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Writing Mistakes that Make You Look Dumb
SalesHQ
Constipated Clauses
Reporting on the feats and foibles of the Red Sox, a writer for South Coast Today notes: “It goes without saying that these exploits take a tremendous amount of skill.”
If it “goes without saying” then don’t say it. If it doesn’t, in fact, go without saying, then don’t say it does.
“Obviously, the sky is blue.” Putting the “obviously” doesn’t suddenly make the statement insightful.
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metot
about 1 month ago
222 comments
Great article:)
rawvegan1
about 1 month ago
4 comments
I found two common mistakes missing from this list:
1. Improper use of "their" and "there," and;
2. These are either typos or just plain mental gaffes, but it is so common to see the "r" missing in the word "your." There are other variants as well, such as the when the term "you're" is used, people neglect to include the apostrophe and "e" and come up with "your."
Both of these just drive me nuts!
rawvegan1
about 1 month ago
4 comments
odoli41, actually "one brain" is incorrect. You have TWO: a left brain and a right brain, and they ARE separate. They are connected, however, and you cannot function without either one of them.
Now, I hope I got my comma structure right!
Confucione
about 1 month ago
2 comments
... so what is the correct punctuation for the end of items in a bullet list (slides or text)? Comma, semi-colon, nothing (my preference as it keeps character counts down and avoids clutter), ...
odoli41
about 1 month ago
2 comments
"...fewer brains..."? Technically, unless you are Dr. Frankenstein's loyal assistant you have (at most) one brain.
ngrojas
about 1 month ago
12 comments
The mistakes of "comma vomit" and "constipated clauses" are fairly common mistakes, a la "that being said ....." but the rest are pretty basic. We can all learn something new and pat ourselves on the back for having conquered most of these errors.
RikSmoody
about 1 month ago
2 comments
This note would be improved by substituting "discrete" for "finite".
Finite means a limited quantity vs. infinite or exceedingly large.
Discrete means that the stuff comes in certain unbroken units, vs. continuous.
Example: (scenario: we take a hike).
Each of us has some water, certainly a FINITE quantity of it.
I have less water than you.
We also have a FINITE quantity of PB&J sandwiches... say less than a kg each.
Normally, we'd say "I have fewer sandwiches than you" if we are counting pieces (discrete)
although if we somehow weigh the lunches, it could be revealed that "I have more PB&J than you do because I used larger bread and I put in a lot of PB&J" (continuum)
Susanlynf
about 1 month ago
2 comments
Thanks, this was great, I really enjoyed, appreciated, and got a kick out of it et al.
mmcconnell
about 1 month ago
2 comments
I applaud your choice to cover the topic of adverbs in this article. Many English speakers are completely ignorant on this aspect of grammar.
That being said, you are wrong to inform your readers that "I am well" is correct. This statement is grammatically incorrect. The correct statement is "I am good." "To be" is a linking verb (sometimes also called a "copula") and does not behave like a normal verb. While there are some exceptions in usage, linking verbs include "to be," "to seem", "to appear," "to smell" and many others.
To test this, let's simply change the noun, linking verb and adjective in other statements. For example, "That man is quick" or "That man is quickly". Which one sounds right to you? Naturally, "That man is quick" is correct. For more proof, let's examine "The boss seemed happy with the report" or "The boss seemed happily with the report". Again, "The boss seemed happy with the report" is correct. In both examples, the linking verbs are modified by an adjective.
I hope that the author of this article or the editor can update this information as soon as possible.
bogomoloff
about 1 month ago
2 comments
ditto gmoult
gmoult
about 1 month ago
2 comments
Great list. As more people use IM and text message, these rules become more prevalent. You actually forgot my personal pet peeve- mistaking "your" with "you're." Also their, there and they're.
papo
about 1 month ago
2 comments
Improving writing writing skills rock...?!)*&^%$#@!