reaction vs. response
President Bush pulled away from the U.S. volleyball players yesterday to do an interview with Bob Costas, who asked him about China revoking Joey Cheek’s visa.
“What’s your reaction?” Costas asked.

“My reaction is I’m sorry Joey Cheek didn’t come; he’s a good man.”
We use the word reaction far too loosely. A reaction is a [...]

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compound subjects
A reporter asked the New York Jets’ new QB how this chapter of his life would end it it were a movie.
Brett Favre’s response: “Of course, I and this team would come out being victorious.”
This grammatical rule is so basic that mothers teach it to 4-year-olds. But let’s get basic for Brett, who is [...]

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Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez stepped up to the plate this morning and responded to his wife’s demand for divorce. In court documents filed today, A-Rod admits that his marriage is “irretrievably broken.”
It’s an interesting stab at legalese, but it does not work. Something that’s irretrievable cannot be retrieved. It means “difficult or impossible to retrieve [...]

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Alex Rodriguez commented on the Yankees’ newest member, Ivan Rodriguez.
”He’s hopefully going to be an important part of what we’re trying to do this year,” A-Rod told the Associated Press.
Hopefully is an adverb that means “in a hopeful manner” or “filled with hope.” For example, Ivan Rodriguez awaited the Yankees’ verdict hopefully, feeling optimistic that [...]

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced today that the league will not penalize Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch for a hit-and-run accident that left a woman injured.
“I think the facts are clear on the case at this point in time, and I don’t plan any discipline,” Goodell said.
This garbled sentence is anything but clear — [...]

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