Tuesday, July 26

Getting closer...

but still not there.

This is not an orginal point, but it's probably time to stop grouping rape under the rubrick of "sex scandal." Elliot Spitzer and, say, DSK weren't accused of the same thing.


First, he had it as "group rape". Commenters were confused though: Congressman Wu is accused of group rape?? Or did he mean, "a groping rape" maybe?

Turns out neither. So he fixed it.

Now... do a double-check on that word "rubrick".
Words matter. In print, writing and not just sounds so much, counts for accuracy.

Not trying to pick on the boy. But again, words matter. The wrong word choice confuses, just as a misplaced comma can distort the meaning of a sentence.

I recommend: a good old-fashioned lesson, or two, in sentence diagramming. And that earlier advice: read, read, read some more. To become more acquainted with unfamiliar words, if you will. Not just how to pronounce them, but how to spell them too, so people can try and understand what it is exactly you're preaching.

If you have valid points to offer up, it's a shame that you never learned properly to communicate those thoughts using words, grammar, and basic proofreading skills.

Trust me, it's not just a white thing either.

ps. This is more a typo than a mistake, so to speak, and we all commit typos until we catch and fix them... (unless we're professors in denial; see earlier posts here today)

But check out that word "original" while you're at it too?

Thanks kindly,
a reader.

ps. Survey says, only one "l" in Eliot Spitzer's name, fwiw.

It will be interesting to see if the writer cares about these little things that turn off readers. Or if, like a tenured professor, he don't need nobody pointing out these minor ... mistakes.

(To her credit: when I pointed out last week in the comments section that Jim Henson spelled his surname with an "o" in there, not an e, shortly after my comment was deleted, the correction did get made. Now who said you can't teach an old tenured professor a new trick? You're very welcome, in advance. Gotta keep those standards up and all; think of the children still coming up, and what kind of written world we want to leave them...)