Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Username

porsche

Member Since

October 20, 2005

Total number of comments

670

Total number of votes received

3091

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Latest Comments

Methodology

  • May 9, 2007, 11:43am

By the way, Whiny, just like methodology, the words utilize, verbalize, etc. are real words with real definitions that are different from use, say, etc. I agree, they may often be pretentiously misused, but that doesn't mean that they can't be used correctly and appropriately.

A couple...

  • May 8, 2007, 2:56pm

Robin, it's "could have", not "could of". Occasionally people will misspell it because, in speaking, "could have" is often contracted as "could've", which sounds like "could of", but, of course, isn't.

Go + noun? Idiom or bad grammar?

  • May 1, 2007, 2:43pm

Certainly "go " is valid, but doesn't mean exactly the same thing as "go to ". I'm not at all familiar with the movie, but is it possible that the title is intentionally bad grammar that means "Leningrad Cowboys go to America", but is conjuring an image of non-Americans (from Leningrad) who, as non-natives, can't speak English very well? A sort of politically incorrect jab at foreigners?

A couple...

  • April 27, 2007, 9:50am

Technically, it's probably incorrect, but I would say it qualifies as an idiom. People say "coupla..." all the time, instead of "couple of...". Is is really that much worse? Little words get elided away all the time. Nearly everyone says "wudja do last night?" instead of "what did you do last night?". There are a thousand other little things like this in English (and every other language).

Charade you are!!

  • April 25, 2007, 9:45am

Antiseptic, since you are in a correcting mood, I just thought I'd point out that Lev Nasalbomb DID say that the British pronunciation is "sha-rahd", so you were incorrect in correcting her.

The dog wets vs. The door opens.

  • April 9, 2007, 2:34pm

AO, I think you're right. First of all, while there are many transitive verbs in English, most of them have an intransitive form as well. There are only a few that can only be transitive and wet is not one of them. At least according to dictionary.com and the American Heritage Dictionary, the verb to wet, when used without an object, means to urinate, usually applied to a child or animal, exactly as in this case. Think Betsy-wetsy, the doll that wets. It can also mean to become wet.

Impact as a noun

  • April 5, 2007, 2:15pm

Sigpig, are you reading a different post than me? Josh said "While impact as a verb, and a non-literal meaning as synonym of effect..." I completely agree that impact can be synonymous with affect or effect depending on its use as verb or noun, but Josh most definitely and incorrectly referred to the verb, not the noun, in his very first line.

Feeling concern

  • April 5, 2007, 1:03pm

Oh, sorry Dyske, I must have skipped over your parenthetical statement about your dictionary listing "scare" as a feeling as well. My dictionary actually does not have such a listing. I'd be curious to see the exact definition to which you refer.

Feeling concern

  • April 5, 2007, 12:49pm

Dyske, I think maybe you missed CKA3KA's point. You can't compare "I feel scare" to "I feel fear" even if both are nouns. Fear, when used as a noun describes an emotional state, but scare, as a noun, means the actual event that causes one to be scared. It does not mean the state of being scared. Your mistake is when you said "...After all, "scare" is a feeling of fear...". No, the noun scare is not a feeling of fear. It's not a feeling at all. If I may make an analogy, it's like trying to say "I feel hunger" is the same thing as "I feel food". By the way, "I feel scare" is not incorrect because of bad grammar, per se, it's just a non-sequitor.

Impact as a noun

  • April 2, 2007, 1:29pm

Josh, I would think that for someone with such a strong opinion, you would know the difference between "effect" and "affect". "Impact" is a synonym for the latter, not the former.
Chris, did you mean "verbifying rather than ""verbing"?
And, Tracy, two wrongs may not make a right, but three rights make a left.