Legal Writing

On Tuesday afternoon, the News

Posted on June 16, 2008
On Tuesday afternoon, the News & Observer blogs will be moving to a new system and a new server. This change will make getting to our blogs quicker and easier. Most of the blogs will change their appearance, while blogs like Taking Stock and Under the Dome will remain the same...

On Tuesday afternoon, the News

Posted on June 16, 2008
On Tuesday afternoon, the News & Observer blogs will be moving to a new system and a new server. This change will make getting to our blogs quicker and easier. Most of the blogs will change their appearance, while blogs like Taking Stock and Under the Dome will remain the same...

On Tuesday afternoon, the News

Posted on June 16, 2008
On Tuesday afternoon, the News & Observer blogs will be moving to a new system and a new server. This change will make getting to our blogs quicker and easier. Most of the blogs will change their appearance, while blogs like Taking Stock and Under the Dome will remain the same...

It's very simple -- part 2

Posted on June 16, 2008
In response to a post Sunday, a reader sends this photo of the navigation display in a new Lexus hybrid. This should be the possessive "its," of course. The spelling "it's" is the contraction for "it is." Nick, the reader who sends this photo, also sent it to the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar...

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Adverbs at work: slow and slowly

Posted on June 15, 2008
A reader asks: Can you cover the proper use of fast and slow as adverbs? People often say, "drive slow." Should it be "drive slowly"? Both "slow" and "fast" can be either adjectives (a slow drip, a fast computer) or adverbs (The nervous student turned the knob slow...

It's very simple

Posted on June 15, 2008
I had a reason to visit the National Park Service site this morning, specifically the Canaveral National Seashore (mentioned in today's Travel section). The site has interesting facts at the bottom of various pages. The site could use editing, though...

Impracticable

Posted on June 12, 2008
A disclaimer notice that The News & Observer posts on the new story comment system sent me to the dictionary Wednesday. (I added the red circle to show what word stopped me.) Here is what the notice says, in part: However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting...

How to make nouns possessive

Posted on June 11, 2008
A reader asked for a post about using apostrophes to make possessives. Here are the basic rules: * Add 's to all singular common nouns and to plural common nouns that don't end in s: the boy's toys, a day's time, the boss's husband, the children's clothes...

Puzzling typos

Posted on June 10, 2008
As a copy editor, I understand and sympathize about typos and other errors. I've made some doozies over the years, and I've let others slip past me. I once edited temblor, a synonym for earthquake, to trembler. (What was I thinking?!?) But a typo on the television screen this morning baffles me...

"Bests" and a grammar quiz

Posted on June 08, 2008
Some readers were sure we'd made a typo in this headline: They thought we surely meant to write "beats" instead of "bests." One reader wondered if "best" could be a verb. Indeed, a check of the dictionary finds that "best" can be an adjective, an adverb, a noun or a verb...

First annual?

Posted on May 30, 2008
The Under the Dome blog refers to grammar types who are irked by the phrase "first annual." I think it's the journalist types (subset copy editors) who are most irked by the phrase. We are taught that an event should not be referred to as the "first annual" because it hasn't become "annual" until it has occurred in several consecutive years...

Two new grammar geek favorites

Posted on May 25, 2008
Minnesota Public Radio has a podcast called Grammar Grater. Writer and producer Luke Taylor and his crew, being radio folks, do a good job of presenting grammar and usage issues in an audio format. I liked the radio drama in Episode 44 about using further and farther...

Test your pronoun skills

Posted on May 11, 2008
Today's Triangle Grammar Guide quiz contains five sentences. In each one, you will choose the proper form of who/whom or whoever/whomever. I hope you enjoy it and either learn something or reinforce your skill at choosing the right case. Send a comment or leave one below...

A pesky personal pronoun

Posted on May 08, 2008
This lead on newsobserver.com confused me this morning: A person was killed just before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when they were hit by a train in Four Oaks, Johnston County dispatch officials said late Wednesday. Who is "they"? Was more than one person on the tracks? As I read the rest of this short report, I realized that the writer had used "they" to refer to a single person because the sex of the victim was not known...

Closed captions spelling humor

Posted on May 06, 2008
I was watching MSNBC's "Morning Joe" this morning with the closed captions on. As host Joe Scarborough talked to David Axelrod of the Obama campaign, Axlerod said the Latin phrase "ad nauseam," which means something that continues to the point of nausea...

Try the new Triangle Grammar Guide quiz!

Posted on May 04, 2008
Finally, I have a new Triangle Grammar Guide quiz for you to try. I have upgraded to a full-featured version of the freeware I had been using. I will be able to make quizzes with different kinds of questions. But for today the quiz is five simple multiple choice questions...

Good advice for writers

Posted on April 18, 2008
A colleague gave me a copy of the ninth edition of "Style Guide" from The Economist newspaper. Here is the advice that I found in the "grammar and syntax" entry: Try not to be sloppy in the construction of your sentences and paragraphs. Yes! That sums it up...

Isn't it obvious?

Posted on April 13, 2008
A reader, Loretta from Carrboro, wrote recently about a broadcast reports that refer to something that someone did or was "before his [or her] death," such as "Charlton Heston was a conservative activist before his death." It seems obvious that the last prepositional phrase is not necessary...

Hey, Grammar Guide can be cool, too

Posted on April 06, 2008
Grammar Guide wants to be cool like On the Beat, TV Eye and Uncle Crizzle, so here is the "Grammar Rock," verb edition, video from YouTube.

Why good grammar matters

Posted on April 06, 2008
A reader sent an e-mail message last week to point out some grammar problems and typos in the Career Builder section published by the N&O's Classified Advertising Department. The reader is also a writer and teaches writing. She uses the section to teach the importance of good writing...

Spot the problem

Posted on March 31, 2008
Can you tell what's wrong with the sentences in the list below? I think many of you will see the problem in these sentences now that they have isolated. On the other hand, context can certainly help a editor figure out how to fix such problems. * Whether trying to conceive, pregnant or a new mom, trianglemom2mom...

Subjects don't have to be nouns

Posted on March 30, 2008
Writers use a variety of sentence structures. The normal order of English declarative sentences is Subject-Verb. When we are first learning how to build sentences in English, the examples usually stick to the simplest form. Most subjects in the S-V structures are nouns or pronouns...

You could win a bet with this book

Posted on March 26, 2008
Grammar-usage books make it to my desk often. I rarely write about them because they are irritating to read and use or just don't have anything new to offer. A new book is out that I like. It's "Mortal Syntax" by June Casagrande, who writes a newspaper column called "A Word, Please...

Take a Triangle Grammar Guide quiz

Posted on March 24, 2008
The quiz returns with five sentences I have encountered in print. Today's quiz is all about word choices. Click on the question mark icon or here to begin. Have fun and leave a comment if you wish. By the way, we N&O bloggers get a report each month with our rankings by number of page views...

If it's a verb, it's probably "affect"

Posted on March 23, 2008
Here is a screen caption from a recent MSNBC newscast: The caption writer needed "affect" here, of course. One way to remember this is that "affect" is almost always used as a verb and you can remember "affect" with "the a means action." It would be better, though, to know the difference in meaning...

This means "war"? No, it doesn't

Posted on March 09, 2008
A thoughtful reader wrote to ask that we at The N&O avoid using the language of war to refer to political campaigns. He listed a few terms that show up in political reporting: battleground states, all-out attack ads, war chest, opposing camps. I was reminded of the reader's words as I watched "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" one day last week...

Pervasive spelling error hits CBS

Posted on March 04, 2008
This was on the screen Monday night (March 3) on "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" during Bob Schieffer's commentary about the Texas presidential primary. My husband spotted it and pointed it out to me. I checked the CBSnews.com site this morning for the video and, sure enough, the mistake was still there...

A new quiz on the grammar blog

Posted on March 03, 2008
Try the quiz. Click on the icon or here to begin. Tuesday is National Grammar Day. Martha Brockenburgh, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, suggests that we go forth and spread the word about the use of standard grammar. That sounds like a good idea...

The semicolon in the spotlight

Posted on February 21, 2008
If you think that we who care about grammar, usage and punctuation matters are always in the minority, take a look at this. About 6:50 this morning, the top e-mailed story on the New York Times was a short one, posted Sunday, about the proper use of a semicolon on a placard in the subway...

Weird words: Worrywart

Posted on February 20, 2008
A colleague wondered about the word worrywart one day last week. A worrywart is someone who frets, usually about insignificant matters. I haven't found much about the origin of the word except that it appears to have been coined or to have entered wide usage in the 1930s and that it is a combination of worry and wart...

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