using neither, nor

Speaking is what first landed him in hot water and now, as he resigns, it continues to trip him up. Gloucester High School Principal Joseph Sullivan told Time magazine that the spike in teen pregnancies was related to a pact some girls had made to get pregnant and raise their babies together.

Mayor Carolyn Kirk said at a June 23 news conference that she and school officials could not confirm the existence of a pact and, hence, they had not invited Sullivan to the conference.

In a statement released today, Sullivan said he believes the mayor “publicly slandered my reputation, my integrity and my intelligence” at the news conference. “The ramifications of this whole episode on me and … my family have been devastating and the Mayor’s actions and the Superintendent’s public silence has forced me to recognize that I have neither the trust, confidence or respect of the Mayor nor the Superintendent,” Sullivan said.

The principal made three linguistic errors in this statement — quite a feat for a dethroned educator.

* First, “publicly slandered” is redundant. Slander, by definition, is to defame or malign a person. The damage is only done and the charge worth citing if it’s public. Done privately, offense may be taken, but slander has not occurred.

* Second, Sullivan used a singular verb, “has forced me,” for a plural subject, “the Mayor’s actions and the Superintendent’s public silence.” Yes, public silence is singular and it comes last, but anytime two subjects are linked by and they become plural and require a plural verb — even if each of the two subjects is singular. (When two subjects are linked by or, on the other hand, the verb is determined by the closest subject. For example, “Either the school officials or Sullivan is going to regret the resignation.” Or, “Either Sullivan or the school officials are going to regret the resignation.”)

* Third, that willy-nilly use “neither” and “nor,” a failed attempt to sound formal. Sullivan said, “I have neither the trust, confidence or respect of the Mayor nor the Superintendent.” Neither and nor should remain in close proximity, paired with nouns in the same group. Sullivan should’ve said, “I have neither the confidence nor the respect of the mayor and the superintendent.” He also could have said, “Neither the mayor nor the superintendent have shown me trust, confidence or respect.” Tacking the “nor” at the sentence’s end in a vain attempt to include the superintendent is incorrect.