Overcoming Bad Writing Habits 9

[BJCooperIT]

We once discussed the importance of spelling and grammar here at TT. I cannot locate that thread, but in general we all agreed that our professional images suffer from bad habits in our writing. We also agreed that spell checking and proofreading are important.

The purpose of this thread is to provide tips to help make us aware of and overcome common mistakes. A few months ago I discovered that there was a word which I was mispronouncing. This was not a new word, indeed it is commonly used. I was embarrassed when I realized that I have been making this mistake all my life. That set me to thinking, what other "mistakes" do I make of which I am unaware? I always struggle with punctuation and know that I could use a few pointers there.

Since this site is dedicated to helping other professionals, I would like this thread to provide tips that may be helpful. If you read a something you already know, then good for you. If you benefit from it, even better! Hopefully, each one of us can find some little bad habit we can overcome.

I used

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

as a reference. Here are 3 common mistakes that are on the top of my hit parade:

THAN vs. THEN
THAN: "...taken as the point of departure in a comparison expressive of inequality... easier said than done"
THEN: "next in order of time... first came the clowns, then came the elephants"
I remember this by thinking "than" compares 2 items

TO vs. TOO
TO: "used as a function word to indicate movement or an action or condition suggestive of movement... drove to the city"
TOO: ": BESIDES, ALSO... sell the house and furniture too"
I remember this by thinking if it is excessive, there are too many O's

DANGLING PREPOSITONS
Remember prepositions? at, to, for, with, in, on...
I had an English teacher who would automatically give a failing grade to any paper in which she found a sentence that ended with a preposition. This would include something like "What did you go to the store for?". I am forever rewriting sentences to avoid this mistake.

How about it? Give us your recommendations.

[sup]Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.[/sup][sup] ~George Bernard Shaw[/sup]
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8.1.7 - Windows 2000

 

[SF0751]

From

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/l/l0077800.html:

Lay(noun):
1. A narrative poem, such as one sung by medieval minstrels; a ballad.
2. A song; a tune.
[Middle English, from Old French lai.]

In addition, lay also has another meaning, not yet discussed:

adjective
1. Of, relating to, or involving the laity: a lay preacher.
2. Not of or belonging to a particular profession; nonprofessional: a lay opinion as to the seriousness of the disease.
[Middle English, from Old French lai, from Late Latin licus, from Greek likos, of the people, from los, the people.]


Susan
[sub]You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.[/sub]
[sup]Aristophanes, 424 B.C.[/sup]
[sup]Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Thanks Susan, that explains the lay part of it.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[wuneyej]

I emailed the good people at Merriam-Webster to ask them the mice versus mouses. Here's what they had to say:

"The most common plural form of 'mouse' (as it relates to the computer device) is 'mice.' However, in recent years the plural 'mouses' has also become a standard, if less common, plural form for this sense. One may correctly use either."

So now I can say either with confidence.

 

[ChrisHunt]

What did they say about the verb "to grammate"?

Actually, I'm being seduced by Cajun's "grammarize" (or grammarise as we Brits would put it). It implies that a properly structured sentence would be grammarous, rather than grammatical - two new words for the price of one!

-- Chris Hunt

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

http://www.napitalia.org.uk

http://www.leicesteryha.org.uk

 

[CajunCenturion]

I'm still looking into it. Since grammates is a noun meaning a first principles of grammar, I would wonder if "to grammate" would be to create a grammatical principle?

I'm also wondering if "to grammatify" might also be an option.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[SQLSister]

When I edited Audit reports, I saw a lot of writing that needed to be grammatified.

 

[ChrisHunt]

Careful now, if we get any more grammataficaterated we'll begin to sound like George Bush.

-- Chris Hunt

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

http://www.napitalia.org.uk

http://www.leicesteryha.org.uk

 

[lionelhill]

I think grammarous should be preserved with a different sense: a sentence that is obviously posessed of too much grammar (probably constructed by someone wishing to demonstrate their linguistic superiority to us lower life forms).
(or perhaps grammarose to match verbose. How about punctuose for sentences peppered with unnecessary commas?)

 

[SemperFiDownUnda]

Sorry had to read CC's post with the dictionary open.....still not sure what he said.

I know I do things like using
your instead of you're all the time.
I know I mess up with gramar and spelling frequently.

For the forums I try to get it correct but here I think speed is more important then me proof reading my posts 20 times ( as that is how many times I would have to do it to get all the errors I could flush out myself)

For a FAQ i'll read and reread it....I'll take comments and correct what is needed and post a thankyou to those that have shown me where I went wrong.

For documents I do a proof myself but always have other proof what I have done.

Hopefully I do not come off looking to bad in the end.

Hope I've been helpful,
Wayne Francis

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

 

[SemperFiDownUnda]

I'm sure some of you have seen this before....I don't know if it cross over to people with English as a 2nd language or not.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in
waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht
frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses
and you can sitll raed it wouthit a big porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not
raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
ceehiro


Hope I've been helpful,
Wayne Francis

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

 

[KenCunningham]

I read that recently too, Wayne. One of my own favourites is an explanation of cricket for the uninitiated, such as that at:

http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/MISC/HUMOUR/WHAT_IS_CRICKET.html

amongst (or among?) others.

 

[Stella740pl]

Look, if my coffee grinder broke before it finished the job, can I say that my coffee is underground?

(It's not a joke, it's an attempt to play with the words. Just wanted to know an opinion of native English speakers, if the attempt was successful.)

 

[wuneyej]

As a native English (American) speaker, my first instinct would be to hyphenate the word:

My coffee grinder broke before it finished the job and left the beans under-ground.

Of course, you're talking about the spoken language here. If you were writing it in an email, I'd say the above sentence is okay. But if you're speaking with someone I'd say something like:

My coffee grinder broke before it finished the job, leaving the beans incompletely ground. or insufficiently ground.

JP

 

[CajunCenturion]

I'm not sure that I would even hyphenate the word. Grounds would be under ground, or over ground. The word "under" is functioning as an adverb and therefore would be a separate word, at least to my thinking.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[lionelhill]

Stella740pl, you've really brightened my day! I like the idea of the underground beans. It's a nice play on words and a beautiful example of how English can provide a lifetime of fun to the person with a sense of humour.

 

[BJCooperIT]

I like the alliteration of:
"My coffee grinder broke before it finished the job and left my grinds unground."

[sup]Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.[/sup][sup] ~George Bernard Shaw[/sup]
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8.1.7 - Windows 2000

 

[GwydionM]

To get back to good or bad English, homonyms are a nasty trap. Maybe these little phrases would help:

The rain falls in the plain. The aeroplane has panes of glass, and would in the main be painfully cold without them.

Peace means that war must cease. A nice piece of rice paper could be used for the treaty.

A dog's dog fetches an apostrophe. Together they are dogs, each with a dogs' chance.

By the Haunted Noose, a cannibal goose is loose . You could lose your nose, so it goes.

Their heir went here and there, hunting a horrible hare for a dare. Hair is blown by air.

Yours would be ours is you shared it
You're what you are, all the same.


------------------
A view from the UK

 

[GwydionM]

As for correct grammer
LOOSE GRAMMER RULES OK

A man in the ocean called out to a passing boat, "you shall not rescue me, I will be drowned"? Was he suicidal, or pleading for swifter rescue?
I've no idea, and nor will most readers. Forget such obsolete distinctions, and all that which paseth the business-orientated understanding.

Sometimes spelling offers no help. Thus 'Take six feet from the east, six feet from the west.' That's a story riddle, in which treasure was found starting from a picture of the Three Magi.

Research into breeding of monkeys and apes, circularised address list. Including a religious dignitary known as the Primate of All Ireland

English: it's what it is. Sometimes its wits spit writs, whereupon legalese becometh a law unto itself, and no lay person may swear at a Commissioner for Oaths.

Yahoo headline, 28/01/04
Test All Cattle to Be Safe from Mad Cow-Nobelist

English is horribly inconsistent, something like 28 sounds spelt in 128 inconsistent ways.
Rough dough-faced ploughmen wandering through Slough must be heard to be believed. (Ruff doww-fased ploowmin wandring thru Sloow, at least that's what my British accent would make it.)



------------------
A view from the UK

 

[flapeyre]

Then there was the haeadline:

BRITISH LEFT WAFFLES ON FALKLAND ISLANDS

But they left the islanders no syrup !


"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for here you have been, and there you will always long to return."

--Leonardo da Vinci

 

[Stella740pl]

Hey, everyone,

I've enjoyed the variations on the theme of un[der]?ground beans, and I'm happy I brightened someone's day!

CajunCenturion, wuneyej,
Why the beans are under?ground, if the soup is overcooked and the customer is overcharged, and the photo is underdeveloped? Or aren't they?

Stella