All Recent Posts

Mea Culpa

Have you ever been so absolutely sure of a grammar rule you haven’t looked it up in decades? Did you cringe whenever you heard or saw people break the rule? Did you correct people with a righteous tone in your voice? Only to find out, years later, that you were wrong? In writing this column, I’m learning even more about grammar than I ever thought possible. I’ve been covering the basics, so far, but I’ve been researching more complex topics for the future. In doing so, I’m even learning things I thought I knew! I forget which teacher, parental unit or well-meaning elder hammered this point into my head, but I have spent the first... [Read More...]

Grammar Checker: Friend or Foe?

When grammar checkers first came out – I think it was shortly after sliced bread and just before the Ford Pinto – people thought they were the greatest thing. A computer could tell you what was wrong with your writing. Just click “change” and your work would be perfectly publishable. It was the end of proofreading! The end of errors! Um… Then we began looking over the copy after it was so meticulously spell-checked and saw sentences like: “The children put there clothes over their.” Oops. When our word processing programs began to make ridiculous suggestions, like changing the spelling of our own names, we began to wonder if this... [Read More...]

The Grammar Devotional, a Review

I owe you all an apology. You may have come to expect my posts on Mondays, or at least earlier in the week than Thursday. I’ve been spending every free minute pouring over the latest, greatest, newest, most information-packed (should we add another adjective?) grammar books on the market – to pick one to give away for my first contest. I’ve learned some exciting rules and stylistic conventions I didn’t know before. (Because I’m one of those geeks who thinks grammar truly is exciting!) I’ve made up my mind that, in my purely subjective opinion, every writer should have a copy of The Grammar Devotional by none-other than Grammar Girl... [Read More...]

‘Your’ Grammar Matters When ‘You’re’ Writing

// Nearly three decades later, I still remember one of my favorite lines from a popular television show. Rachel and Ross of Friends got into a fight and Ross screamed, “Oh, and by the way – Y-O-U-apostrophe-R-E is ‘you are.’ Y-O-U-R spells YOUR!” When someone irritates you, poor grammar can be the tipping point. So how can you remember these commonly misspelled words? If you’re me, then that scene from Friends sticks so strongly in your mind, you’ll never forget it. But if not… Simply remember that an apostrophe always replaces a missing letter. Therefore, “you’re” has to be “you are,” with A being the missing... [Read More...]

With Our Compliments…

// “This Halloween, my daughter and I wore complementary fairy costumes. People were complimentary towards us, and many gave us complimentary treats.” I admit squeezing that last “complimentary” in there is pushing it. Certainly there’s a more concise way to word these sentences. But I couldn’t resist the play on words with these fun homophones… or the chance to get a little personal and show off our costumes. Now my secret is out: You are taking grammar instruction from a grown woman in a pink dress with large pastel wings. So let’s get down to business. Using complementary This word is often mis-spelled. When people err,... [Read More...]

The Ins and Outs of Lines

// Confused about grammar? Get in line... “That girl looked like Kate from Lost,” I observed as we left the bank. “Who? The one on line?” my husband asked. I gave him a blank stare. “No, the girl in the bank…  She looked like Kate from Lost.” “Yes. The girl on line… in the bank,” he specified, sounding frustrated. “Oh! Yes! Didn’t she?” And that is how using incorrect grammar can confuse people in spoken conversations. This is also how a teething one-year-old who wakes up every two hours can impact communication in a marriage. Admittedly, I wasn’t too swift on the uptake in the above conversation. When my husband... [Read More...]

Is the Principal Really Your “Pal?”

// I’ve addressed some fuzzy, obscure or debatable grammatical issues so far. But some rules just can’t be broken – word usage, for instance. One particular homophone sent me running for to www.dictionary.com the other day, so I decided it was time to address it. To take you back to second grade for a moment, a homophone is (according to www.dictionary.com) “a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not…” On the other hand, a homonym is a word that sounds the same and is spelled the same, but has a different meaning. All homonyms are homophones, but not all homophones are homonyms.... [Read More...]

The ITS Word

// One of my editors sent me an email today with the subject head, “Oy!” This is usually not a good thing, but I hadn’t submitted a story recently and I didn’t owe him anything, so I didn’t panic. When I opened it and read his note, I laughed: “Sorry about my language, Dawn, but “how many times in ONE SENTENCE can someone f- up the “its” word????? (Since you’re writing that new blog….)” The offending press release read as follows (identifying names omitted): “[Company name]’s new [title] unit is targeting strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 companies to specifically align it’s capability of custom design,... [Read More...]

The Thin Line Between Buzzword & Cliche

// Language changes. Words we’d never heard decades (or years!) ago are now part of our lexicon. It’s good when language evolves to keep up with technology, trends, and even our culture and society. But sometimes it goes too far. As writers, we don’t have to adopt every slang or popular phrase we hear. This post, written by a fantastic blogger I stumbled upon (quite literally!)  the other day, hammers home the point in a witty way. Sales and marketing types (including copywriters) are most often guilty of letting jargon infiltrate their writing. But all writers should be aware of the danger. Why is it such a problem to use “trendy”... [Read More...]

Online AP Stylebook Resources

// We just bought a house and I’ve spent the past few weeks moving. I snail mailed a contract to a new client because my printer isn’t hooked up. My office is filled with boxes and baby clothes (which need to get shuttled into the attic closets in our new cape) and I have 15 + years of magazines in Rubbermaid containers stacked in corners of the room. Why am I sharing all this? I jumped in as FWJ’s Grammar Guide in the midst of a hectic week and began tossing grammar rules at you. I hope you didn’t mind and that you found them helpful. But now that I’ve gotten my bearings, I thought some personal details might be friendly. And I do... [Read More...]

More than a Wink: How to Use a Semicolon

// As a copyeditor, I often correct semicolon usage. If you don’t quite understand how to use a semicolon, you’re not alone; you wouldn’t believe how many professional writers use this little mark incorrectly. And I’m not talking about when you want to indicate a joke or teasing in a chat room. A semicolon should be used instead of a comma or a period to: Delineate items in a list when using commas would make the sentence confusing because there are commas within the items listed Separate two complete, but related, sentences Using semicolons in a list Commas typically separate items in a list: I went to... [Read More...]

Less Than v. Fewer: What’s the Difference?

// As the newest blogger on the FWJ block, it wouldn’t be right to leave my readers in suspense for too long. I must address the tweet written by JoannaOC: “I want the line to be for people with ‘fewer than 10 items’ instead of those with ‘less than ten items.’” So many people get this grammar rule wrong (including editors of publications, who requested articles of “less than 1,000 words!”) it’s become accepted in society. Language purists, however, grimace at the mistake. But why does it have to be “fewer than 10 items?” Once you hear the answer, you’ll see it’s so simple there’s no reason to make the mistake. Using... [Read More...]

Are You Down With Grammar?

// by Dawn Allcot I was dismayed to see #DownWithGrammar trending on Twitter the other day. Some people used the hashtag to bemoan their high school English classes, others to confess to bad spelling, and many to make fun of politicians and political signs. Others – and these are the ones I commend – turned the phrase around in a clever play on words: “I’m #downwithgrammar,” JoannaOC tweeted. “That’s why I want the line to be for people with ‘fewer than 10 items’ instead of those with ‘less than ten items.’” If you’re scratching your head at why the first is correct and the second is not, this column is for... [Read More...]