Spell check

 

 

When talking with some of my fellow "wordies," we often express dismay that spell check has removed the incentive to learn how to spell.

 

I'm certainly grateful for spell check, because it saves a trip to the bookcase to pull out the dictionary. But all those lists of vocabulary words in grade school, participating in spelling bees (I won in third grade! I spelled rheumatism.), reading and learning about various words...was it all for naught?

 

Well...I don't think so. While spell check is a powerful tool, it doesn't take homonyms into account, and it is no substitute for proofreading. (One of my common typos is typing "and" instead of "an." The former happens to be a fairly common word. <grin>) Spell check will let such things as the improper use of as "to" and "too" slide, not to mention "their" and "there." There are many more. Spell check does not erase all errors, and is not a panacea for not knowing the fundamentals of grammar or spelling.

 

Of course, if you're going to rely on spell check, I suggest you actually use it. I recently came across the word "surroget" in my readings. You can't blame spell check for that one!

Tags: Spell check, vocabulary, grammar, homonyms

The Apostrophe

From my 11-24-07 entry:

Question: When do you use an apostrophe?

apostrophe: The apostrophe has three uses:

1) to form possessives of nouns

2) to show the omission of letters

3) to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters.

Apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals, including acronyms.

How to make a noun possessive: To see if you need to make a possessive, turn the phrase around and make it an "of the..." phrase. For example:

the boy's hat = the hat of the boy; three days' journey = journey of three days

Once you've determined whether you need to make a possessive, follow these rules to create one.

 --add 's to the singular form of the word (even if it ends in -s): the owner's car, James's hat

 --add 's to the plural forms that do not end in -s: the children's game, the geese's honking

 --add ' to the end of plural nouns that end in -s: houses' roofs, three friends' letters

 --add 's to the end of compound words: my brother-in-law's money

 --add 's to the last noun to show joint possession of an object: Todd and Anne's apartment

Don't use apostrophes for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals. Apostrophes should not be used with possessive pronouns because possessive pronouns already show possession -- they don't need an apostrophe. His, her, its, my, yours, ours are all possessive pronouns.

__________________________

This is one of my buddy Greg's (note the apostrophe there, denoting possession) pet peeves, and it has also become one of mine. Specifically, "it's" means "it is." It is (or I could write "it's") not interchangeable with the possessive "its," as in "a leopard cannot change its spots." If you substitute "it's" in that sentence, the expanded contraction would read, "a leopard cannot change it is spots." It makes no sense.

Tags: Apostrophe

Sic

This is a Latin word originally meaning "thus", "so", "as such", or "just as that".

Nowadays, it is used primarily in square brackets [sic] to indicate something of interest, and also when a word or expression is quoted verbatim - this is usually done when there is a spelling or grammatical error, or unusual usage of language.

The US constitution for instance states: The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker.

This store sums up its appeal as "styley [sic], confident, sexy"....

That Is To Say . . .

In the past few days I have seen "i.e." and "e.g." used incorrectly; or, rather, I've seen "i.e." used when the writer obviously meant to use "e.g."  So I thought I'd write a bit of a refresher here.

First of all, what does each abbreviation mean?

"i.e." stands for id est, which is Latin for "that is" or "that is to say".  

"e.g." is the abbreviation for exempli gratia, which is Latin and is literally translated "for the sake of example", and which we shorten to "for example".

So how should we use them correctly?

i.e. is used to clarify something.  I would use it if I were going to say, "I went shopping with my two eldest sisters, i.e. Dennice and Maxine."  I have five sisters, so this clarifies which two are going shopping with me.

e.g.is used to introduce an example or a list of examples.  I might say, "I always have fun when I go shopping with a couple of my sisters, e.g. Dennice and Maxine."  Since I have five sisters, I chose two of them to use as examples of being fun to have along while shopping.

Another set of examples might be these:

"I enjoy an eclectic mix of music genres, e.g. bluegrass and alternative rock."  I listed only two examples of the many genres of music that I like.  "There is one type of music that I do not like at all; i.e. gangster rap!"  In the second sentence I clarified which type of music I do not like at all.

I have taught my kids a couple of memory tricks to use if they find themselves getting confused about which abbreviation to use.  The simplest way to remember is that "i.e.", starting with "i", means "in other words", which also starts with "i".  And remember that "e.g.", starting with "e", means "for example", also with an "e".

One big peeve I have is when a writer over-uses i.e. or e.g.  It really is okay to just say "for example", or "that is".  And please don't put a space between the letters, capitalize them, or italicize them when you do use them in a sentence.  They should be in lower case with no space between the periods and letters.

Tags: i.e., e.g., id est, exempli gratia, that is, for example

Huh??

I saw this AOL News headline:

Bush Blaming Congress On The Foreclosure Crisis?

A quick scan of the headline had me doing a double-take.  Then I had to read it a few more times.  Is it just me, or does the wording in that headline mean that "the foreclosure crisis" is responsible for Congress.  I'm pretty sure the headline writer meant it the other way 'round.

Shouldn't it have read "Bush Blaming Foreclosure Crisis On Congress?"  or "Bush Blaming Congress For Foreclosure Crisis?"

Could one of the many, many definitions for the word "on" actually support the headline being written that way?  If so, I just can't wrap my mind around it.  But if you can wrap yours around it, then please email me and explain it, because things like this just drive me nuts!

I know.  It's just a headline. 

But it's a stupidly written headline!!

Cut short

One of my pet hates is the use of abbreviations without using an explanation. There are some fairly common ones about, such as e.g. (for instance, for example). However, if you can get away without using the abbreviation, please do. I worked in the supplies division of the army for 6 years, and they are terrible for abbreviations and strange shortcuts. CSM e.g. means company sergeant major, the terror of all troops. I found guidelines for the use of abbreviations in the U.S..

Allied to that is textspeak, or should I type txtspk. When I first came to AOL, now 4 years ago, I didn't have a clue what somebody meant when they typed CUL8R. Of course, I now know it stands for "see you later". And I also appreciate that not every internet user is a 70 wpm fast typist like myself (coughs). Moreover, you can't type fast on a mobile phone keypad, and I see the need for shortcuts. However, textspeak is beginning to intrude into everyday language, and it's a degradation in my book. It's the answer to a lazy man's prayer.

En Garde!

A few weeks ago I was listening to a heated discussion on talk radio.  I no longer recall what the debate was about, but something that was said caught my ear and I listened intently for several minutes.  There were two "experts", a man and a woman, with contrasting views.  At one point there was a caller who agreed with the points expert #1 was making.  The caller made several statements to which expert #1 would agree.  After the caller made his last statement, expert #1  replied "touché".  From the context of the conversation and the statement being made by the caller, expert #1 had to have meant "touché" as a word meaning agreement.  Since then I have heard someone on television do the same thing.  And of course, I was very irritated both times.

So, just in case there is anyone out there who isn't sure what touché means or when it should be used, here's the scoop:

The word "touché" is french for "touched", but according to the American Journal of Etymology it is not of French origin.  It is believed that it was probably imported to France from the original Norse language of Norman settlers.

"Touché" is an interjection used in fencing to acknowledge a hit, and it is said by the fencer who receives the hit.  In the 1800s first blood duels were relatively common.  Drawing "first blood", or touching an opponent with the sword tip, was enough to win, and the loser would acknowledge defeat by calling out "touched", or "touché".

 

The word is used in language today to acknowledge a verbal "hit".  During a debate or argument, one person may acknowledge the other's witty or appropriate response by saying "touché".  But the word is never, ever used to express agreement.

 

Tags: Touché

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