Grammar Please

Ken AshfordRandom Musings1 Comment

I love this article because it hits upon some of my pet peeves about grammer misuse.

For example:

  • "Try and".  As in "Just try and stop us"  No.  Wrong.  It is "try to".
  • "Hopefully".  It means "full of hope" and is used to describe a subject.  It does not mean "it is hoped that".  So "Hopefully, it will stop snowing" is wrong.  But "Hopefully, I looked at the weather report to see if the snow would end soon" is correct."
  • e.g. versus i.e.  I do this correctly. Many people do not.  "I.e." means "that is" or "in other words".  "e.g" is "for example".  So I have lots of work to do tomorrow, i.e., Friday.  And I mean lots of work, e.g., fixing my computer.
  • Chomping at the bit?  No, you're not.  You're champing at it.  Or chomping the bit.  You can't chomp at something.
  • "I could care less" means that you do care to some degree.  What you probably mean to say is that you couldn't care less.
  • Barb wire.  No, it's barbed.
  • Anxious versus eager.  You can't be anxious to do something.  That doesn't make sense.  You can be anxious about doing something.  But if you are eager to do it, then say that you are eager to do it.
  • Collide.  For things to collide, they both have to be in motion.  You can't collide into a hydrant, but you can collide into another (moving) car.

There.  Now try and use better English.