable soup served cold . . . originating in the southern Spanish region of Andalucía. The writers should have done their research but Wikipedia did not exist back then. Encyclopedia, anyone?
Now I will focus on a few examples from the GRAMMATICAL category.
Example: I read an article in "People" magazine, dated April 21, 2014 on the two Duggar family daughters who are in love. "In an age of hookups and sexting, these couples take it slow." *I wish the writer had known to use the adverb "slowly" here.
Example: The 2009 movie "Weather Girl" has the titular character Sylvia moving in with her brother Walt after losing her job. She has begun a secret physical relationship with his best friend Byron. When Walt comes home one night and catches them in the act, the three of them have a sit-down where Walt complains, "That was my bed you were fornicating on and that was my friend with which you were fornicating." *I guess he was so upset about all the fornicating that he didn't realize that it was a person with whom she was fornicating.
Example: On the "America's Got Talent" results show of September 2013, the all-girl gymnastics troupe called Innovative Force is not voted to continue. Host Nick Cannon asks the spokesperson,
"How was your time on the show?" She responds, "We're so blessed to have been able to been on it."
*I am blessed to be able to recognize that she used the wrong verb form.
As I come to the end of my post, I would like to leave my readers with a couple of examples of good vocabulary.
Example: One guest on Steve Harvey's talk show wants Steve's help in finding a smooth way to introduce her young children to the new man in her life. She explains, "This will be the first time my children have met someone outside of their dad so there's a little trepidation there." *Yes, she used the synonym for "fear" correctly.
Example: Raymond "Red" Reddington, who helps the FBI find criminals on TV's "The Black List," meets with agent Donald Ressler. Reddington explains to him, "I reached out to you, Donald. And it wasn't to revisit all the times I eluded your littler coterie of door-kickers who pursued me with such fervor and zeal." *These writers give Reddington such colorful language and they do it with such zeal.
Example: In the episode "The Friendship Algorithm" of "The Big Bang Theory," Dr. Sheldon Cooper needs to use a new computer owned by antagonistic colleague Barry Kripke. Sheldon's friend Leonard explains that Kripke only allows his friends to use it. Sheldon says, "Well then, the solution is simple. I shall befriend him." *In this age of Facebook and "friending" everyone on earth, it's a wonder to me that some writers still use good English. Hurray!
Well, Readers, I hope that my indulgence in sharing with you these confounding mistakes will enlighten you a little and perhaps brighten your day.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Too Much of a Good Thing
Dear Readers,
Some people say that if one is good, two is better. However, this is not true in all cases.
In the text Reference Manual for Stenographers and Typists (published 1970) under the heading SUPERFLUOUS PREPOSITIONS, it is written: "Do not use prepositions that are not needed." I couldn't agree more. This month I will focus on the superfluous use of the preposition "of." Read on to see what I mean.
IN LITERARY WORKS
For example: In Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, narrator Anastasia Steele says, "I stare momentarily out of the window." * Staring "out the window" would be sufficient.
Example: Cheryl Strayed, in Wild, a personal account of her trek across the Pacific Crest Trail, says,
"I hung up the phone overcome with grief, but the small reasonable core that still lived inside of me ..." *Here, "inside me" would be enough.
Example: Ms. Strayed describes the kitchen table of her youth. Her step-father Eddie "had cut off the short legs and bolted a barrel to the bottom and we'd eaten off of it all these years."
Example: She also writes, "I'd removed my hiking boots and the left one had fallen . . . It bounced off of a rocky outcropping several feet beneath me." *Again, no need for the extra "of" in either case.
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel is translated from the Spanish. Still, I found these superfluous uses of the preposition "of."
Example: "John Brown, the doctor, was watching Tita, charmed by her. He couldn't take his eyes off of her."
Example: "Tita, shaking the dirt off of her, looked around the patio."
Example: "For the first time in their lives, Tita and Pedro could make love freely. For years they had had to take precautions . . . so that she wouldn't cry out with pleasure when they were inside of each other." *In this last example, not only is the "of" superfluous, I just can't figure out the anatomy here.
Author C.J. Box has written a series of books about game warden Joe Pickett. In Savage Run, he writes, "A cow elk stood off of the trail . . ."
Another example: "Joe ripped the curtains and rod off of the only window . . ."
And: "Joe's wife Marybeth, at home with no word from her husband, was worried. But the only thing she didn't want to do was to worry [daughter] Sheridan, because the two of them would feed off of each other." *Too many prepositions? I think so.
Here's an example of good writing by Lawrence Wright, in his book Going Clear, about Scientology and founder L. Ron Hubbard. He writes, "According to Hubbard, he got into the [World War II] action right away. He said he was aboard the destroyer USS Edsall, which was sunk off the north coast of Java." *Great job, Mr. Wright. (I guess his name says it all.)
TELEVISION SHOWS
Example: On "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," the team investigates a dead body that was bludgeoned to death while inside a human-sized hamster ball. Head CSI Russell surmises, "Since Zack was killed inside of the ball, his playmate's a pretty good suspect, right?" * He should have said, "inside the ball."
Example: FBI consultant Patrick Jane, aka "The Mentalist," is working on a case with the Bureau. When his suggestion of an illegal maneuver is thwarted, he says, "I guess we need to think outside of the box." * "outside the box" works just as well.
Example: In the episode "The Fluffer" on TV's "Scandal," Washington, D.C. fixer Olivia Pope is awakened by a phone call from her paramour who tells her, "I'm standing outside of your door."
*I'd guess he was outside her door.
Example: Molly, from the sit-com "Mike and Molly," tells a therapist how she quit her teaching job. He asks if she walked out. She answers, "I jumped out of the window." *As a teacher, shouldn't she know to say, "out the window" instead?
On rare occasions, I actually hear the correct amount of prepositions used.
Example: The detectives of the NYPD on the television show "Castle" are investigating the murder of a woman. They ask her uncle for some information about her new lodgings. He tells them, "She and I shared a cab that day and it dropped her off at a building off the west side highway." *Yea, the writers speak good English.
Example: In the episode "Stormy Moon" of the comedy "The Middle," mom Frankie Heck is arrested for overdue library books. When no one from the family comes to bail her out and she returns home to find her husband and kids eating pizza, she is upset. She says, "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go wash the jail off me." *Again, kudos to the writers.
Example: On the above mentioned show "CSI," Sheriff Ecklie of the Las Vegas P.D. questions a security guard who saw and apprehended a wanted suspect. Ecklie says, "You saw him outside your building?" *Hurray! This time the writers got it right.
TALK SHOWS
Example: Body language expert Jan Hargraves was guest on Steve Harvey's talk show on February 6, 2014. She was decoding sleep positions of couples seen in photos. She says, "When a portion of your body is a little off of the bed, it means . . ." *Sorry, but you'll have to use On Demand to see this episode to find out what she said.
Example: I also heard this on Steve Harvey's daytime talk show. On January 8, 2014, Steve's guest was Ally who, after reading his book and applied his advice, got engaged. Before the commercial break, Steve announces, "we'll be meeting Mike, the man who swept Ally off of her feet." *As good a host as Steve is, he is not known for his excellent grammar.
JUST PLAIN TOO MANY
In this example, the writers simply did not notice the preposition said twice.
On the television show "Hostages," Agent Hoffman of the Secret Service is investigating a nurse's disappearance and consults with FBI agent Duncan Carlisle. He shows Duncan a photo and says,
"This is a screen grab from a surveillance camera less than a block from where Angela disappeared from." *I wonder why the actor didn't say to the writers, "Hey, I already said 'from.' You need to take the second one out." I guess actors say only what is written on the script without realizing what they are actually saying. Too bad.
In conclusion, whichever preposition one is going to use (inside, outside, off), there is no need to add "of" in the sentence. Now I am going to sign OFF this blog.
Some people say that if one is good, two is better. However, this is not true in all cases.
In the text Reference Manual for Stenographers and Typists (published 1970) under the heading SUPERFLUOUS PREPOSITIONS, it is written: "Do not use prepositions that are not needed." I couldn't agree more. This month I will focus on the superfluous use of the preposition "of." Read on to see what I mean.
IN LITERARY WORKS
For example: In Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, narrator Anastasia Steele says, "I stare momentarily out of the window." * Staring "out the window" would be sufficient.
Example: Cheryl Strayed, in Wild, a personal account of her trek across the Pacific Crest Trail, says,
"I hung up the phone overcome with grief, but the small reasonable core that still lived inside of me ..." *Here, "inside me" would be enough.
Example: Ms. Strayed describes the kitchen table of her youth. Her step-father Eddie "had cut off the short legs and bolted a barrel to the bottom and we'd eaten off of it all these years."
Example: She also writes, "I'd removed my hiking boots and the left one had fallen . . . It bounced off of a rocky outcropping several feet beneath me." *Again, no need for the extra "of" in either case.
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel is translated from the Spanish. Still, I found these superfluous uses of the preposition "of."
Example: "John Brown, the doctor, was watching Tita, charmed by her. He couldn't take his eyes off of her."
Example: "Tita, shaking the dirt off of her, looked around the patio."
Example: "For the first time in their lives, Tita and Pedro could make love freely. For years they had had to take precautions . . . so that she wouldn't cry out with pleasure when they were inside of each other." *In this last example, not only is the "of" superfluous, I just can't figure out the anatomy here.
Author C.J. Box has written a series of books about game warden Joe Pickett. In Savage Run, he writes, "A cow elk stood off of the trail . . ."
Another example: "Joe ripped the curtains and rod off of the only window . . ."
And: "Joe's wife Marybeth, at home with no word from her husband, was worried. But the only thing she didn't want to do was to worry [daughter] Sheridan, because the two of them would feed off of each other." *Too many prepositions? I think so.
Here's an example of good writing by Lawrence Wright, in his book Going Clear, about Scientology and founder L. Ron Hubbard. He writes, "According to Hubbard, he got into the [World War II] action right away. He said he was aboard the destroyer USS Edsall, which was sunk off the north coast of Java." *Great job, Mr. Wright. (I guess his name says it all.)
TELEVISION SHOWS
Example: On "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," the team investigates a dead body that was bludgeoned to death while inside a human-sized hamster ball. Head CSI Russell surmises, "Since Zack was killed inside of the ball, his playmate's a pretty good suspect, right?" * He should have said, "inside the ball."
Example: FBI consultant Patrick Jane, aka "The Mentalist," is working on a case with the Bureau. When his suggestion of an illegal maneuver is thwarted, he says, "I guess we need to think outside of the box." * "outside the box" works just as well.
Example: In the episode "The Fluffer" on TV's "Scandal," Washington, D.C. fixer Olivia Pope is awakened by a phone call from her paramour who tells her, "I'm standing outside of your door."
*I'd guess he was outside her door.
Example: Molly, from the sit-com "Mike and Molly," tells a therapist how she quit her teaching job. He asks if she walked out. She answers, "I jumped out of the window." *As a teacher, shouldn't she know to say, "out the window" instead?
On rare occasions, I actually hear the correct amount of prepositions used.
Example: The detectives of the NYPD on the television show "Castle" are investigating the murder of a woman. They ask her uncle for some information about her new lodgings. He tells them, "She and I shared a cab that day and it dropped her off at a building off the west side highway." *Yea, the writers speak good English.
Example: In the episode "Stormy Moon" of the comedy "The Middle," mom Frankie Heck is arrested for overdue library books. When no one from the family comes to bail her out and she returns home to find her husband and kids eating pizza, she is upset. She says, "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go wash the jail off me." *Again, kudos to the writers.
Example: On the above mentioned show "CSI," Sheriff Ecklie of the Las Vegas P.D. questions a security guard who saw and apprehended a wanted suspect. Ecklie says, "You saw him outside your building?" *Hurray! This time the writers got it right.
TALK SHOWS
Example: Body language expert Jan Hargraves was guest on Steve Harvey's talk show on February 6, 2014. She was decoding sleep positions of couples seen in photos. She says, "When a portion of your body is a little off of the bed, it means . . ." *Sorry, but you'll have to use On Demand to see this episode to find out what she said.
Example: I also heard this on Steve Harvey's daytime talk show. On January 8, 2014, Steve's guest was Ally who, after reading his book and applied his advice, got engaged. Before the commercial break, Steve announces, "we'll be meeting Mike, the man who swept Ally off of her feet." *As good a host as Steve is, he is not known for his excellent grammar.
JUST PLAIN TOO MANY
In this example, the writers simply did not notice the preposition said twice.
On the television show "Hostages," Agent Hoffman of the Secret Service is investigating a nurse's disappearance and consults with FBI agent Duncan Carlisle. He shows Duncan a photo and says,
"This is a screen grab from a surveillance camera less than a block from where Angela disappeared from." *I wonder why the actor didn't say to the writers, "Hey, I already said 'from.' You need to take the second one out." I guess actors say only what is written on the script without realizing what they are actually saying. Too bad.
In conclusion, whichever preposition one is going to use (inside, outside, off), there is no need to add "of" in the sentence. Now I am going to sign OFF this blog.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
The Past is (or is not) the Past
Dear Readers,
Having taught foreign languages (French and Spanish) for over 30 years, I know without a doubt what constitutes the past tense of verbs, including English verbs. These verbs come in two different forms: (1) the simple past, such as, "We spoke to the doctor last week." (2) a helping verb + a past participle, such as "We have spoken to that doctor twice before." This month I will focus on incorrect usage of the past tense in the English language.
Example: On Juan Pablo's season of "The Bachelor," Nikki is on a date with him. She's expressing her feelings about possibly being a step-mom to his young daughter. She says to him, "If I didn't think I was [mature enough], I wouldn't have came." *The correct past participle is come.
Example: Millionaire and Las Vegas entrepreneur Brian, on TV's "Millionaire Matchmaker," takes his date to an indoor rock climbing venue. He asks her, "Have you ever did this before?" *I will bet a million dollars that he did not make his money via his grammar or he would have done better.
Example: Entrepreneur Shawn Genenbacher on "Shark Tank" is searching for an investment in his Christmas lights company. When shark Kevin O'Leary asks him why he doesn't approach a local supplier, Shawn answers, "That opportunity hasn't arised yet." *Spell Check on my computer underlined this as a word that doesn't even exist. However, arisen is a word, and a past participle, that does exist.
Example: On "Live with Kelly and Michael" the morning after the Academy Awards, Denzel Washington was heard saying in gest, "Kelly didn't get nominated. She should've got nominated."
*At least Denzel has gotten nominated in the past.
Example: During an episode of "The King of Queens," wife Carrie wakes up her husband Doug who has fallen asleep at the bar where she has organized a work seminar. He tells her, "I must have fell asleep." *I'm surprised he hadn't fallen off his bar stool.
Example: Sheriff Walt Longmire, on the TV series that bears his name, is talking to a rodeo veterinarian about the practice of using "hot shots," or electric prods, on broncos during a rodeo event. The vet says, "Levi [a bronco rider and person of interest in a murder investigation] has a "hot shot" hid in his chaps." *Of course he means hidden. Actually, here it's an adjective but it derives from the past participle of the verb to hide. "I have hidden the Easter eggs for the children to find."
Example: On the TV show "Glee," Finn Hudson expresses to his mother a regret he has. "I could've spent more time writing that letter to the Army, or I could've wrote 50 letters to the Army." *If he had written those letters, would he have written them correctly?
Example: Arie, one of the men vying for "The Bachelorette" Emily's heart, says to the camera,
"I know that she was kind of shooken up about the whole Kalon thing [another suitor]. . ."
*Again, Spell Check to the rescue, but poor Arie didn't write this out first on his computer.
In the following four examples, the same incorrect past participle is used.
#1: Walter Sherman, aka "The Finder," finds in a tree an item that he was hired to locate. He says,
"I definitely would have went with the culvert." [as a better hiding place, I presume.]
#2: In the episode "Black and Blue" of TV's "Blue Bloods," Jamie Reagan is a NYPD officer who had previously graduated from Harvard. Yet he says, "Close call out there today, Sarge. Could've went either way but it went ours."
#3: On "Elementary," NYPD Detective Bell, after being off work due to an injury, pays a colleague to get his old desk back. The co-worker thinks Bell paid too much for the chore. Bell says, "I would've went twice as high."
#4: Detective Esposito on the show "Castle" is commenting on a woman's footwear. He declares, "I would have went open-toed."
*I hope I do not need to tell you readers that the correct past participle is gone. What is it with law enforcement, or more specifically, the writers of law enforcement characters? They must have such little faith in their characters' ability to speak well. Or is it that the writers themselves do not speak properly? Who knows?
Lastly, I must comment on the egregious spelling of the following helping verb found several times in Janet Evanovich's novel Three to Get Deadly. Lula, sidekick to the book's heroine and bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, says, "I should of shot him. I should of dropped a cap in that old coot."
*I realize that when we say "should've" [a contraction of should + have] it does sound like "should of," but that does not make it OK to write it and print it incorrectly. Shame on Ms. Evanovich.
So, dear Readers, I hope now we can leave the past behind and look forward to a more promising future of good English spoken here.
Having taught foreign languages (French and Spanish) for over 30 years, I know without a doubt what constitutes the past tense of verbs, including English verbs. These verbs come in two different forms: (1) the simple past, such as, "We spoke to the doctor last week." (2) a helping verb + a past participle, such as "We have spoken to that doctor twice before." This month I will focus on incorrect usage of the past tense in the English language.
Example: On Juan Pablo's season of "The Bachelor," Nikki is on a date with him. She's expressing her feelings about possibly being a step-mom to his young daughter. She says to him, "If I didn't think I was [mature enough], I wouldn't have came." *The correct past participle is come.
Example: Millionaire and Las Vegas entrepreneur Brian, on TV's "Millionaire Matchmaker," takes his date to an indoor rock climbing venue. He asks her, "Have you ever did this before?" *I will bet a million dollars that he did not make his money via his grammar or he would have done better.
Example: Entrepreneur Shawn Genenbacher on "Shark Tank" is searching for an investment in his Christmas lights company. When shark Kevin O'Leary asks him why he doesn't approach a local supplier, Shawn answers, "That opportunity hasn't arised yet." *Spell Check on my computer underlined this as a word that doesn't even exist. However, arisen is a word, and a past participle, that does exist.
Example: On "Live with Kelly and Michael" the morning after the Academy Awards, Denzel Washington was heard saying in gest, "Kelly didn't get nominated. She should've got nominated."
*At least Denzel has gotten nominated in the past.
Example: During an episode of "The King of Queens," wife Carrie wakes up her husband Doug who has fallen asleep at the bar where she has organized a work seminar. He tells her, "I must have fell asleep." *I'm surprised he hadn't fallen off his bar stool.
Example: Sheriff Walt Longmire, on the TV series that bears his name, is talking to a rodeo veterinarian about the practice of using "hot shots," or electric prods, on broncos during a rodeo event. The vet says, "Levi [a bronco rider and person of interest in a murder investigation] has a "hot shot" hid in his chaps." *Of course he means hidden. Actually, here it's an adjective but it derives from the past participle of the verb to hide. "I have hidden the Easter eggs for the children to find."
Example: On the TV show "Glee," Finn Hudson expresses to his mother a regret he has. "I could've spent more time writing that letter to the Army, or I could've wrote 50 letters to the Army." *If he had written those letters, would he have written them correctly?
Example: Arie, one of the men vying for "The Bachelorette" Emily's heart, says to the camera,
"I know that she was kind of shooken up about the whole Kalon thing [another suitor]. . ."
*Again, Spell Check to the rescue, but poor Arie didn't write this out first on his computer.
In the following four examples, the same incorrect past participle is used.
#1: Walter Sherman, aka "The Finder," finds in a tree an item that he was hired to locate. He says,
"I definitely would have went with the culvert." [as a better hiding place, I presume.]
#2: In the episode "Black and Blue" of TV's "Blue Bloods," Jamie Reagan is a NYPD officer who had previously graduated from Harvard. Yet he says, "Close call out there today, Sarge. Could've went either way but it went ours."
#3: On "Elementary," NYPD Detective Bell, after being off work due to an injury, pays a colleague to get his old desk back. The co-worker thinks Bell paid too much for the chore. Bell says, "I would've went twice as high."
#4: Detective Esposito on the show "Castle" is commenting on a woman's footwear. He declares, "I would have went open-toed."
*I hope I do not need to tell you readers that the correct past participle is gone. What is it with law enforcement, or more specifically, the writers of law enforcement characters? They must have such little faith in their characters' ability to speak well. Or is it that the writers themselves do not speak properly? Who knows?
Lastly, I must comment on the egregious spelling of the following helping verb found several times in Janet Evanovich's novel Three to Get Deadly. Lula, sidekick to the book's heroine and bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, says, "I should of shot him. I should of dropped a cap in that old coot."
*I realize that when we say "should've" [a contraction of should + have] it does sound like "should of," but that does not make it OK to write it and print it incorrectly. Shame on Ms. Evanovich.
So, dear Readers, I hope now we can leave the past behind and look forward to a more promising future of good English spoken here.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Just Plain Wrong
Dear Readers,
Sometimes when I'm watching TV or reading I come across an error that can only be categorized as "Just Plain Wrong." I am astounded by such blunders and this month I will share some with you.
Example: During the Ice Dancing finals of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Meryl Davis and Charlie White were dancing to the music of "Scheherazade." Tracy Wilson, one of the commentators, explains the story: Scheherazade spins such beguiling tales that the Persian king "spares her her life." *I believe that she simply meant to say that "he spared her life." One does not spare something to someone.
Example: On "The Finale Part I" of TV's "Seinfeld," Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer are offered the use of NBC's private jet to go wherever they want. Elaine suggests Switzerland. Kramer says,
"Ooh, Switzerland, the Von Trapp family." *Wrong. They were from Austria.
Example: In the episode "Out of the Past" on the TV show "Motive," Vancouver detectives Flynn and Vega arrive at a small convenience store which is the scene of a crime. Flynn asks, "Didn't this used to be a doughnut joint?" Vega answers, "No, they closed that place." *In that case he should have said, "Yes [it used to be a doughnut joint], but they closed that place." Just wrong.
Example: I have to wonder about the writers on "Elementary" because I found two blunders.
#1: In the episode "Ancient History," Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson are questioning a person of interest in a case they are investigating. Holmes tells the guy, "Why don't you go and get a piece of pen and paper so you can make some notes . . ." *Seriously, no one caught this mistake?
#2: In the episode "You do it to Yourself," while consulting on a murder investigation that involves Chinese gambling in New York City, Sherlock sees a few mah jong tiles and says, "Those are different sizes, they're different colors. They're clearly from different sets. Now mah jong tiles come in pairs. Why would he hold onto one of each?" *Just wrong. Mah jong tiles do not come in pairs. There are four of each suit plus eight jokers and eight flowers. If writers are going to use esoteric information, they should really check their facts.
Example: Barbara Corcoran, one of the sharks on "Shark Tank," tries to get a handle on pitchman Aviv's offer. She says, "I just want to clear the deck a little bit here." *I think she meant to say,
"Clear the air." Wrong expression.
Example: I read on the May 20, 2014 TV Guide magazine cover, "60 Greatest Comedies of All Time! Who's #1?" *The "who" in the question referred to a person and the answer was Lucy. But Lucy was not a comedy, she was a comedienne and a person.
Example: Stephen King, in his novel Under the Dome, wrote this: "For the first time since he'd taken the keys to the green Chief's car . . ." *Is the Chief green or is the car green, Mr. King?
Example: In The Suspect by John Lescroart, Assistant D.A. Gerry Abrams and San Francisco detective Devin Juhle are discussing an upcoming trial of a man accused of killing his girlfriend's five-month old son. Abrams says, "Shook him, did he?" Juhle responds, "He didn't really shake him. He just picked the kid up, trying to quiet it down, and then he just stopped breathing."
*Even detectives know that a child is not an it, but maybe the author was unsure. Also, in that same sentence, who exactly stopped breathing? The guy or the baby? Hmmm. . .
Example: The narrator and heroine, Anastasia Steele of Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James, talks about greeting her wealthy roommate's parents after her graduation ceremony. "We exchange brief pleasantries, mostly about their up and coming vacation to Barbados . . ." *I believe she meant to say "upcoming."
Example: Surprisingly, I found three major mistakes in Rhonda Pollero's book Knock 'Em Dead.
#1: Her heroine, Finley Tanner, says, "Even employed I couldn't afford Payton original unless I saved and scraped. Two S adjectives I've managed to avoid for almost thirty years." *Nope, Ms. Pollero, those S words are verbs, not adjectives.
#2: Finley is talking about having had sex with her boyfriend. She says, "I faked it. Sleepless in Seattle deli scene faked it." *Nope. That scene was from the movie "When Harry met Sally."
#3: Again, Finley says, "Deciding between a simple gold chain, no accessories at all, or a chunky beaded choker ate up another ten minutes. Okay, so I knew I wasn't going to put on anything but thin hoop earrings about five seconds after opening my jewelry drawer. The rest of the nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds was just me stalling." *Math anyone? If it took five seconds to decide and she had a window of ten minutes that would leave nine minutes and fifty-five seconds, wouldn't it?
Here are two more examples of problematic math:
Example: In the film version of "Confessions of a Shopaholic," titular character Rebecca Bloomwood is very much in debt. Her roommate Suze is trying to support and help her. Suze asks, "How are you going to pay off sixteen thousand twelve hundred and sixty-two dollars and seventy cents?" *OK, let's put this into figures: $16, 1262.70. I wish I had that much money.
Example: Kristof of Kristef Brothers balancing act on "America's Got Talent," talks about the hardships of performing. He says, "Financially it's been tough. I have a four month-year-old son. I'm here today to give a better future for him." *Let's hope that the better future includes a good education.
Well, Readers, I hope that you have received a better education than Kristof and all of the above people who make this job of mine so much fun.
Sometimes when I'm watching TV or reading I come across an error that can only be categorized as "Just Plain Wrong." I am astounded by such blunders and this month I will share some with you.
Example: During the Ice Dancing finals of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Meryl Davis and Charlie White were dancing to the music of "Scheherazade." Tracy Wilson, one of the commentators, explains the story: Scheherazade spins such beguiling tales that the Persian king "spares her her life." *I believe that she simply meant to say that "he spared her life." One does not spare something to someone.
Example: On "The Finale Part I" of TV's "Seinfeld," Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer are offered the use of NBC's private jet to go wherever they want. Elaine suggests Switzerland. Kramer says,
"Ooh, Switzerland, the Von Trapp family." *Wrong. They were from Austria.
Example: In the episode "Out of the Past" on the TV show "Motive," Vancouver detectives Flynn and Vega arrive at a small convenience store which is the scene of a crime. Flynn asks, "Didn't this used to be a doughnut joint?" Vega answers, "No, they closed that place." *In that case he should have said, "Yes [it used to be a doughnut joint], but they closed that place." Just wrong.
Example: I have to wonder about the writers on "Elementary" because I found two blunders.
#1: In the episode "Ancient History," Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson are questioning a person of interest in a case they are investigating. Holmes tells the guy, "Why don't you go and get a piece of pen and paper so you can make some notes . . ." *Seriously, no one caught this mistake?
#2: In the episode "You do it to Yourself," while consulting on a murder investigation that involves Chinese gambling in New York City, Sherlock sees a few mah jong tiles and says, "Those are different sizes, they're different colors. They're clearly from different sets. Now mah jong tiles come in pairs. Why would he hold onto one of each?" *Just wrong. Mah jong tiles do not come in pairs. There are four of each suit plus eight jokers and eight flowers. If writers are going to use esoteric information, they should really check their facts.
Example: Barbara Corcoran, one of the sharks on "Shark Tank," tries to get a handle on pitchman Aviv's offer. She says, "I just want to clear the deck a little bit here." *I think she meant to say,
"Clear the air." Wrong expression.
Example: I read on the May 20, 2014 TV Guide magazine cover, "60 Greatest Comedies of All Time! Who's #1?" *The "who" in the question referred to a person and the answer was Lucy. But Lucy was not a comedy, she was a comedienne and a person.
Example: Stephen King, in his novel Under the Dome, wrote this: "For the first time since he'd taken the keys to the green Chief's car . . ." *Is the Chief green or is the car green, Mr. King?
Example: In The Suspect by John Lescroart, Assistant D.A. Gerry Abrams and San Francisco detective Devin Juhle are discussing an upcoming trial of a man accused of killing his girlfriend's five-month old son. Abrams says, "Shook him, did he?" Juhle responds, "He didn't really shake him. He just picked the kid up, trying to quiet it down, and then he just stopped breathing."
*Even detectives know that a child is not an it, but maybe the author was unsure. Also, in that same sentence, who exactly stopped breathing? The guy or the baby? Hmmm. . .
Example: The narrator and heroine, Anastasia Steele of Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James, talks about greeting her wealthy roommate's parents after her graduation ceremony. "We exchange brief pleasantries, mostly about their up and coming vacation to Barbados . . ." *I believe she meant to say "upcoming."
Example: Surprisingly, I found three major mistakes in Rhonda Pollero's book Knock 'Em Dead.
#1: Her heroine, Finley Tanner, says, "Even employed I couldn't afford Payton original unless I saved and scraped. Two S adjectives I've managed to avoid for almost thirty years." *Nope, Ms. Pollero, those S words are verbs, not adjectives.
#2: Finley is talking about having had sex with her boyfriend. She says, "I faked it. Sleepless in Seattle deli scene faked it." *Nope. That scene was from the movie "When Harry met Sally."
#3: Again, Finley says, "Deciding between a simple gold chain, no accessories at all, or a chunky beaded choker ate up another ten minutes. Okay, so I knew I wasn't going to put on anything but thin hoop earrings about five seconds after opening my jewelry drawer. The rest of the nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds was just me stalling." *Math anyone? If it took five seconds to decide and she had a window of ten minutes that would leave nine minutes and fifty-five seconds, wouldn't it?
Here are two more examples of problematic math:
Example: In the film version of "Confessions of a Shopaholic," titular character Rebecca Bloomwood is very much in debt. Her roommate Suze is trying to support and help her. Suze asks, "How are you going to pay off sixteen thousand twelve hundred and sixty-two dollars and seventy cents?" *OK, let's put this into figures: $16, 1262.70. I wish I had that much money.
Example: Kristof of Kristef Brothers balancing act on "America's Got Talent," talks about the hardships of performing. He says, "Financially it's been tough. I have a four month-year-old son. I'm here today to give a better future for him." *Let's hope that the better future includes a good education.
Well, Readers, I hope that you have received a better education than Kristof and all of the above people who make this job of mine so much fun.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Who or Whom?
Hello Readers,
In an episode of the old TV sitcom "Mad About You," Paul Buchman tells his wife Jamie that their apartment building may be going co-op. He says he heard it around the building. She asks, "From whom?" He responds with, "What is it with you and the 'whom' thing?" She retorts, "You talk your way and I'll talk right."
Wouldn't it be nice if we all "talked right"? So, when do we use who and when do we use whom correctly? According to the Reference Manual for Stenographers and Typists, who is the nominative form, which means that it functions as the subject in both a question or as a relative pronoun.
Examples: Who just called? Grandma just called. [question]
I know who just called. Grandma just called. [relative pronoun]
Whom, on the other hand, is the objective form, which means it functions as the direct object of the subject and verb or it functions as the object of a preposition.
Examples: Whom did you call today? I called Grandma. [direct object]
To whom were you talking? I was talking to Grandma. [object of the preposition]
Both of these words refer to people.
Here are two examples of proper usage of both who and whom:
On an episode of "Boardwalk Empire," Margaret Schroeder, an Irish immigrant in Atlantic City and now Nucky Thompson's paramour, asks about the scratches on his chest. He tells her they are from a hunting accident. She inquires, "Who was hunting whom?" *The first bold word is the subject and the second bold word is the object. See? She talked "right."
Example: On "The Big Bang Theory," Sheldon overhears his friends Raj and Howard talking and he asks, "Who's going to tell whom about what?" *Sheldon not only used the subject who and the direct object whom correctly, he even threw in a question word used for a thing. Good speaking, Sheldon.
But check out the "wrong" way to talk:
Example: Oprah Winfrey is quoted on the hoopla surrounding James Frey's memoir.
She says, "So I had called him up and personally apologized to him. And he was receptive to the apology. He is somebody whom I would say now is a trusted friend." *Nope, Oprah, since he is now a trusted friend, who would have been the proper word used here. It is the subject.
Now check out the example from "Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt." Chief of Police Jesse Stone asks the Captain of the state Homicide Department, "Whose case is this, yours or mine?" The Captain replies, "Both." Jesse says, "Who defers to who?" *The first bold word is correctly used as the subject, but the second one is the object of the preposition, and therefore it should be whom.
Below are several examples of these words used "right."
Example: Ada Calhoun's article in Glamour Magazine of November 2012 asks, "No matter whom you're dating . . ." *Here it is the direct object. You are dating someone. . .
Example: In the TV Guide September 2013 issue, an article about the new season of "Castle" tells about the titular character's daughter and her new beau. "Myko Oliver recurs as Pi, a 'hemp-wearing fruitarian' whom Castle's daughter Alexis met while working in Costa Rica." *Again, whom is the direct object. Alexis met him.
Example: Amanda Knox wrote Waiting to be Heard about her traumatic experience of being accused of a murder she didn't commit in Italy. Still a suspect, she is asked by the police
[in her English translation of the Italian], "Who do you think would do this? Whom do you know who disliked Meredith?" *We have subject / direct object / subject. All are correct.
Example: Patti Stanger, the "Millionaire Matchmaker," always asks the millionaires after their mixer,
"Whom do you want as your master date?" *Of course this is the direct object. Good speaking, Patti.
Now come the examples of objects of the preposition. Let's see which are correct and which are not.
Example: Mr. Reese, vigilante on "Person of Interest," says, "He's being set up. The question is by who?" *Since by is a preposition, the word after it should be whom.
Example: On the TV show "Criminal Minds," the Behavior Analysis Unit of the FBI is discussing the latest murders they are investigating. They notice the importance of watches left on the victims. Agent Jarreau wonders, "It's a message, but for whom?" *Good going, Agent Jarreau.
Example: Richard Castle, on the TV show that bears his name, is a writer who consults for the NYPD. At one scene, his partner, Det. Beckett, asks the C.O.O. of the night club where the murder took place, "Is there anyone else that you think might have wanted to harm Beau?" The C.O.O. answers, "Unfortunately he received death threats on a daily basis." Castle asks, "From whom?"
*Considering that his character is a writer, I'm glad to see that he speaks "right."
Example: Attorney and Maid of Honor Rachel, in the movie Something Borrowed, is having a heart to heart talk with the bride who admits that she cheated once on her fiancé.
Rachel asks, "With whom?" *Yea, the attorney talked "right."
Example: Lisa Lutz writes in The Curse of the Spellmans, "Our heroine, Isabel Spellman, is awakened by the phone. 'I had no idea whom I was speaking to' . . ." *OK, here the preposition is not exactly in close proximity to the object pronoun whom, but it is still the correct usage.
**In conclusion, I know that the use of the word whom has long been retired by the majority of the English-speaking population, but I appreciate it when English is written or spoken "right," and I will continue to speak or write to whom I please with good grammar.
In an episode of the old TV sitcom "Mad About You," Paul Buchman tells his wife Jamie that their apartment building may be going co-op. He says he heard it around the building. She asks, "From whom?" He responds with, "What is it with you and the 'whom' thing?" She retorts, "You talk your way and I'll talk right."
Wouldn't it be nice if we all "talked right"? So, when do we use who and when do we use whom correctly? According to the Reference Manual for Stenographers and Typists, who is the nominative form, which means that it functions as the subject in both a question or as a relative pronoun.
Examples: Who just called? Grandma just called. [question]
I know who just called. Grandma just called. [relative pronoun]
Whom, on the other hand, is the objective form, which means it functions as the direct object of the subject and verb or it functions as the object of a preposition.
Examples: Whom did you call today? I called Grandma. [direct object]
To whom were you talking? I was talking to Grandma. [object of the preposition]
Both of these words refer to people.
Here are two examples of proper usage of both who and whom:
On an episode of "Boardwalk Empire," Margaret Schroeder, an Irish immigrant in Atlantic City and now Nucky Thompson's paramour, asks about the scratches on his chest. He tells her they are from a hunting accident. She inquires, "Who was hunting whom?" *The first bold word is the subject and the second bold word is the object. See? She talked "right."
Example: On "The Big Bang Theory," Sheldon overhears his friends Raj and Howard talking and he asks, "Who's going to tell whom about what?" *Sheldon not only used the subject who and the direct object whom correctly, he even threw in a question word used for a thing. Good speaking, Sheldon.
But check out the "wrong" way to talk:
Example: Oprah Winfrey is quoted on the hoopla surrounding James Frey's memoir.
She says, "So I had called him up and personally apologized to him. And he was receptive to the apology. He is somebody whom I would say now is a trusted friend." *Nope, Oprah, since he is now a trusted friend, who would have been the proper word used here. It is the subject.
Now check out the example from "Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt." Chief of Police Jesse Stone asks the Captain of the state Homicide Department, "Whose case is this, yours or mine?" The Captain replies, "Both." Jesse says, "Who defers to who?" *The first bold word is correctly used as the subject, but the second one is the object of the preposition, and therefore it should be whom.
Below are several examples of these words used "right."
Example: Ada Calhoun's article in Glamour Magazine of November 2012 asks, "No matter whom you're dating . . ." *Here it is the direct object. You are dating someone. . .
Example: In the TV Guide September 2013 issue, an article about the new season of "Castle" tells about the titular character's daughter and her new beau. "Myko Oliver recurs as Pi, a 'hemp-wearing fruitarian' whom Castle's daughter Alexis met while working in Costa Rica." *Again, whom is the direct object. Alexis met him.
Example: Amanda Knox wrote Waiting to be Heard about her traumatic experience of being accused of a murder she didn't commit in Italy. Still a suspect, she is asked by the police
[in her English translation of the Italian], "Who do you think would do this? Whom do you know who disliked Meredith?" *We have subject / direct object / subject. All are correct.
Example: Patti Stanger, the "Millionaire Matchmaker," always asks the millionaires after their mixer,
"Whom do you want as your master date?" *Of course this is the direct object. Good speaking, Patti.
Now come the examples of objects of the preposition. Let's see which are correct and which are not.
Example: Mr. Reese, vigilante on "Person of Interest," says, "He's being set up. The question is by who?" *Since by is a preposition, the word after it should be whom.
Example: On the TV show "Criminal Minds," the Behavior Analysis Unit of the FBI is discussing the latest murders they are investigating. They notice the importance of watches left on the victims. Agent Jarreau wonders, "It's a message, but for whom?" *Good going, Agent Jarreau.
Example: Richard Castle, on the TV show that bears his name, is a writer who consults for the NYPD. At one scene, his partner, Det. Beckett, asks the C.O.O. of the night club where the murder took place, "Is there anyone else that you think might have wanted to harm Beau?" The C.O.O. answers, "Unfortunately he received death threats on a daily basis." Castle asks, "From whom?"
*Considering that his character is a writer, I'm glad to see that he speaks "right."
Example: Attorney and Maid of Honor Rachel, in the movie Something Borrowed, is having a heart to heart talk with the bride who admits that she cheated once on her fiancé.
Rachel asks, "With whom?" *Yea, the attorney talked "right."
Example: Lisa Lutz writes in The Curse of the Spellmans, "Our heroine, Isabel Spellman, is awakened by the phone. 'I had no idea whom I was speaking to' . . ." *OK, here the preposition is not exactly in close proximity to the object pronoun whom, but it is still the correct usage.
**In conclusion, I know that the use of the word whom has long been retired by the majority of the English-speaking population, but I appreciate it when English is written or spoken "right," and I will continue to speak or write to whom I please with good grammar.
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