The panty will be open.
That sounds vaguely pornographic, but there it was in an email alerting me to some upcoming construction work in a building I frequent. Clearly the person who wrote it meant to say pantry instead.
Typos are one of many things you’re looking for when you... (Read More)
Please check-in at the front desk, read the sign in the building lobby.
I didn’t take issue with giving my name to the gentleman seated outside the elevator bank, but I did have a problem with the hyphenated rendition of check-in. The sign should have said to check in at... (Read More)
Commas have lots of uses, but there’s one in particular that confuses a lot of people, including me. I always have to look up the rule, so I hope that by writing this post, I can remember it once and for all.
I have two daughters. If I refer to... (Read More)
I’m pretty sure when I need a comma; I’m not so sure about a semicolon.
I hear that a lot.
The semicolon is easy to explain because it does two specific things (unlike the comma whose use is wide and varied and can sometimes be subjective). The first thing the... (Read More)
I received an email from Citibank the other day that started like this: We’re working as quickly as possible to reopen the branches that remain closed – you can find the latest information about the branch nearest you at Citibank.com/locations.
The dash is incorrect. It should be a period or... (Read More)
Insidious and insipid share the same page in the dictionary, but their meanings have nothing in common. Insidious means proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with harmful effects, while insipid means lacking flavor. Yet on account of their physical similarity—all those i’s, n’s and s’s make them look and... (Read More)
I saw an ad for a health plan the other day that read, Our large selection of doctors is there for you.
If that doesn’t sound right to your ear, it’s because it’s not. The verb is should be are, as in, Our large selection of doctors are there for... (Read More)
I was recently included in a group email that elicited a lot of responses from the people on the distribution list. One person finally wrote, “I agree with Tim and Stewart’s comments, so I am not going to add anything more to the discussion.”
The problem is that Tim and... (Read More)
In one of those two sentences, the two-letter abbreviation is incorrect.... (Read More)
I’m recognized as a collaborative and “hands-on” advisor to my clients.
“Why the quotation marks?” I asked as I read this line in a LinkedIn bio.
The author’s not using hands-on in an ironic, sarcastic or skeptical sense, which is one reason you use quotation marks. Hands-on isn’t a slang,... (Read More)
