A pair of grammar vigilantes, who have been traveling the country correcting bad grammar on government signs, have just been fined $3,035 for removing an extraneous apostrophe and adding a comma to a sign at the Grand Canyon. The age of the 60-year old sign apparently graced these errors with historical significance.
Rather than rewarding these modern heroes with an Amazon.com gift certificate for saving their government from the embarrassment of linguistic ineptitude, the court ordered the fine to “repair the sign”. One would’ve thought that this is exactly what they did. I have to conclude that the money will be spent to reinstate the offending apostrophe and remove the comma.
When your government goes from passive disinterest in bad grammar to actively investing in it, you need to be worried. Lynne Truss, this country needs you.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26351328/
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Roundabouts Rule
People close to me know that I am a huge proponent of roundabouts. They are safer and more efficient than traffic lights, yet they are few and far between in MA or the US in general. Instead, we see traffic lights popping up like mushrooms.
I found a refreshing review of roundabouts here:
http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/columnists/x1341946663/For-safety-efficiency-it-s-time-to-consider-roundabouts
A few key points:
I found a refreshing review of roundabouts here:
http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/columnists/x1341946663/For-safety-efficiency-it-s-time-to-consider-roundabouts
A few key points:
- How many times have you sat at a red light, waiting for nobody to cross the intersection? The light is blind to actual traffic. That doesn't happen at roundabouts.
- The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety has found that converting traffic signals or stop signs to roundabouts reduced injury crashes by 80% and all crashes by 40%
- Roundabouts conserve petrol because there is no idling and hard stop/starts. Vehicle emissions are reduced by 21% - 42%
- More cars go through a roundabout intersection per minute than a traffic light
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
"Comprise" is becoming a weed
Before you read on, use the word "comprise" in a sentence...
I've noticed an accelerating trend of abuse of the word "comprise" lately. It was ok when the word was raped by the fringes, but the poison is penetrating unofficial linguistic authorities, like book publishers and the media.
A Harvard Business School case that I read recently was the latest such instance. Case # 9-701-132 by Giovanni Gavetti is about the story of Ducati motorbikes. The author's first usage goes: "Their typical distribution systems comprised two types of agents". Great, I thought. I'm happy to see Harvard upholding the lexical standard of a word under siege. Perhaps a reader or two will use this model of a sentence to correct an unconscious mistake of their own. I would not expect any less of Harvard.
But then came the sting: "The accessories and apparel business was comprised of three categories". Giovanni..... Why? Harvard, where were you when this happened? Oh look, what's this word gathering dust behind an unwanted pizza crust? It appears to be "composed". You poor homeless thing, why doesn't anyone love you any more? Were you not hip enough?
I've noticed an accelerating trend of abuse of the word "comprise" lately. It was ok when the word was raped by the fringes, but the poison is penetrating unofficial linguistic authorities, like book publishers and the media.
A Harvard Business School case that I read recently was the latest such instance. Case # 9-701-132 by Giovanni Gavetti is about the story of Ducati motorbikes. The author's first usage goes: "Their typical distribution systems comprised two types of agents". Great, I thought. I'm happy to see Harvard upholding the lexical standard of a word under siege. Perhaps a reader or two will use this model of a sentence to correct an unconscious mistake of their own. I would not expect any less of Harvard.
But then came the sting: "The accessories and apparel business was comprised of three categories". Giovanni..... Why? Harvard, where were you when this happened? Oh look, what's this word gathering dust behind an unwanted pizza crust? It appears to be "composed". You poor homeless thing, why doesn't anyone love you any more? Were you not hip enough?
How did your own sentence do? When A is made up of B and C, then:
- A comprises B and C
- A is composed of B and C
- A consists of B and C
- B and C constitute A
- A is not comprised of B and C, just like
- A doesn't compose B and C
- A isn't consisted of B and C
- B and C aren't constituted of A
If you got your sentence right, treat yourself to a Wheat Thin™. If you didn't, bookmark this page for reference. You don't have to correct anyone else, though that would be wonderful. Just try to get it right yourself.
How are Somerville and Tylenol™ related?
You'll know if you've ever tried to drive in Somerville, MA. Setting out to purchase yet another piece of DJ equipment from craigslist, I briskly glanced over the google maps directions to this place and naively set out to drive there from memory. According to Google, it was a 15 minute drive.
An hour and ten minutes later, I am still aimlessly wandering around the sign-less spaghetti of streets that scream at all outsiders to leave, if they can, and never come back. And then I found myself trapped in the middle of this intersection. How many Tylenols™ do you need to just look at this picture?
An hour and ten minutes later, I am still aimlessly wandering around the sign-less spaghetti of streets that scream at all outsiders to leave, if they can, and never come back. And then I found myself trapped in the middle of this intersection. How many Tylenols™ do you need to just look at this picture?
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