Grammar Giggle – Hopin’

I saw this sign in a local store. I’m pretty sure they mean “hoppin'” because (a) there’s a bunny and (b) the bunny is one of the symbols of Easter and bunnies who hop go “hopping.” They at least did include the apostrophe to indicate the missing “g,” but what a difference the second “p” makes.

Hopin2

 

Grammar Giggle – Board?

A friend sent this to me. She said that she reads a lot of medical records and sometimes the “typist” has some really bad errors that make it hard to understand. She said this appears to be standard questions that were asked, but you can see the error. Just because it passes spell check doesn’t mean it’s the right word!

Bored2

Confusing Words Of The Week

Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

  • persecute – to oppress
    • His intent was to persecute the shy boy to make him quit the team.
  • prosecute – to sue
    • His intent was to prosecute the neighbors for their barking dog.

Memory tips:

  • persecute – if you sound out oppress slowly, it could sound out o-per-ess
  • prosecute – it makes more sense to hire a pro to sue someone

Grammar Giggle – No Thank You!

This spam comment was in my “other” blog (60isthenew60blog.com). While I don’t have anything on that blog to let them know that proofreading is my passion, if you’re offering to write for someone, you should probably do a much better job in the three sentences you send them.

60 blog comment

Replay Thursday

Thursday-ReplayIt’s time for a review of recent blog posts just in case you’ve missed them. We call this Replay Thursday. Here are posts from Proof That proofreading blog and 60 Is The New 60 blog during the past week.

https://proofthatblog.com/2019/04/05/grammar-giggle-pre-exisiting/

https://proofthatblog.com/2019/04/08/grammar-giggle-what-kind-of-wall/

https://proofthatblog.com/2019/04/09/confusing-words-of-the-week-52/

https://proofthatblog.com/2019/04/10/one-word-makes-retrial-of-convicted-murderer-necessary/

 

One Word Makes Retrial of Convicted Murderer Necessary

One WordOne word. The judge left one word out of his instruction to the jury in a murder trial and so a new trial must be held. It obviously was a very important word. The judge in the original trial had given instructions to the jurors that their verdict “must be guilty” if guilt beyond a reasonable doubt was not proven, instead of saying “must be not guilty,” which would be correct in that situation.

This is something I’ve actually seen a lot in proofreading. The lawyers (and, obviously, judges) know what they want to say, but in the process of instructing the jury or writing an important brief, important words are sometimes left out. If you are proofreading something and think that something important has been left out OR that a double negative changes the entire meaning, bring that to the author’s attention and let them decide if it should be changed.

There were other issues in this trial including the defense attorney who “really did not prepare for the penalty phase” and has since been convicted of tax crimes and disbarred. The court threw out the death sentence, ordered a new sentencing hearing but rejected a new trial, and the case is on appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. All because of one word.

Confusing Words Of The Week

Words of the WeekIt’s time for “Confusing Words of the Week” where I take a set of two or three words that get confused and give you definitions and try to give you a memory trick to help you remember when to use which word. If you have words that confuse you, use the Ask PTB tab on the website or send an email to [email protected] and they may appear here soon!

This week’s words are:

  • marital – pertaining to marriage
    • The marital assets were the home, the car, and the savings account.
  • martial – military
    • Martial law may be used in temporary emergencies like a national disaster.

Memory tips:

  • marital – You will need to look at the placement of the “i.” In marital it is before the second “a,” just like it is in marriage and before the “t” to show that the spouses are connected, just like in a marriage.
  • martial – In martial, think of the old westerns and how the marshal was in charge, so martial (pronounced just like marshal) is someone else in charge (like the marshal).