President Barack Obama is driving my friend Bruce Sallan crazy. Actually, Bruce already may have been crazy, I'm not sure. And, to be fair, I'm pretty certain there are other things Obama does that drive Bruce even crazier. However, Bruce only asked me to address one, so here it goes. Apparently the president frequently uses the phrase … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Punctuation and Emoticons
Something has bothered me for a long time. I'm sure it doesn't bug anyone but word nerds, but, since you're reading this blog, I'm assuming that you question it as well. Do you use other punctuation when you use an emoticon? For example: I love it when it rains! ;) or I love it when it rains ;) It seems strange to use three different … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Saving Daylight
If you're anything like me, you've been reading a lot about this one. You've also probably seen it written incorrectly dozens of times in the past couple of days. It's daylight saving time, according to Associated Press Style. It is not "savings." Daylight saving time also is lowercase on all references. I don't like springing forward … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Post a Flier for Rides on the Flyer
I love letters to the editor. They're the best way ever to fill up the opinion page; I mean to receive reader feedback. One of my favorite letters received by the student newspaper editors I advise was about the number of grammatical errors in the paper. The letter, of course, was drowning in a sea of its own grammatical mistakes. The … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Proceed to use Precede Correctly
Proceed and precede may look and sound alike, but any set of twins will tell you that doesn't mean they're the same. One difference is in the prefixes. Although pre- and pro- can both mean before, pro- typically means in favor of. The second difference is that they mean completely different things. Proceed also is a verb, but it means … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: A Number of Amounts
Playing nicely with numbers can be a problem for those of us who are more comfortable with words. I figure (pun intended) we should have as many tips on working with numbers as possible. Did you know that you cannot use the words amount and number interchangeably. An amount refers to a mass. For example, They saved a considerable … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: You May or You Might?
You may or you might? Which word you use depends on how factual or likely the happening. May refers to something factual or possible. For example, I may go to the grocery store today. Might should be used for the hypothetical or counterfactual. For example, I may go to the grocery store today and monkeys might fly out my … [Read more...]