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January 10, 2008: Issue 221

In the crush of press coverage leading up to the Iowa caucuses last week, one national news outlet asserted that a certain candidate was banking on his rivals’ attacks backfiring in “notoriously friendly Iowa.”

We might be friendly people, but we can’t be notoriously so; that’s an oxymoron. Notorious means unfavorably known:
notoriously persistent campaign workers
notoriously cold Iowa winters
(or, if you’re a pollster) notoriously unpredictable Iowa voters

When you’re talking about recognition based on positive attributes, stick with famous and synonyms such asrenowned and celebrated.

Yes, they’re still touring: Check out Duran Duran performing “Notorious” this past fall in New York City.Simon Le Bon sounds just as good as he ever did.

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January 3, 2008: Issue 220

No, we’re not talking about making New Year’s resolutions or nominating a presidential candidate. We’re talking about mastheads and postal ID statements.

Mastheads: Always start from the current template. Never copy a masthead from an old issue. The fine print changes frequently, sometimes several times in a single month. If you need help finding the current template, ask a CE. Mastheads with outdated information will be sent back to you.

Postal ID statements: Always start with this boilerplate language. Never copy from an old issue. This language, too, is frequently updated. Subscription titles must include a volume and issue number—if you omit these numbers, the U.S. Postal Service might delay mailing your magazine. If you have trouble figuring them out, ask a CE. Layouts with outdated postal ID statements will be sent back to you.

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December 27, 2007: Issue 219

As we wrap up 2007, let’s look at some words related to years:

anniversary—the yearly (not weekly or monthly) recurrence of a date marking a specific event
annual—occurring once a year; completing a life cycle in a single year
biennial*—occurring every two years; a plant with a two-year life cycle
perennial—occurring year-round; occurring year after year; constant
semiannual*—occurring twice a year

*Biannual can take either of these definitions, so avoid this term unless your intent is to be vague.

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December 13, 2007: Issue 217

One adjective suffix is usually enough:

correct: geographic
incorrect: geographical

correct: ironic
incorrect: ironical

correct: emotional
incorrect: emotionalistic

The exceptions are additional suffixes that cause a shift in meaning:

historic—having special significance
historical—occurring in the past

simple—plain, easy
simplistic—overly simple

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November 15, 2007: Issue 213

When you’re dealing with measurements, where you place the word square makes a big difference.

A 144-square-foot terrace has a total area of 144 square feet. It can be 12×12 feet, 9×16 feet, or any configuration where its width times its depth equals 144. That’s room for a nice dinner party.

A 144-foot-square terrace, on the other hand, is 144 feet on each side. That’s 20,736 square feet—room for a nice dinner theater.

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November 21, 2007: Issue 214

Some common Thanksgiving words and mistakes often associated with them:

cornucopia Despite the -ia at the end, this term for a horn or horn-shape basket overflowing with food is singular. The plural is cornucopias.

gizzard This word for the food-grinding organ in a turkey’s throat has two z’s. Another common error: Some people insist it’s edible.

pilgrim Capitalize only when you refer to one of the settlers of Plymouth Colony. Other travelers (to Mecca, to Jerusalem, to Lourdes, to Graceland) are pilgrims with a small p.

wattle This is the fleshy thing that hangs from a turkey’s neck—not to be confused with snood, the thing that hangs over the beak, or with waddle, which you might do after Thursday’s meal.

Safe travels and happy gatherings!

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October 25, 2007: Issue 210

Well, maybe it’s not educational, but it’s funny. Check out this clip.

Nominative versus objective case—now that’s comedy gold. And it brings to mind one of our favorite movie lines: Luke Perry as Oliver Pike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer asking, “Are you addressing I?”

Do you have a favorite grammar-related line of dialogue? E-mail it to us.

For the record: In that clip from The Office, Ryan was right.

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November 1, 2007: Issue 211

In general, every pronoun needs an antecedent. (Refresher: An antecedent is the noun to which a pronoun refers. In the sentence “Britney promised she’d shape up,” Britney is the antecedent for the pronoun she.)

In some colloquial expressions, the pronoun it can go without an antecedent.

acceptable: It’s easy to imagine this house on a Greek isle.
acceptable: It pays to do scheduled maintenance.

In many cases, though, you can tighten and clarify a sentence by ditching that dangling it.

acceptable: It might take you years to save for an addition.
preferred: You might need years to save for an addition.

acceptable: If it’s in the budget, have cabinets built to fit the corner.
preferred: If budget allows, have cabinets built to fit the corner.

Whatever you do, avoid using it twice in a sentence with different antecedents.

please, please don’t: It’s so much easier to do it this way.
preferred: This way is so much easier.

Thumbs up: Last week we asked for your favorite grammar-related movie lines. We especially liked this submission from Michelle Abraham, an exchange from Never Been Kissed.

David Arquette, as Robert Geller: “What’s the matter? You look nauseous.”
Drew Barrymore, as his copy editor sister, Josie: “Nauseated. I look nauseated.”

Stop by the CE department to claim your prize, Michelle. By the way, you know what we really love about that movie? The 25-year-old copy editor has her own office. With a window. And her own assistant. And an entire day to edit one story—with a pencil.

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October 11, 2007: Issue 208

Avoid using italics for emphasis. Italic type already has enough jobs to do: setting off titles, foreign words, unvoiced thoughts, words used as such. Italicizing words that don’t fit those categories is as likely to confuse the issue as to clarify it.

All-capital type isn’t a great option, either. It’s difficult to read and, in the age of e-mail, widely construed as yelling.

When you want to stress certain words, look for ways to do it with punctuation or sentence structure. Emphasis naturally falls near the beginning and end of a sentence or after strong punctuation marks such as colons and dashes.

avoid:
Remember, you have to live with your decision.
Remember, YOU have to live with your decision.

options:
Remember who has to live with your decision—you do.
Remember: You have to live with your decision.
You have to live with your decision, remember.

Good grammarians sometimes come out ahead: While “The Way I Are” by Timbaland was at No. 15 on the iTunes Top 100 chart earlier this week, “The Way I Am” by Ingrid Michaelson was 11 spots above it.

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October 18, 2007: Issue 209

How you form the plural of medium depends on the definition of the word.

When medium signifies a channel of communication or a means of artistic expression, the plural is media:
The network’s new president has 20 years’ experience in broadcast media.
She works in varied media—fabric, paper, and sometimes clay.

When medium means a size, a middle, or a spiritual communicator, the plural is mediums:
We need to order more navy blue mediums.
Happy mediums aren’t so easy to find.
Three mediums claimed to have contacted her great-great-grandfather.

And a usage note: Although media is slipping into popular use as a singular noun, avoid that technically incorrect construction. If it feels awkward to use a plural verb (“The news media are at it again”), try usingmedia to modify an obviously plural noun (“The news media outlets are at it again”).

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