I’m stuck on the correct use of “un-” (as in “reverse action”) and “de-”. Specifically, I want to write that a student should change an incorrectly capitalized word to the lower case. Should he “uncapitalize” it or “decapitalize” it? It’s true that the word should be uncapitalized, but since he incorrectly capitalized it in the first place, must he now decapitalize it?
decapitalize vs. uncapitalize
December 15th, 2009 by Damien VeatchTeaching English to Preschoolers with iPhones
We (i.e. the creators of Pain in The English) developed a series of iPhone apps to teach preschool kids how to recognize letters and words. (My wife developed the characters and I did the coding.) Our own 4-year old daughter has been enjoying them. They are now available on Apple's App Store. You can search for "bitskis" on your iPhone, or visit the official website at bitskis.com.
If you have kids and own an iPhone, please check it out. It's $2.
Twenty-ten vs Two thousand-ten
December 11th, 2009 by ribIf you ever listen to Charles Osgood, you know he has been saying “twenty-oh-one” rather than “two thousand-one” for, well, about nine years. The usage is parallel to calling the year 1901 “nineteen-oh-one” rather than “nineteen hundred-one”, yet it never caught on with the general public. Now, however, the stakes are higher with “twenty-ten” saving a whole syllable vs. “two-thousand-ten”, aside from being easier to pronounce. Yet I still mostly hear the latter. Am I going to have to grate my teeth every time I hear “two-thousand-x” for the rest of my life, or is there hope that the English-speaking world will come to it’s senses?
A perfectly acceptable construction
December 3rd, 2009 by Josh“It has a great construction” sets my teeth on edge every time a writer I work with uses the phrase in written English. Is this correct/standard usage? It sounds so wrong to me, but I can’t point to the rule it violates.
Am I simply biased against… A perfectly acceptable construction?
These sound/seem so wrong:.
My t-shirt has a durable cotton construction.
That house has a great construction.
With a construction of 100% cotton, her dress…
I think you omit the indefinite article.
Prohibits…to be or from being?
December 3rd, 2009 by Lainie WhitneyWhen using the word prohibits… which is correct?
…which prohibits fences 4 ft in height from being erected … or
…which prohibits fences 4 ft in height to be erected
…which prohibits any fence from being constructed… or
…which prohibits any fence to be constructed
If you’re looking to send Flowers in New York visit Booth Flower Shop in NYC.
Same day flower delivery provided by Elsa Fleuriste in Montreal, Quebec Canada.
Moments & Seconds
December 1st, 2009 by RedFernAre you writers aware of time? More and more often I read about a character staring at another character for several moments. If you mean several brief time periods, try using seconds. It’s much more powerful and precise. For example, “the angry client stared at the well-dressed bank manager for several seconds”. That’s believable and many of us have experience glaring at someone for several seconds. But if you use several “moments” in that phrase it just sounds endless and wrong and inaccurate. Who holds eye contact for several “moments”? Unless it’s a prelude to a kiss, someone is sure to walk away before several moments are up.
“…not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
November 26th, 2009 by Whoopy-CatI’m curious as to the origin of the phrase “…not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
I have a vague recollection of hearing it for the first time — possibly in a comedian’s act? — many years ago, clearly in the context that it now seems to ubiquitously have: a reference to homosexuality. For the life of me, I cannot recall who it was I first heard say this. I do seem to recall that it was long before Seinfeld made it popular.
Does anyone else have a similar memory?
Table of Content vs Table of Contents
October 30th, 2009 by YDApart from the fact that convention is clearly “Table of Contents”, is there a grammatical reasoning for “Table of Content” vs “Table of Contents”?
I guess it comes down to whether the noun “content” is one that can be counted, i.e. several contents, or not.
My instinct is that in fact, content is not an enumerable noun, i.e. it should be Table of Content. But does that mean that MS Word, LaTeX and all other Desktop Publishers out there are just wrong?
YD
Causative or Causal?
October 28th, 2009 by SimonWhat is the correct usage of causative and causal? If, for example, you want to describe the etiological agent of a disease, would you call it a “causative agent” or a “causal agent”?
p. v. pp.
October 5th, 2009 by juttinWhy is “page” abbreviated “p” while “pages” is “pp”? Of somewhat less interest to me, I also wonder whether “p” or “p.” is the correct notation?
Heaven or heaven?
October 1st, 2009 by AndyTalking about the concept of the afterlife in Catholicism, would you capitalize Heaven? Moreover, what about Hell?
