Daily tweets on writing, in the spirit (and sometimes the words) of Fowler's Modern English Usage but chiefly for American writers. Alter ego of @MatthewJFranck
A pronoun-antecedent disagreement, @wsjbooks. Since the pronoun appears in the quotation, either change the antecedent to something singular, or substitute a bracketed “[their].” https://t.co/jn8JBvXfL7
“”Their system ensured that Spartan males” … what, @wsjbooks? The thought is unfinished because its conclusion, “were equals,” was sawed off and marooned in the parenthetical. (Also, change the godawful verb “serviced” to “served.”) https://t.co/smRRBBmiMa
This is a mess, @nytimes. Alarms, airbags, and sirens are the three things, but your sentence says alarms alone are the three things, just like the other two. https://t.co/rJUcXhENgY
A trolley is about to hit 5 people laying on the track
You can redirect the car, but the other track has not yet reached regulatory approval or completed its 1 year environmental testing period, so operating a train car on it is a violation of transit regulations
What do you do?
A quick guide to print and hang over your desk:
difference > differential
use > utilize, utilization
crown > coronate
admonition > admonishment
diminution > diminishment
ostracism > ostracization
center > epicenter
method > methodology
“Which” here refers to “approach,” @nytopinion, not to “Israel.” But an approach cannot resign itself, so make it read “by which it” after the comma. https://t.co/Je3Uq2So2D