Don’t Flaunt Your Tendency to Flout the Rules….
… it might make you look silly. Here are a couple of words that are oh-so-frequently interchanged — incorrectly. Flaunt (pronounced “flawnt”) means to ostentatiously display your behaviour, to show off. The little girl who has just gotten a new dress will show off, strutting about and making it obvious to everyone that she knows […]
Double or Nothing?
“How do I know when to double the last letter when I want to add -ing to a word?” — A query from a confused blogger, who didn’t identify him- or herself. Actually, this is a lot simpler than you might think. It all depends on the vowel preceding that last consonant. (Usually. Remember that English is […]
Y’all Are Making the Grammar Guru Crazy
Okay, look, it’s simple. Hear means to use your ears or your hearing aid to listen to something that is being said. If you agree with someone’s statement emphatically, you say, “Hear, hear!” Here means in this exact place. So you can say, “I can’t hear you because there is a crazed iguana screeching in […]
Clearing up Confusion
Who is the man with whom you were laughing? Who is the subjective or nominative case of the word; in plain English, who acts as a subject or predicate nominative…most of the time. I don’t know who you are. Who steals my purse steals trash. Whom is objective case; that is, it must be an […]
Toward? Towards? The British Bug Bites Again
An urgent request for help has just been received at Grammar Grotto, and the Guru is ready to help. The question is “I’ve written a poem, and one of the lines is …’she is floating toward him.’ Is it toward or towards?” And the definitive answer is {drum roll, please} either one! That’s really helpful, […]
Toward? Towards? The British Bug Bites Again
An urgent request for help has just been received, and the Guru is ready to help. The question is “I’ve written a poem, and one of the lines is …’she is floating toward him.’ Is it toward or towards?” And the definitive answer is {drum roll, please} either one! That’s really helpful, isn’t it? Actually, […]
The Care and Feeding of Weird Plurals
There are a number of words in English that do not follow the general rule for creating the plural. They are useful, common words, and the only problem with them is the uniqueness of their plural form. You see, misusing the words makes you sound less than the professional, intelligent, well-informed person that you are. […]
Spelling Variations in the English-Speaking World
In a comment on another blog, someone wrote the word “faeces” and another person asked if the first person had meant “feces.” This query brings up an interesting dilemma among those who write internationally: how to handle the incredibly different spelling rules for various English-speaking countries. I’m going to look specifically at Great Britain and […]
The Grammar Guru Goes Gaga
I want to remark briefly on a phenomenon that strikes unexpectedly and with sometimes disastrous results—but I don’t know what to call it. “Spellus confustibus” comes to mind, as does “Frozen Brain Syndrome.” If I hadn’t had to pay the tax man, I would have a Name That Glitch contest. Sometimes your brain will freeze up […]
Take a Breath! Breathe, Breathe, Breathe!
breath, breathe: This one is simple, but it’s a very common mistake. Breath (breth with a soft /th/ sound) is the noun: I need to catch my breath. Take a deep breath and cough. Breathe (/breeeeeth/ with a hard /th/ sound) is the verb: Breathe in and out slowly, please. Don’t breathe the chlorine fumes. […]