By Bob Yearick
Where Are the Editors?
• I have mentioned more than once that Philadelphia Inquirer columnist David Murphy is a fine writer. However, he has at least one blind spot: the superfluous of, as in these two examples from his recent column about Eagles running back Saquon Barkley: “Not since the muck-and-grind, when-men-were-men glory days of the NFL has a running back had as big of an impact on his team’s Super Bowl chances” . . . “His has been as fine of a football season as you will see, regardless of position.”
• A reader spotted this in The News Journal: “Political insiders say Carney’s administration has been reticent to the pomp and circumstance of bill signings . . .” The meaning is unclear. Did the writer mean “reticent about” or, better, “reticent to participate in . . .”?
• Another TNJ stumper, from reader Debbie Layton: “The four residents had all sustained falls, as aging people are prone.” By itself, prone means lying on one’s front, which may vaguely apply in this case, but the writer needed to add an all-important to. Prone to means likely or liable to suffer from, do, or experience something, typically something negative.
• Continuing her campaign to snuff out the misuse of singular verbs with plural nouns, reader Joan Burke submits this headline from TNJ: “Here’s Delaware’s trick-or-treat times.”
Less Bring, More Take: A Matter of Location
Confusion over bring and take continues unabated. The usual problem is overuse of bring. For example, Kristen Bell, in her Netflix series Nobody Wants This, rescues a stray dog and tells her boyfriend about a nearby animal shelter, adding, “I’m going to bring him there tomorrow.” Bring indicates that the action is toward the speaker, while take indicates movement away. So Kristen will be taking the dog to the shelter. That said, it’s pretty much accepted that you bring wine to a party.
Literally of the Month
Vincente Amorim, director of the Netflix series Senna, speaking of Ayrton Senna, champion race car driver, as reported in USA TODAY: “He literally wore his heart on his racing gloves, to change the metaphor.” Yes, Vincente, you not only changed the metaphor, you also mangled it, and added the superfluous “literally” in the process.
Later in the same story, Amorim spoke about Senna’s family: “They literally opened the vault for me, not only of their own memories of him, but sharing with me hours of taped (phone) conversations they had with him over the years.” So, no mangled metaphor here, just another unnecessary “literally.” And no actual vault.
Department of Redundancies Dept.
• Preplan is one of my least favorite nonwords — all planning is pre. It got a vigorous workout in news reports about the assassination of United Healthcare’s CEO. Several media outlets called the murder preplanned, of course, but one CNN report stretched it out to “a premeditated, planned, targeted attack.”
• Olivia Reiner, in The Inky: “Additionally, Covey has also watched Cooper DeJean take over his role as the punt returner.”
• Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY: “Still, after all these years, it still stings” — in a story on Dwight Gooden and Daryll Strawberry and the New York Mets losing the 1988 NLCS.
• Headline in USA TODAY: “Historic Record Contract” —over a story about Juan Soto signing with the Mets.
• Inko Kang, in The New Yorker, of all places, reviewing the Apple TV+ drama Disclaimer: “Christiane Amanpour foreshadows what’s to come.” Foreshadow: a warning or indication of a future event.
Fun Fact:
Bob Woodward, he of Woodward and Bernstein/Watergate fame and author of 21 best-sellers, mispronounces nuclear. Like many people, he says nuke-you-lerr — every time. C’mon, man, you’re Bob Woodward! It’s pronounced NEW-clee-er.
Word Term of the Month
Straw man
The straw man fallacy occurs when someone misrepresents or distorts their opponent’s argument in order to make it easier to refute. Example: A teacher says her class needs to spend more time on math. A parent complains that the teacher doesn’t care about reading and writing.
The concept comes from the metaphor of a straw man (or scarecrow). The straw man is not a real man; it’s a fake representation of one.
Follow me on Twitter: @thewaronwords
Need a Speaker for your Organization?
Contact me for a fun presentation on grammar: ryearick@comcast.net.
Buy The War on Words book at the Hockessin BookShelf, at Huxley & Hiro Booksellers, or on Amazon. Or email me at ryearick@comcast.net.
