And he’s in a bad mood
Seems like every time I pick up a newspaper or listen to a TV broadcast I read or hear grammar and other writing booboos committed by those who should know better — the media.
Television is a communications medium. Likewise, radio is a medium, and your newspaper is a medium. All together, they are the media. Most often, the media treats the word as a single noun. For example, The media is in a frenzy over what pizza joint in Phoenix is the best. Correction, scribes, The media are in the frenzy. C’mon, man.
It’s all a matter of fracturing a sentence. Charges were dropped against the man suspected of stealing a pizza. That’s got to hurt, like dropping a brick on your bare foot. How about Charges of stealing a pizza against the man were dropped. C’mon, man.
Getting words to agree is important. The Glendale City Council decided pizza would be served during their executive sessions. Although the city council has more than one member the council is one of those tricky collective nouns, meaning it is a singular noun. The Glendale City Council decided pizza would be served during its (not it’s, by the way) executive sessions. C’mon, man.
Here’s one you see all the time at the end of a crime story: Police have no motive. It’s (not its, by the way) the criminal with the motive, not the police. How ‘bout Police said they didn’t know the motive for robbing the pizza joint. C’mon, man.
I’ve got plenty more examples of criminal grammar, but will close this session with plethora of and whether or not.
Plethora means an abundance of, so saying the restaurant has a plethora of different pizzas is redundant. The restaurant simply has plethora pizza dishes.
Whether means one or the other. Whether or not to order the thick-crust pizza was the question. Whether to order the thick-crust pizza was the question will suffice.
Warning: Be afraid, be very afraid of the nerdy Rose Law Group’s Grammar Cop. His motive is to improve grammar, whether you like it or not.
