This was in an email before the Barbra Streisand concert last week. You would think when you pay so much for a ticket, they could continue the correct pluralization of words throughout the whole email about the rules for the concert. It is more something I would expect at a Kanye concert.
I saw this in a restaurant recently. While the bellinis were delicious, the menu left a bad taste in my mouth. Once again, apostrophes do not make a word plural and consistency is key. If you’re going to spell passion fruit right one way, try to spell it correctly the next time too.
A reader has asked me to clarify use of toward/towards and regard/regards. Here are her examples:
…is inflated and anticipates only minimal settlement contributions towards resolving … /… In regards to his injuries …./ … any update with regards to the motion?
According to the Gregg Reference Manual and the Chicago Manual of Style, in the case of toward/towards, both are correct, but toward is the more common usage in the U.S. However, British English uses towards. The general rule is the same for other directional words like forward, backward,upward, and downward, along with afterward. While it isn’t incorrect, if you are in the U.S., leave the “s” off.
As regards regard or regards, the word regards (a) is used as a way to introduce a topic, such as I did at the beginning of this sentence, and (b) means good wishes expressing respect, affection, or condolences, as in “She wanted to give him her regards at the wedding.” It is not a word that can be interchanged with regard. So when you want to say in regard to or with regard to, there is no “s.” It may be easier to reword the sentence rather than argue over whether regard or regards is correct. You can say “This email is in regard to your voice mail.” or you can say “This email concerns your voice mail.” The second choice is a little more clear and solves the regard/regards problem.
I hope that clears up this issue. Bottom line, unless you are outside the United States or giving someone good wishes, leave the “s” off each word.
I caught this the other day while looking for something to watch on TV. OK, there are multiple issues with this one. They are talking about two “chefs” which requires only an “s” to make it plural (more than one). Then, they pulled of my absolute pet peeve and used an apostrophe to make a word plural–but even then, since they are talking about two chefs, if the apostrophe were appropriate, it would be AFTER the “s.” But regardless of all of that, the apostrophe is NOT appropriate. The apostrophe would be used to show possession. There is nothing in that sentence about possession of anything. The chefs certainly could not own “compete.”
A friend sent this one to me. Sad commentary on the public school system. How about we go back to teaching spelling instead of phonetics?
My sister sent me this one a while ago from my favorite source of Grammar Giggles, our local news! One letter makes a big difference.
I took this picture on a recent trip to Sedona. Consistency is a good thing, but this kind of error just makes me shake my head.
While the subject of this story is not in the least bit funny and I don’t intend to poke fun at a murder, I am quickly losing any respect for our news agencies. I appreciate that they are all trying to get the news out first, but they really should take the time to actually read what they’re putting out there. While the headline leads you to believe the woman’s body was in a truck, the story confuses that issue by saying she was in the “truck of a vehicle.” On the plus side, at least they were consistent.
While I have the utmost respect for our clerk of the court being open on a weekend to issue marriage licenses and then our court being open in order to perform marriage ceremonies on Valentine’s Day (which was a Sunday this year), this court announcement caught my eye while I was looking for something else:
At first glance, it brought out the “ah, isn’t that sweet” in me, but the first sentence of the second paragraph had me gagging on my coffee. According to dictionary.com, “compliment” is an expression of praise, commendation, or admiration, for example “She paid me an enormous compliment on my dress,” while “complement” is something that completes or makes perfect, for example “A good wine is a complement to a good meal.” So you can see that the fact that the court was offering free weddings was a COMPLEMENT to the issuance of marriage licenses. It completed and made perfect the whole Valentine’s Day wedding theme they had going on. One way to remember the difference would be that a complIment is something I like to hear, while a COMPLEment COMPLEtes something. I hope they were complimented on their thoughtfulness in being open on a weekend to do this for couples who wanted to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the ultimate fashion, but I also hope they learn the difference between “compliment” and “complement.”
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