Tag Archives: grammar

The War on Apostrophe

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Polishing Your Prose

O, the much-embattled apostrophe, whose legacy is under fire in the English language, now faces an even greater, if not farcical, fight in Kazakhstan as folks become apoplectic. Is this apocalyptic? Or merely apocryphal? “Linguists . . . protested that the president’s … Continue reading →

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The Most Pernicious Problem in Punctuation Today . . .

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Polishing Your Prose

Oops. I encountered this abomination in a motel in Bentonville, Arkansas. Lest you try to foist the blame on the Arkansas education system, Wyndham Hotel Group is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ, across the Hudson from NYC. I blame Bill Gates. … Continue reading →

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Ten Most Common Errors Made by Writers: #0

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Polishing Your Prose

From the Editor’s Eye The 10 Most Common Errors Made by Writers (And How to Fix Them) The eleventh of a ten-part series. #0. Extra: (A Few of) My Language Pet Peeves: Word Contortion, Distortion &  Deformation (Hoping for Reformation) … Continue reading →

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Ten Most Common Errors Made by Writers: #1

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Polishing Your Prose

From the Editor’s Eye The 10 Most Common Errors Made by Writers (And How to Fix Them) The tenth of a ten-part series. #1. Verbal Abuse: Lie Down with Lay & Related Verb Warps  Drum roll please . . . the error … Continue reading →

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Ten Most Common Errors Made by Writers: #2

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Polishing Your Prose

From the Editor’s Eye The 10 Most Common Errors Made by Writers (And How to Fix Them) The ninth of a ten-part series. #2. Apostrophic Calamity: Apostrophe vs. Dumb Quotes More from the Ripping Out One’s Hair Department: The oft-abused, … Continue reading →

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Ten Most Common Errors Made by Writers: #3

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Polishing Your Prose

From the Editor’s Eye The 10 Most Common Errors Made by Writers (And How to Fix Them) The eighth of a ten-part series. #3. Pronounflagration: Pronoun Profusion, Confusion, and Contusion When you write something, you know your intent, what it … Continue reading →

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Ten Most Common Errors Made by Writers: #6

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Polishing Your Prose

From the Editor’s Eye The 10 Most Common Errors Made by Writers (And How to Fix Them) The fifth of a ten-part series. #6. A Tense Moment: Word Context, Past & Present You and I are sitting at a bar, … Continue reading →

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Ten Most Common Errors Made by Writers: #8

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Polishing Your Prose

 From the Editor’s Eye The 10 Most Common Errors Made by Writers (And How to Fix Them) The third of a ten-part series. #8. Word Contortion: Homophones Can Trip (if not amuse) the Reader Some folks confuse similar-sounding words and … Continue reading →

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From the Editor’s Eye: The 10 Most Common Errors Made by Writers

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Polishing Your Prose

A ten-part series. Introduction The other  day I went to the dentist (yes, editing is a bit like pulling teeth) and my hygienist told me she had just read a book written by one of her other patients. She liked … Continue reading →

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Book Review: ‘W is for Wasted’ by Sue Grafton—good story, but grammatical errors disconcerting

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Polishing Your Prose

I have said it before and will say it again: I’m a decades-long fan of Sue Grafton and her character Kinsey Millhone, but some of my previous criticisms remain. However, I shall begin with the positive. I enjoyed Grafton’s W … Continue reading →

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