Category Archives: grammar

Replay Thursday

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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.

Grammar Giggle – Movelist

Grammar Giggle – In The Past, I Passed The Top Score

Confusing Words of the Week

I’m Number 2!

 

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Replay Thursday

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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.

Grammar Giggle – Mater Main

Grammar Giggle – Junk Mail

Confusing Words of the Week

For Want Of A Comma–The Oxford Comma Update

 

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For Want Of A Comma–The Oxford Comma Update

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Update Oxford CommaNearly a year ago, I wrote a blog post about a case, the crux of which was the lack of an oxford comma. Here is the section of that post quoting the language missing the Oxford comma:

Here is the law’s wording about activities NOT meriting overtime pay:

The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of:

(1) Agricultural produce;
(2) Meat and fish products; and
(3) Perishable foods.

Based on this language, is packing for shipment its own activity or is it packing for the distribution of the three things on the list? If an Oxford comma had separated “packing for shipment” and “or,” the meaning would have been much more clear. According to court documents, the drivers arguing for overtime actually distribute perishable food, but they do not pack it. That argument helped win the case.

The Oakhurst Dairy drivers who brought the case had asked for $10 million. Court documents filed last week indicate the case was settled for $5 million. All for the want of a comma . . .

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Confusing Words of the Week

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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:

Envelop – to cover; to wrap

She used the blanket to envelop her cold feet.

Envelope – a wrapper for a letter

The letter was returned as the envelope was missing postage.

Memory tips:

  • envelop – Think about this as wrap ending the same way as envelop
  • envelope – Since this has an extra “e,” I would use the extra “e” to designate the letter that is going inside
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Replay Thursday

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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/2018/02/02/grammar-giggle-4/

https://proofthatblog.com/2018/02/05/grammar-giggles-its-it-is/

https://proofthatblog.com/2018/02/06/confusing-words-of-the-week-14/

https://proofthatblog.com/2018/02/07/2017-words-of-the-year/

 

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2017 Words Of The Year

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2017 Words of the YearI always enjoy–and always learn something from–the Words of the Year from various dictionaries and organizations. Here are some of the 2017 Words of the Year:

Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year for 2017 is youthquake. Youthquake is a noun defined as “a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people.” The Oxford editors chose “youthquake” because their data showed an increase of over five times in usage between 2016 and 2017, particularly in June during the U.K.’s general election.

Dictionary.com chose complicit as its Word of the Year for 2017. Complicit means “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having partnership or involvement in wrongdoing.” More simply, it means being responsible for something at some level . . . even if indirectly.

The American Dialect Society chose fake news as its Word of the Year for 2017. They defined fake news in two ways, “disinformation or falsehoods presented as real news” and “actual news that is claimed to be untrue.” It was selected by the Society as “best representing the public discourse and preoccupations of the past year.”

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2017 is feminism, which means “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.” The word was the top lookup on Merriam-Webster’s website in 2017, with spikes after news coverage and then news stories of whether the Women’s March on Washington, DC in January (and other related marches held around the country and internationally) was feminist. Kellyanne Conway caused another spike when she said during an interview that she didn’t consider herself a feminist. In that case, the news stories focused on the definition of feminism, which served as an invitation for people to look up the word. The releases of Hulu’s series The Handmaid’s Tale and the film Wonder Woman both created an interest in the definition of feminism. The recent rash of stories of sexual assault and harassment and the #MeToo campaign have also created an interest in the word.

So now your vocabulary is expanded by the 2017 Words of the Year. Don’t you feel smarter?

 

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Confusing Words of the Week

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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:

plague – an epidemic disease; a disastrous evil or affliction

The flu is quickly becoming a plague.

plaque – a decorative tablet that honors someone or commemorates something

He received a plaque to commemorate his 10th anniversary at the firm.

Memory tips:

  • plague – A disease usually makes your tongue feel weird or coated, so I would remember the word plague having to do with your tongue.
  • plaque – A plaque you put on the wall will make people question how you earned it, so remember that a plaque will make people question.
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Replay Thursday

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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.

Grammar Giggle – What Year Is It?

Grammar Giggle – Commuting

Confusing Words Of The Week

Grammar Giggle – State of Uniom

Busy Is As Busy Does . . . Or Not?

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Confusing Words Of The Week

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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:

discreet – prudent

She was discreet about the secret her friend shared with her.

discrete – distinct; separate

The book had a discrete section on citations.

Memory tips:

discreet – think of the ee as eyes seeing something that shouldn’t be posted on the internet or something that you have to be discreet about.

discrete is separate – both end in te

 

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Legal Grammar In The News

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In The NewsI saw an interesting article recently that I thought I would share with you. It is an Above the Law article entitled “Lawyer’s Pleadings Are So Bad that Judge Orders Future Filings Must Be Reviewed By English Teacher.” (https://abovethelaw.com/2018/01/lawyers-pleadings-are-so-bad-that-judge-orders-future-filings-must-be-reviewed-by-english-teacher/) Here are the lessons I took from this article:

  • Judges DO care about proper grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and that the document makes sense.
  • Headings matter. If the heading has nothing to do with the following paragraph(s), it is of no use to anyone and shouldn’t be there. Headings are helpful to direct the reader to the areas of the document that you want them to find easily.
  • Formatting makes a difference. To have a judge call your document an “eyesore” is not good.
  • Getting an order requiring you to have an English teacher certify that the pleading was reviewed and approved and that the certification is included in the filing is embarrassing–and probably career-changing, particularly when the suit was dismissed and I assume his malpractice insurer has been alerted.
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