He Did WHAT!? WHERE!?
or, Ya Wanna Say That Again More Slowly? I just heard a radio news announcer deliver a classic goof. All you English teachers put this one in your file of outrageous examples — it doesn’t get any better than this. To announce that they would be updating the story of a cause celebre in my area, […]
Now, Where Does that Period Go? End Stops and Quotation Marks
Dear Grammar Guru: Please tell us how to punctuate around quotation marks. I get confused, particularly if I have a word or phrase at the end of the sentence that I am setting off with quotations. This is a common concern to all who wish their writing to reflect knowledge of proper grammar. It’s not […]
I Couldn’t Care Less….Could You?
Contrary to popular usage and belief, the statement is “I couldn’t care less,” not “I could care less.” The reason is simple. If one could not care less, then one is as completely un- or dis-interested in something as it is possible to be. It would not be possible for the person to be any […]
Your Dad Went Into a Comma? That’s a Great Trick!
Hey, folks, people cannot go into commas….they go into comas. A coma is a medical condition characterized by lack of responsiveness to external stimuli. People may be in comas for a few days or for years. Robin Cook has a book called Coma which is quite a good medical thriller. A comma has nothing at […]
I Did Not Allot a Lot of Time for This Post
So let me get straight to the point. There seems to be a great deal of confusion over this little issue. Allot is a verb. It means to parcel out, to assign, to apportion. Example: That doctor allots only five minutes to each patient. A lot is two words. It is a noun phrase and […]