GENDER-NEUTRAL LANGUAGE Anyone who writes these days eventually confronts the issue of gender-neutral language. The trickiest aspect of using gender-neutral language is pronoun/antecedent agreement. The antecedent is simply the word or words a pronoun refers to. Look at these sentences: John loves his dog. (The singular masculine pronoun his refers to its antecedent, the singular … More Gender-Neutral Language
While I was dropping off to sleep last night, it suddenly came to me that I used a cliché in my blog post about the supposed health benefits of saunas “Sweat Your Way the Radiant Health.” I wrote that the Internet is a “double-edged sword” thus breaking one of George Orwell’s six rules of good … More Clichés
I used to take saunas as a part of my regular workout routine. Once I was sitting in the sauna with my workout partner, and he wondered whether saunas are actually good for us. We live in the era of the Internet when no one has to wonder about anything for very long. When I … More Sweat Your Way to Radiant Health
The verbs lie and lay are often confused, and if you can learn to use them correctly once and for all, you’ll be part of a small, elite minority. It may well be that these verbs are so often confused, even by educated speakers, that maintaining the difference doesn’t make sense. But if you want … More Lie, Lay, and Snobbery
Donald Trump chats with Pope Francis (Based on actual quotes) DT: The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. PF: A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system. DT: It’s freezing and snowing … More An Imagined Chat Between Donald Trump and Pope Francis
“I think people should elect a cat person. If you elect a dog person, you elect someone who wants to be loved. If you elect a cat person, you elect someone who wants to serve.”—Stephen Harper. Interview with Kevin Newman, Global National April 5th, 2006. With this statement, Stephen Harper has let the cat out … More Cat People/Dog People
There is an art to being obnoxious. Some of us are naturally obnoxious, but even the naturally charming can learn to be obnoxious. Here are some tips: Belittle as pseudoscientific anybody who believes in any form of alternative medicine. Let’s say your friend George sees an acupuncturist for his back problems. Point out large double … More The Art of Being Obnoxious
Grammar and usage aren’t always cut and dried. Here are some disputed points: Taller than I/me Most grammar books consider the following sentence an error: Mort is taller than me. The error here is the object pronoun “me.” It should be the subject pronoun “I”—Mort is taller than I— because what the sentence really says … More Disputed Grammar
I went into a men’s room in an office building today and noticed that all the urinals had signs on them that read Non-Potable Water—Do Not Drink A warning sign like “Caution — Wet Floor” is there to protect the owner of the floor against legal action in case somebody slips and breaks an arm … More Risk Aversion
I have a curious—no, that’s not the right word—a tiresome tendency to retell stories. I have been retelling stories for years, so I don’t think it’s a sign that I’m in the early stages of dementia. Retelling stories isn’t so bad if you’re meeting a lot of new people all the time, but at this stage … More Ad Nauseam
No Harm Spilt 