grammar police Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/grammar-police/ Fri, 20 Nov 2015 23:06:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/cropped-WBP-FAVICON_7-32x32.jpg grammar police Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/grammar-police/ 32 32 Questions for a Language Ninja: The Passion of the Manfriend https://old.wordsbyapro.com/questions-for-a-language-ninja-the-passion-of-the-manfriend/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=questions-for-a-language-ninja-the-passion-of-the-manfriend Tue, 15 Sep 2015 20:57:10 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1319 Q: My 81-year-old grandma has been dating a man her own age for a few years now. They’re not planning on getting married, but they are a “couple.” How should I refer to him? “Boyfriend” just seems weird, and grandma just calls him Larry. A: The Ninja agrees that “Manfriend” has an unsavory ring to […]

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]]> Questions for a Language Ninja: Putting the Fun Back in Etymological Fundamentals https://old.wordsbyapro.com/questions-for-a-language-ninja-putting-the-fun-back-in-etymological-fundamentals/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=questions-for-a-language-ninja-putting-the-fun-back-in-etymological-fundamentals Tue, 14 Jul 2015 17:19:59 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1239 Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of “Questions for a Language Ninja,” the only Q & A language usage column where nearly every response to burning linguistic queries is: “It’s all good, man,” at least when those queries arrive in the middle of an otherwise lazy summer. Let’s get started.  Q: I often hear […]

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]]> Questions for a Language Ninja: Language Redundancy https://old.wordsbyapro.com/questions-for-a-language-ninja-language-redundancy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=questions-for-a-language-ninja-language-redundancy Tue, 23 Jun 2015 16:00:35 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1181 Welcome to the very first Language Ninja column of the summer! Let’s pour ourselves a frozen peach iced tea, relax by the pool, and start tacklin’ some rules of grammar and syntax! Q: Is “close proximity” redundant? A: A bit, yes. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Ninja won’t go on and on at […]

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]]> Is Technology Changing Our Language? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/is-technology-changing-our-language/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-technology-changing-our-language Tue, 28 Apr 2015 15:29:09 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1109 As the subject of much woeful head-shaking among English teachers and grammar snobs, text and Twitter lingo have long been blamed for ruining the way we now communicate. (Because we were such bastions of language excellence before, I guess? #scapegoat) Before I even start writing on this subject, I should give the disclaimer that I […]

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]]> Questions for a Language Ninja: Further vs. Farther https://old.wordsbyapro.com/language-ninja-further-farther/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=language-ninja-further-farther Tue, 07 Apr 2015 18:34:11 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1071 Happy springtime, everyone! The Ninja’s back, and answering more burning language usage questions. Let’s get crackin’! Q: What is the difference between “further” and “farther?” Is there any real difference? A: To answer both your questions succinctly: The existence of physical distance, and sort of. Both further and farther are commonly used interchangeably. You can […]

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]]> A Case for Keeping It Real https://old.wordsbyapro.com/a-case-for-keeping-it-real/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-case-for-keeping-it-real Tue, 31 Mar 2015 20:23:07 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1065 Epic fail. Literally the best. The most amazing. The absolute worst. These superlative descriptions are best reserved for, respectively, the sinking of the Titanic, invention of the wheel, the Great Pyramid of Giza and the 1918 flu pandemic. Today, it’s hard to know where you stand when something as minor as burnt toast can be […]

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]]> A Pinch or a Pound? How Adjective Use Is Ruining Your Writing https://old.wordsbyapro.com/a-pinch-or-a-pound-how-adjective-use-is-ruining-your-writing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-pinch-or-a-pound-how-adjective-use-is-ruining-your-writing Tue, 24 Mar 2015 18:35:06 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1047 Envision a gothic fantasy tale, with a blood-sucking horror sitting at a piano. His cold, pale hands dance over the white, glistening keys of the ancient instrument as his haggard, wet breath exits his chest in a tremendous gray cloud of cold, damp vapor. Your skin may have crawled a little while reading that, but […]

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]]> Fun with Gendered Pronouns: How Not to Alienate Your Readership https://old.wordsbyapro.com/fun-with-gendered-pronouns-how-not-to-alienate-your-readership/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fun-with-gendered-pronouns-how-not-to-alienate-your-readership Tue, 03 Feb 2015 17:09:08 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=929 Remember the neutral male pronoun? In case that sounds like jargon to you, let me provide an example: If a student hopes to earn an A on his final report, he should not only study all the previous course material, but also bring his teacher gifts and perform various other tasks that serve to boost […]

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]]> Questions for a Language Ninja: Is grammar important, really? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/questions-for-a-language-ninja-is-grammar-important-really/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=questions-for-a-language-ninja-is-grammar-important-really Tue, 30 Sep 2014 09:00:50 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=763   Question: Ninja, tell me truly. Is grammar important, really? Answer: Yes, of course! With a caveat. See, grammar exists as a structure for the efficient communication of ideas. When we uniformly accept the common standards for a particular language, we are able to say what we mean and mean what we say. However, humans […]

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