A letter to @APStylebook

Dear AP: I don’t know if I can continue in this relationship. I trusted you, but you betrayed me with that trollop, “hopefully.” You know how I feel about that word. How could you do this to me? Your change of heart was swift — much quicker than your decisions about “email” and “website.” How [...]

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Here’s a tip: Avoid the word “tips”

Cracker Barrel is to me is like catnip is to our cat Reggie (who seems to have left us for a neighbor). I cannot get enough of the Sunday homestyle chicken with a side of dumplings. Before entering the Starch Consumption Plaza, though, guests have to navigate the maze of rooster quilts, Oak Ridge Boys [...]

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Dreaming of past tense and pronunciation

The following tweet and resulting class discussion prompted today’s post: The discussion concerned the use of “dreamt.” Should he have used “dreamed” instead? Both are correct, but “dreamed” is standard American, while “dreamt” is a British thing. So #Ross can use “dreamt” without raising an eyebrow, along with “regards,” “towards,” “spilt” and “learnt.” Americans drop [...]

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Apologies to Clement C. Moore

‘Twas five days before Christmas when all through our house, All creatures were stirring, except for a mouse. In Naveen’s belly* it rested, all squeezed to a pulp. (The boys loved watching the snake grab it and gulp.) The children denied attempts to put them to bed – Optimus, Bumblebee filling their heads. And I [...]

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Symbol of thanks

On this day of thanksgiving, I am thankful for family, friends, health, a great job, and all of the usual things. And I’m also thankful for punctuation. Quotation marks: Thank you for telling us when someone else starts talking and finishes, helping us recognize exact language in other instances, and also when a word is [...]

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Lock up the pork belly!

Apparently, when my friends, family and students see errors in the wild, they think of me. That makes my heart swell. Maybe someday I’ll get a book deal out of my passion for correcting other people. (Or maybe I’ll just get a punch in the eye …) Anyway, it has been a good week for [...]

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“She hates time, make it stop”

For reasons that should be obvious from some of my earlier posts, my anthem for this summer is Bowling For Soup’s 1999 song “1985.” These lyrics in particular really resonate with me lately: She’s seen all the classics, she knows every line Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, even St. Elmo’s Fire She rocked out to [...]

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“Don’t Tase me, Bro!”

For weeks now, I have given a pass to Savannah Morning News and the consistent inability to be consistent in spelling a particular word. No more. I just can’t take another day of opening the paper and seeing this: Every time someone at the paper writes about the incident on Tybee, the editors use “Tazed” [...]

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More words I hate

As soon as I posted the list of the top five words I hate, I knew I would have a sequel. Here are five more words/phrases: In order to Like “currently,” this is unnecessary. “To” works just as well by itself. Incorrect: In order to get his yard work done, Eddie had to take off [...]

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An AP abuse alarm

A news organization’s improper use of AP Style is apparently enough to get me out of bed earlier than planned. I checked my iPhone when I woke up, as is my habit, and found this: It is from the Savannah Morning News, of course. And the person who posted it on the Web probably just [...]

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