In the not-too-distant past English used the pronoun “him” to refer to individuals of unspecified gender in phrases such as “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion.” This understandably annoys some people, who prefer “Everyone is entitled to his or … Continue reading
Category Archives: That ain’t good English
Fear not, no spoilers or even a review below, just one incredibly picky gripe. Sunday night I watched the third episode of season 7 of Game of Thrones, and one of the main actors, as well as one of the … Continue reading
A lot of people have trouble distinguishing between with “your” and “you’re” or “whose” and “who’s.” Many years ago I realized there’s a simple rule for remembering which is which. I still get them wrong, but at least I can … Continue reading
The parts compose the whole. The whole comprises its parts. That’s a useful pair of words, but unfortunately “comprise” has come to be used as a sort of redundant synonym for “compose.” In fact, nowadays one probably encounters the verb … Continue reading
A lot of people don’t especially care about grammar, usage, and style as long as they get their message across. If you’re one of them, just ignore me when I go off on the subject. A lot of this stuff … Continue reading