With this post we, at anothersview.com, introduce a new feature–PET PEEVES. This space will be targeting specific issues that absolutely infuriate your blog editor. The comments may seem trivial to the casual eye but the violation of common sense among supposedly intelligent people needs to be called out. Our first target focuses on destruction of the English language. These are just five examples of “bad language”– without four letter words.
- The use of the term “unclear”…We hear this term in almost every news report–whether TV or some other form of media when the reality is “we don’t KNOW what happened”. Technically, “unclear” means that two or more potential factors may have been involved and it is “unclear” which caused the event. But–when the commentator doesn’t KNOW what happened or why–it isn’t unclear, it is unknown. If someone shoots someone and the motive isn’t known–say it isn’t known. DO NOT SAY THE MOTIVE IS UNCLEAR!!!!
- Singular vs. plural…how many times have you heard “there’s a bunch of clouds forming on the horizon?” Literally, this means “There IS a bunch of clouds….” Use the plural form. How tough can it be for a professional news/weather reporter to use common-sense good grammar?
- Less vs. fewer…We admit this one is a bit tougher (not “more tough”) but it is still a pet peever. The term “less” is used to denote quantity; the term “fewer” is used to denote number. Example: This a less cloudy day than yesterday because we have fewer clouds in the sky. Or, we have less money today because we have fewer dollars. You get the idea?
- The death of the comparative case…If we hear one more time the expression “more mild” from a weather forecaster we will explode. In sentences where the message is that “tomorrow will be milder than today”–please don’t say “more mild”. That’s what a third grader would say. We’ve actually heard “more easy”, “more busy” and “more hard” from the lips of professionals who are probably being paid six digit salaries and should know better. Demand proper language skills from those charged with communicating news/weather/sports.
- The three demons–“nearly, not and only”…Properly placing these qualifying words in all sentences is critical to the process of communication. Example: “he only scored 6 points in the game”–WRONG!!!. Instead say “he scored only 6 points in the game”. What seems like a minor issue can actually change the entire meaning of the sentence and cause the communication to fail.
Now you have it…if you’re unclear about our message and you think there’s more to it, stay tuned for our next post. We’ll have less words and they’ll be more easy to understand. Just don’t blame only us for the meaning or don’t blame us for the meaning only???
NEXT TIME IN THIS SPACE: AMERICA’S ON-THE-ROAD DRIVING “PEEVERS”
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