Grammar Giggle – Know The Name Of Your Own High School

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My granddaughter sent this to me. Her brother (who just started as a freshman in her high school) received this from his teacher. I’ve included the school district’s web page for this high school. There is a difference and you should know how to spell the name of your employer.Untitled design (2)

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Grammar Giggle – And Now The Mobile Devices Own Something?

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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.

Streisand

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Grammar Giggles – What Do The Margaritas And Bellinis Own?

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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.

IMG_0720

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Grammar Giggle — Personalizing

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I realize that most companies who personalize things make you agree, and agree again, that what you have provided to them is correct. I understand that. I just wish they wouldn’t use bad examples in their catalogs. I saw these on the cover of a personalizing company’s catalog. Besides the fact that there is no apostrophe necessary because Robert doesn’t own anything related to this sentence, I’m curious about exactly why Robert feels entitled to be called “The Robert.” If it were the Roberts Family, it should say “Party With The Roberts.” In the second example, again, there should be no apostrophe because you’re talking about the “Bishop Family Reunion.” It is the reunion of the Bishop Family and the apostrophe and “s” are unnecessary.

personalizing

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The Pesky “S”

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Toward%2FTowardsA 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.

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Grammar Giggle – Amazon Need More Staff

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I’ve seen a couple of different ads like this for Amazon. What I think Amazon REALLY needs is someone to proofread anything with their name on it! Hello {knocks on monitor glass}, I’m over here! Amazon, the company, is treated as a singular unit, so it should be “Amazon NeedS More Staff” as in “it [Amazon] needs” not “they need.”

Amazon

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Grammar Giggle – The Chef’s What?

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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.”

Chef's

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