This week we’re polishing off the last of the turkey sandwiches, hanging lights, taking our decorations out of the attic—and addressing our cards. Let’s continue our discussion of how to pluralize our family names with tricky spellings. Read more
Last Wednesday we asked a series of pluralization questions regarding apostrophes and last names so we can sign off on our Christmas cards with confidence.
This actually happened to me when I was facilitating a continuing education class for 200 accountants in Charlotte, North Carolina, a few years back. An audience member and I were wearing identical outfits. Read more
This is another example of language we can send to the Redundancy Department of Redundancy. Yet, we do hear people say:
“We completely eliminated the problem.” Read more
This has been a crowd favorite, so to speak. So many of you have shared examples of how often you hear people say, “I have to leave for the airport at 4 a.m., in the morning.” Read more
Following graduation from Mississippi State University, I moved back to my hometown and worked that summer and fall at my hometown newspaper. One of the most fun projects I contributed to during that time was the Thanksgiving recipe publication. Read more
“Larry decided to postpone sending the email until later that afternoon.”
“I’m going postpone doing my geometry homework until later.”
Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “postpone until later”? It kind of just rolls off the tongue, but it’s poor usage.
Postpone automatically indicates later. If you postpone studying, it means you’re not going to study until later.
So, the practical grammar tip here is to always eliminate “until later.” Just say postpone.
After all, you’ve never heard someone decide to postpone studying until earlier.
To customize a keynote or professional development session that will have your audience laughing and learning, contact Mandi Stanley.
Certified Speaking Professional Mandi Stanley works with business leaders who want to boost their professional image by becoming better speakers and writers through interactive high-content keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, technical writing seminars, and fun proofreading classes.
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Photo by Malvestida Magazine on Unsplash
A fellow Amory Panther brought this confusing word pair to my attention through Facebook. Let’s see how well you choose the correct word in this sentence: Read more
Are you starting something or beginning something? Read more
This week’s post is a quick read, but we’re using our summer theme of “Grammar Grapplers” to answer readers’ questions. Recently, I’ve received a couple of versions of this question. What do you think? Please choose the correct response. Read more
