October 7, 2024

Beg the Question

Can you use "beg the question" to mean "raise the question," as in, "These fingerprints beg the question: Was there more than one burglar"? Technically, yes. But some people will look down on you for it.

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September 30, 2024

Can 'Impact' Be a Verb?

A lot of people will tell you that you can have an impact on something — that is, use impact as a noun — but that you can't impact something because it's not a verb. Don't listen to them. It's both.

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September 23, 2024

Faulty Parallels

In the 1988 film Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman's character said his brother, played by Tom Cruise, "yelled and pulled and hurt my neck," suggesting Cruise's character not only pulled his neck and hurt his neck but also yelled his neck. Here's what you need to know about faulty parallels like this one.

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September 16, 2024

'Done' and 'Finished'

A child sitting at the dinner table pushes aside a plate of half-eaten food and announces, “I’m done.” A parent replies, “No, a roast is done. You’re finished.” Is the parent right? Actually, no. Here's the full story.

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September 9, 2024

A Dimly Lit Room or a Dimly Lighted Room?

Some people have strong feelings on whether the detective "lit" a cigarette or "lighted" it and whether a room was dimly "lit" or "lighted." Turns out, they're both fine and about equally good.

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September 2, 2024

Sometimes, 'Both' Must Go

“The hospital provides a supportive work environment for both doctors and nurses.”

That “both” is, technically, just fine. But when “both” is immediately followed by a plural noun, it could momentarily be construed to be modifying that noun only. Someone looking at the phrase “both doctors and nurses” might first read it as “both doctors” and wonder which two doctors you’re talking about.

Here's more on why editors often chop out "both."

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August 19, 2024

'An AAA member' or 'a AAA member'?

The indefinite article "a" comes before a word that starts with a consonant sound, while "an" precedes a word that starts with a vowel sound. So because A.A. starts with the sound "ay," it's preceded by "an." And because AAA is pronounced "triple-a," most publications use "a" and not "an." Even the auto club writes "Become a AAA member."

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August 12, 2024

When to Capitalize After a Colon

After a colon, don't capitalize the first word unless it's a proper noun or it begins a complete sentence. In book editing style, only if a colon introduces two complete sentences should the first generic word be capitalized.

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August 5, 2024

'Trouper' vs. 'Trouper'

If you want to write that someone is enduring a tough situation, you'd choose the o-u spelling: "You're a real trouper." But sometimes "trooper" can have the same meaning. Here's the full story.

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July 29, 2024

Can 'Since' Mean 'Because'?

"Since" refers to a time span: Since Joe was five, he has always loved cars. "Because" suggests a cause-and-effect relationship. Because he’s still just ten, he doesn’t own one yet. But "since" can be a synonym of "because" — just be sure to use it wisely.

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