By Bob Yearick
More Common Sense Revisions
Last month, reader Walt DelGiorno pointed out that the phrase “a fraction of what it once was” is insufficient if what is meant is a significant reduction. After all, as Walt said, 1/100 and 99/100 are both fractions, but the first equals 1 percent, while the second is 99 percent. So, “reduced to a small fraction” would be more accurate.
This tendency to use fewer words than needed (the opposite of a redundancy?) prompted a note from Jane Buck, a long-time reader of this column and former president of the American Association of University Professors. Jane says that “being on a diet” and “behaving” are both inadequate. “One is always on a diet,” she says. “The question is, what kind? And one is always behaving, either well or badly.”
Again, noted.
J’ever Notice . . . ?
. . . that many people, including some TV weather reporters, skip the hard c sound in arctic. It’s pronounced ark-tik, not ar-tik.
Department of Redundancies Dept.
Bryan Alexander, TV critic for USA TODAY, gives us this sentence, rampant with superfluities, from a review of the Amazon Prime series Fallout: “Cooper learns about his wife, Barb, and her work with the sinister Vault Tec, the group secretly spurring on global nuclear destruction for nefarious reasons.” A group that is secretly bent on global nuclear destruction is certainly sinister, and undoubtedly is pursuing that goal for nefarious reasons. Also, they are spurring global destruction. No need for the added on.
Media Watch
Several media outlets failed to employ the correct verb recently.
• Michael Marot, AP: “They (the Indiana football team) sung the school’s fight song in the confetti celebration following their first Big Ten championship since 1967 . . .” Sang is the simple past tense of “sing,” while had sung is the past participle form of “sing.”
• Reader Joan Burke submits this headline from PhillyBite Magazine: “3 New Delaware Laws That Will Effect Your Wallet in 2026.” The verb affect is needed here. Effect is generally a noun.
• News Journal Eagles reporter Martin Frank spotted this subhead in The Philadelphia Inquirer: “Embiid scored 31 points but the Bulls prayed on his inability to move on defense.” The Bulls preyed on (exploited, took advantage of) Embiid’s inability to move. That said, preyed is a bit dramatic in this case. Exploited would’ve been a better choice.
• From another reader, Angie Bopp Martin, comes this News Journal verbal gaffe: “In disposing of your Christmas tree, clean off all of the decorations and bring it to one of these yard waste drop-off sites run by the state.” As this column pointed out as recently as November, if the action is towards the speaker, use bring. If it is away from the speaker (as in this case), the correct choice is take.
A few other recent media miscues:
• Reader Larry Hamermesh found an ad in TNJ for “Amish-made mantles with free electric heaters.” A mantle is a blanket or covering. A mantel is that shelf above a fireplace. Says Larry: “Lest you generously think that the ad was for something akin to an electric blanket, I also note that there was an accompanying photo of a fireplace.”
• From the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, courtesy of reader Luann Haney, comes this caption: “[a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony] drew a crowd of holiday well-wishers despite the chilly weather. Santa and Misses Clause are among the group.” The title for a married woman is generally abbreviated — Mrs. Spelled out, it’s Missus. But Misses misses the mark.
• Son Steven spotted this chyron/crawl on the MS NOW network: “US Students are reading less books cover-to-cover.” Maybe the people at MS NOW should read a grammar book. In referring to quantities, the word is fewer. Less is for amounts. If the sentence had been, “US Students are reading less,” it would’ve been correct.
Count NBC10 in Philly among those who don’t know that honing means “to sharpen.” Homing is the correct word here.
Word of the Month
enervate
Pronounced ener-vate, it’s a verb meaning to reduce the mental or moral vigor of.
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