Monday, February 4, 2013
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Friday, February 26, 2010
Let's eat Grandma
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Poor Grammar is a Clue
Police: W.Va. man impersonated gov to steal info
Thursday, September 17, 2009
(09-17) 12:36 PDT Hinton, W.Va. (AP) --
Bad grammar and spelling tripped up a man who was trying to steal Social Security numbers and other information from jobseekers by impersonating West Virginia's governor, police said.
Matthew Don Reed of Hinton is being held on $10,000 bond on charges of impersonating a public official, impersonating a state Division of Natural Resources officer and forgery of a public document. . . .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/09/17/national/a083225D79.DTL
Thursday, September 10, 2009
National Punctuation Day
Read more at One Writer's Journey: http://networkedblogs.com/p11369492
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Don't confuse 'your,' 'you're'
The misuse of "your" for "you're" is far too common.
I have seen this error several times recently, mainly in e-mail messages.
It is common enough that several handbooks make note of it. One says the two words are confused surprisingly often.
"Your" is the possessive of the pronoun "you."
"You're" is a contraction of "you are."
Here are examples from the Gregg Reference Manual that show both uses:
1. Your thinking is sound, but we lack the funds to underwrite your proposal.
2. You're thinking of applying for a transfer, I understand.
Don K. Ferguson's e-mail address is ferguson111@comcast.net.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
National Grammar Day
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 is National Grammar Day.
Thank you to Susan, who alerted me to today's festivities.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Bob the Angry Flower
Comic artist Stephen Notley set up shop as his Bob the Angry Flower character at the WonderCon comic book convention at Moscone Center.
Full Story: WonderCon: Comic book subculture now mainstream.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Why Don Ferguson is one of my heroes
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/dec/28/know-how-to-use-apostrophe/Grammar Gremlins: Know how to use apostrophe
By Don K. Ferguson
Sunday, December 28, 2008The use of an apostrophe is troublesome for many.
It often is omitted where it is necessary or inserted where it isn't needed.
Placing the apostrophe in plural possessives causes one of the biggest problems. In a recent survey, nearly half of the 2,000 people polled thought "people's choice" was wrong, whereas it is correct.
An example of where an apostrophe is often incorrectly used is in names on residential mailboxes. Example: The Smith's.
You might, however, write about the Smiths' mailbox or the Smiths' house, using an apostrophe to indicate plural possession.
Perhaps the most common apostrophe mistake occurs with "it's." With the apostrophe, the term is a contraction for "it is" or "it has." Without the apostrophe, "its" is the possessive form of "it." The form "its' " is never right.
Don K. Ferguson's e-mail address is ferguson111@comcast.net.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Its, It's
Its is the possessive form of it, but it does not use an apostrophe.
I know it's confusing, but that's the rule.
Less, Fewer
- Fewer dollars or less money
- Fewer calories means it's less filling
- Less cloudy because of fewer clouds
- Fewer people make up less of a crowd
- Fewer miles or less distance
There, Their, There's, They're
Their is something belonging to them.
There's is a contraction for there is.
They're is a contraction for they are.