I’ve mentioned it before: the increasing and distressing misuse of the word verse when the word should be versus. Versus is often abbreviated vs. or v. and is used when speaking of competition; for example, Rams vs. Broncos or in legal cases like Roe v. Wade. Verse, on the other hand, is an element of … Continue reading Grammar gloom
One of my favorite words Continue reading I’m just sayin’
I can’t seem to get enough of dialect studies. I’m always curious about whether the words and pronunciations I use are mainstream, regional, or just plain weird. Naturally when I came across a study I hadn’t seen before, I jumped right in. The Cambridge Online Survey of World Englishes does include the usual pop vs. … Continue reading The granddaddy of dialect surveys
Several of my newsletters this morning included a story about commonly mispronounced words, and one of the words addressed was omicron. Oh good, I thought, somebody is finally going to educate all those reporters who keep stumbling over a word that seems to appear 1,000 times a day. (Not to mention President Biden, who kept … Continue reading Pronounce ‘omicron’
I try mightily to maintain my composure when the English language goes off the rails, but having spent my working years as an editor makes it difficult. Being “old and set in my ways” makes it even harder. English is a constantly evolving language — which is both admirable and distressing, depending on the situation … Continue reading Return of the Grammar Grinch
I heard it again this morning: NASA pronounced “nassau.” NASA is not pronounced “nassau.” Nassau (NASS-aw) is a city, the capital of the Bahamas. NASA (NASS-uh) is an acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. And that was enough to pry loose this list I’ve compiled over the last six months or so, compliments of … Continue reading Media mishaps: Grammar grinch gripes again
