Here is another batch of fizzles and fumbles from dailies and periodicals.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Headline for an editorial: \u201cLet he who is without spin.\u201d It\u2019s clever, it\u2019s glib, it\u2019s \u2026 a disaster.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s supposed to be a twist on a well-known biblical verse, but that verse is routinely misquoted. Many people believe it goes like this: \u201cLet he who is without sin cast the first stone.\u201d Here is the actual quotation from the Gospel of John: \u201cHe that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.\u201d Note the wording: \u201clet\u00a0him<\/em>.\u201d That\u2019s because \u201clet he\u201d is almost grammatically impossible. (No one would claim that Marie Antoinette said, \u201cLet they eat cake.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cFear, borne of national security hysteria, can threaten Americans\u2019 rights.\u201d Either replace \u201cborne\u201d with \u201cborn\u201d or, depending on how you interpret the sentence, replace \u201cof\u201d with \u201cby.\u201d<\/p>\n To be\u00a0born<\/em>\u00a0is to be given birth to, as babies are born. Or it can mean \u201cto be created\u201d: ideas are born the moment we think of them.<\/p>\n To be\u00a0borne<\/em> is to be carried, transmitted, or tolerated:\u00a0a mosquito-borne disease<\/em>,\u00a0charges borne equally by the payer and the receiver<\/em>. When you see\u00a0borne of<\/em>, the writer almost certainly meant\u00a0born of<\/em>. You are far more likely to see\u00a0born of<\/em> or\u00a0borne by<\/em>\u00a0than\u00a0borne of<\/em> in a correct sentence.<\/p>\n Our staff prefers\u00a0born of<\/em>\u00a0in the instance cited. Fear is\u00a0born of<\/em>\u2014springs from or is created by\u2014hysteria.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cThe criteria for a permit is whether the business is compatible with the impacted neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe criteria is\u201d is ungrammatical; there is no such thing as one criteria.\u00a0Criteria<\/em> is the plural of\u00a0criterion<\/em>,\u00a0a standard used for judging, deciding, or acting. So make it \u201cOne of the\u00a0criteria<\/em>\u00a0for a permit is \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n But we aren\u2019t done yet. Do not say \u201cimpacted neighborhood\u201d when you mean \u201caffected neighborhood.\u201d As a verb,\u00a0impact<\/em> is constantly misused, and\u00a0affect<\/em> is almost always the remedy. To\u00a0impact<\/em>\u00a0means \u201cto pack tightly together,\u201d as in\u00a0an impacted tooth<\/em>. That is not what the sentence is saying about this particular neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cShe did not specify his exit date or what lead to his decision.\u201d Make it \u201cwhat led<\/em>\u00a0to his decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Budding writers are increasingly using\u00a0lead<\/em>\u00a0instead of\u00a0led<\/em> as the past tense of the verb\u00a0to lead<\/em>. There are three reasons for this confusion. First,\u00a0lead<\/em> reminds us of\u00a0read<\/em>, and everyone knows that the past tense of the verb\u00a0to read<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0read<\/em>. Second, the word\u00a0lead<\/em>, when it refers to a metal, is pronounced\u00a0led<\/em>, just like the past tense of the verb\u00a0to lead<\/em>. And third, they don\u2019t drill spelling in schools the way they used to.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n The following are sentences recently heard over the airwaves. See if you can spot the errors. Answers are at the bottom of the newsletter.<\/p>\n 1. \u201cOne thing they didn\u2019t find were bullet casings.\u201d <\/p>\n Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. \u201cOne thing they didn\u2019t find\u00a0was<\/em>\u00a0bullet casings.\u201d Here is another batch of fizzles and fumbles from dailies and periodicals. \u2022 Headline for an editorial: \u201cLet he who is without spin.\u201d It\u2019s clever, it\u2019s glib, it\u2019s \u2026 a disaster. It\u2019s supposed to be a twist on a well-known biblical verse, but that verse is routinely misquoted. Many people believe it goes like this: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,8,23,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-effective-writing","category-pronouns","category-verbs","category-vocabulary"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1797\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n2. \u201cWere either of you kids exposed to the virus?\u201d
\n3. \u201cHis family is at their wits\u2019 end.\u201d
\n4. \u201cLast year, less than a hundred thousand Americans visited Cuba.\u201d
\n5. \u201cThey want to talk to everyone with whom he may have came into contact.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n2. \u201cWas<\/em>\u00a0either of you kids exposed to the virus?\u201d
\n3. \u201cHis family is at\u00a0its<\/em>\u00a0wits\u2019 end.\u201d OR \u201cHis family\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0at their wits\u2019 end.\u201d
\n4. \u201cLast year,\u00a0fewer<\/em>\u00a0than a hundred thousand Americans visited Cuba.\u201d
\n5. \u201cThey want to talk to everyone with whom he may have\u00a0come<\/em>\u00a0into contact.\u201d<\/p>\n