Archive for September, 2008
No pressure, no problem
redundancy
Apple announced Friday that it will recall some of its ultracompact USB power adapters because, “under certain conditions,” the adapter’s metal prongs can break off and remain in a power outlet, “creating the risk of electric shock.”
The press release continued: “Customer safety is always Appleās top priority so it has voluntarily decided to exchange [...]
A boy for Charlie Sheen?
conditional vs. future tense
Are Charlie Sheen and his wife, Brooke, expecting a boy? Are they certain of the baby’s gender or is it just a hunch? We can pick up clues about the degree of certainty from the tense of language people use when describing the developing baby.
Two and A Half Men co-star Holland Taylor [...]
Counting down
fewer vs. less
Michelle Obama dubbed the week Women’s Week of Action, making a concerted appeal to female voters, some of whom may be taken with “Palin Power.”
Michelle began a dash-heavy memo to supporters with the observation: “It’s hard to believe there are less than 50 days before Election Day.”
It’s also hard to believe none [...]
A big day
historic vs. historical
This morning in Minneapolis, Fox 9 traffic reporter Juli Jay called the opening of the new Interstate 35W bridge a “historical” day. This is a linguistic mistake we hear often as people describe the nature of the presidential campaign underway. So let’s set the record straight.
Historical is about or related to history, [...]
Super, duper interested
redundancy
CBS’ 60 Minutes will devote its entire broadcast Sunday to profiles of John McCain and Barack Obama. Steve Kroft explained the decision. “I can’t get into a cab or have a conversation with somebody on the street without the conversation turning to politics,” he said. “The country is totally engaged right now.”
Engaged, by definition, means [...]
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