Instant Quiz

Can you improve the sentence below? Scroll to the bottom of today’s post for the answer.    

We ate lunch under a tree, then we looked for shells on the beach.

____________________________________________________________________________

Like many writers, I spend a lot of time arguing about edits. What’s unusual is that most of the time I’m arguing with myself.

The word “so” is an example, especially when it’s the first word of a sentence. Some experts argue against using “so” that way:

So, what should we do about the overflow?  WEAK
What should we do about the overflow?  BETTER

I dutifully remove “so” every time – and then, more often than not, I put it back. Does that make me a bad writer? I don’t think so.

That initial “so” has two virtues worth noting. One is that it adds flow. A second is that it gives writing a conversational feel. Here’s an example:

During the pandemic, many businesses allowed employees to work from home. So it’s no surprise that so many workers are reluctant to return to their cubicles.

You know more about English than you think you do! Trust your good judgment. English is  always growing and changing. Your most important writing tools are your brains and your language experience.

____________________________________________________________

You can’t join two sentences with “then.” (The only words that can join sentences are the FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet so.)

Most of the time, and and but will do the job for you.

We ate lunch under a tree, and then we looked for shells on the beach.  CORRECT

For many centuries, people used to believe that Latin was a better language because it had so many complicated endings.

Today we know that there’s no such thing as a “better language.” All languages are capable of immense sophistication.

We also know that equating “difficult” with “better” is a mistake.

It’s time to stop acting as if there’s something magical and wonderful about Latin grammar. If you want to learn Latin, that’s great! But skip the grammar. Duolingo is a free online learning platform. You’ll quickly learn a lot of Latin without the gobbledygook.

You may have been told (as I was) that if you want to use English well, you have to study the rules of English grammar. That is absolutely NOT true, and I can prove it.

Which phrase is correct: “a friendly little girl” or “a little friendly girl”?

I would bet serious money that you chose “a friendly little girl.”

Most English grammar is based on word order. Never an you in hear order error word. You never hear an error in word order. If you’re a native speaker, you learned the rules of word order before you entered first grade.

You should invest your time and energy into learning how to select, organize, and present ideas and information. Latin grammar won’t teach you any of those important skills.

Photo provided by Joel Bellviure
CC License

Sometimes we Americans are blamed for two annoying nonstandard English usages. One is ain’t, and the second is using literally to mean “figuratively”: 

I ain’t got nothing left to say.
Joe literally laughed his head off.

Today’s post has two purposes. One is to correct the historical record. The second is to tell you about a resource you can use to research these questions yourself: the Oxford English Dictionary.

Let’s start with ain’t, a nonstandard word that could cause you to be passed over for a job or a promotion. Please don’t use it in a business setting!

But its history might surprise you. Ain’t was standard English from around 1600 to 1800. It  used to be so respectable that it appeared in letters written by Jonathan Swift, Lord Byron, Henry Fielding, and George Eliot.

Literally was first used in the sense of figuratively in a British novel published in 1769: it’s hardly an example of twenty-first century decay.

The Oxford English Dictionary is a famous historical dictionary that traces the appearance and development of our English lexicon. When you look up a word (such as ain’t), you’ll get both the definition and the year it first appeared in print.

If the meaning changes over time, you’ll get the year that new definition first appeared. Quotations and sources are included to show how the word is used.

If you’re an avid reader, I guarantee that you’ll enjoy Simon Winchester’s book The Professor and the Madman, which tells the story of how The Oxford English Dictionary was compiled.

Or you might want to watch the 2019 film, starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn. (Whichever one you choose, prepare to be shocked! There’s a raw and painful story mixed in with the intellectual content.)

Back in 1819, the British poet John Keats wrote of instead of have in a letter. Go to this link (Full text of “The Letters Of John Keats Volume Ii”) to read the letter: “Had I known of your illness I should not of written in such sorry phrase in my first letter.”

It’s the same mistake students make today. Here’s the correct version: “Had I known of your illness I should not of written in such sorry phrase in my first letter.:

There’s a useful lesson here: don’t assume that every mistake is a sign that language skills are deteriorating. Writers have always made mistakes – and always will.

There’s one difference, however: nowadays we have superb grammar checkers and spellcheckers. There’s no excuse for careless writing mistakes anymore.

Poet John Keats by J. Severn

Here they are: restive, enervated, and fulsome. (Were you expecting naughty words? Sorry to disappoint you!)

There’s nothing wrong with these words, of course. But they’re in transition right now  and developing new meanings. How will you (or your readers, if you’re a writer) know which meaning was intended?

It might be wise to avoid this trio of words altogether.

“Restive” originally meant restless, fidgety, or out of control.  But because it contains the word “rest,” some people think it means restful.

“Enervated” originally meant drained or exhausted. But it sounds a little like “energetic,” and that meaning has caught on.

“Fulsome” originally meant exaggerated praise. But now it’s often used to mean sincere praise.

It’s fun to learn new words! But be careful when using an unfamiliar word. Make sure you know the current meaning.

In the last couple of weeks I’ve come across the same bad writing advice twice. What’s really interesting is that the contexts were different.

Here’s the bad advice:

1. You should avoid semicolons because they don’t indicate the relationship between the two ideas. (This is Michael Kinsley’s position) 

2.  You should avoid dashes because they don’t indicate the relationship between the two ideas. (This is Lionel Shriver’s position.)

Bosh! Our brains are perfectly capable of figuring out those relationships. In fact our brains enjoy doing that. It’s more active and interesting than just imbibing information.

Take a look at these two sentences:

We enjoyed our visit; Susan is a wonderful hostess.

Raindrops began to fall – we needed to hurry.

No one could miss the connections between those pairs of ideas. We enjoyed the visit because Susan is such a good hostess. We had to hurry because we didn’t want to get wet.

Why not simply use “because,” then? The answer is sentence variety. You don’t want to keep using the same sentence pattern over and over – a string of because sentences, for example.

My husband has been the garden writer for a newspaper for 32 years. His first editor was a pleasant young woman who — unfortunately — had some odd ideas about writing. One of them was her belief that because was a bad word.