Tag Archives: grammar
The English Non-Binary They Posted by Gary Locke on Oct 3, 2019
We have a word in English which has always been trouble for grammarians. They and its related case form their and them, is a singular indefinite pronoun. We use it to refer to a group of people who might be male, female, or a combination. “They say it’s going to rain tomorrow.” It is also…
English Spelling Nightmares Posted by Gary Locke on Aug 22, 2019
Is there a word that you always misspell, no matter how many times you write it? Chances are, there is. You go to write a word which Spellcheck always corrects and you think, “Ha! I’m not going to spell calendar wrong this time!” And, in no time at all, you have written calander. There are…
The Advertising Jingle Posted by Gary Locke on Jul 11, 2019
You’ve heard them. They are the combination of a catchy tune and advertising copy. Most of them last only a few seconds. Which is, ideally, all the time you need to absorb the message and get that song stuck in your head. Today, we might call it an earworm. But, for many years it was…
Star Trek and the Split Infinitive Posted by Gary Locke on Jun 27, 2019
Space: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission – To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before! These are the very famous opening lines to the credit sequence for Star Trek. This speech, dating back…
Hang it Up in English Posted by Gary Locke on Jun 20, 2019
My wife and I are making a lot of changes at home right now. We’re renovating bathrooms, installing tile and hardwood floors, painting walls. This means that whatever was hanging on the walls has come down. The walls are bare. But, soon, it will be time to put new things up on those walls. Will…
Begging for a Question Posted by Gary Locke on Apr 25, 2019
We hear it, or read it, all the time in English. A statement is made, followed by “…Which begs the question…” Does it? Does it really? I am about to get up on my grammatical soapbox, which is to say that I am about to rant. Forgive me, but it’s time to stop the annoying…
English Malapropisms & Mixed Metaphors Posted by Gary Locke on Jan 24, 2019
Mistakes happen. Like the blue-footed booby bird, goofy things turn up once in a while. It can’t be helped. When you are learning a language, and especially if you think you know common idioms and expressions, you just might say something that isn’t quite right. Hey, even if you’re a native speaker it can happen!…