Is this a good letter?
That’s the question my sister asked me when she was wondering what I thought about the correspondence every United Airlines’ customer received from the carrier’s beleaguered president, Oscar Munoz, in the wake of the company’s recent public relations nightmare.
The letter had been sent in... (Read More)
The actress Allison Janney, interviewed in The New Yorker about her role in “Six Degrees of Separation,” grimaced as she cited a quote from the play. About the offending wording, she said, “A sentence like that is so hard to understand.”
I often wince when I read sentences encumbered with... (Read More)
I was in a crowded subway car on a recent rainy day when the voice over the public-address system cautioned, “Due to the inclement weather, exit onto the subway platform with caution.” Or at least I think that’s what she—the voice—said.
The combination of poor acoustics, a clipped British accent—British?... (Read More)
Engulfed in a months-long scandal over his role in the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal, Governor Chris Christie conceded some wrongdoing in his 2014 State of the State address.
“Mistakes were made,” he said, using the passive voice, which kept him from having to say who actually... (Read More)
When President Trump suggested Sweden had been attacked by terrorists, the former U.S. ambassador to that Scandinavian country noted, “It begs the question of where the president gets his information.”
While it’s easy enough to know what the ambassador meant, he used begs the question incorrectly. The expression doesn’t actually... (Read More)
Your generous donation helped raise $105 thousand dollars for the American Heart Association! That’s right, $105 thousand. You are a member of the #1 fund-raising team! Your support of the AHA and me personally are 2 things for which I’m grateful.
I was happy to hear all this good news,... (Read More)
“It felt kind of sexy.”
That’s how a friend described what it was like to have his essay—an application for admission to a PhD program—edited. Every time I told him to cut something— “The reader understands that, you don’t need it”—he got more energized. So too did his essay. The... (Read More)
I was pedaling away in spin class, gasping for air during a particularly long song, when the instructor yelled, “You have fewer than three minutes to go.” Then, perhaps to distract us from the pain of those remaining minutes, she explained the difference between fewer and less. “I just learned... (Read More)
Fidel Castro held on to power longer than any other living national leader except Queen Elizabeth II.
So read a line in the Cuban leader’s recent obituary, which was enlightening for many reasons, one being its appropriate use of on and to following the verb held.
When to... (Read More)
A neighborhood hotel sent out a flyer pitching its venue as a top spot for an unforgettable holiday party: Christmas Décor including a festive Christmas Tree in each room! A complimentary Champagne Toast with mention of this flyer!
Christmas is a proper noun, so it’s always capitalized, and Champagne is... (Read More)
