by Flo Selfman
Pre-internet, a college student spotted my “Grammar for Grownups” class listing in the Learning Annex catalog and called me to proofread a paper she had written. When she came by to pick it up, I went through the errors with her. She looked at me and said, “You’re kind of a savant about this stuff, aren’t you?” I took it as a compliment.
For many years my career was public relations, working with celebrities/personalities, author tours, and live events including theatre. PR requires lots of reading, for ideas, learning about the clients and their work, and for client mentions. Noticing errors in major media, I began saving them and eventually amassed a large pile. Separating the individual sheets into categories, I determined what the most commonly made errors were and developed this into a popular class. I was asked to “proofread” people’s work. The requests grew and I loved the work. I even discovered that what I do is copyediting, of which proofreading is a component.
Here is a baker’s dozen* of current commonly made errors, followed by corrections and explanations.
- I’m not adverse to getting a used car.
- Honey, I shrunk the kids!
- One of the central tenets of Buddhism is the concept of non-violence.
- Our guide, Susan, lead the eight riders up a steep trail.
- The topic of marshall law has been in the news in recent weeks.
- Jack and Sally’s daughter is student-of-the-week at her kindergarten. The child is only six-years-old.
- Our neighbor’s classic 1965 Corvair 500 has duel carburetors.
- Some longtime journalists have a horde of magazines stacked up in their offices.
- When the borders left, the homeowners had a mess to clean up.
- When Mom walked in Jill’s room, she was surprised at how neat it was!
- It took Max three months to get an appointment with a podiatrist to treat his callouses.
- The audience rose in mass to applaud the soloist.
- Be sure to take advantage of the advanced ticket pricing.
Corrections and explanations:
- I’m not adverse averse to getting a used car. (“Adverse” is an adjective: She had an adverse reaction to the medicine. “Averse” means “against.”)
- Honey, I shrunk shrank the kids! (shrink, shrank, shrunk are the simple present, past, and past participle of the verb “to shrink.” In comedy, it’s thought that the short “u” is a funnier sound than the short “a”; hence the title of the popular 1989 movie – grammatically incorrect, but funny.)
- One of the central tenets of Buddhism is the concept of non-violence. (“tenet” is correct. It means a principle or belief. It is often misspelled as “tenant.”)
- Our guide, Susan, lead led all eight riders up a steep trail. (“led” is the past tense of “to lead.” It is often misspelled as “lead.” Both are pronounced “led.” “Lead(s)” is present tense and is pronounced “leed.”) Consider context when making your choice.
- The topic of marshall martial law has been in the news in recent weeks. (Martial law is when the military takes over government and ordinary laws are suspended. It is only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence. “Martial” is an adjective pertaining to war. “Mars” is the god of war. It is often misspelled as Marshall law.)
- Jack and Sally’s daughter is student-of-the-week student of the week at her kindergarten. The child is only six-years-old six years old. (The hyphens are not needed. “Student of the Week” could be capitalized if you like. Pertaining to numbers, hyphens are only needed as an adjective (the six-year-old girl): use two hyphens to create a one-word adjective modifying the noun “girl.” Note: “old” is included; it’s not “six-year old girl.” Nearly all other hyphens pertaining to numbers are unnecessary.
- Our neighbor’s classic 1965 Corvair 500 has duel dual carburetors. (“Dual” means two. ”Duel” is a contest or fight between two parties.)
- Some longtime journalists have a horde hoard of magazines stacked up in their offices. (“Hoard” is an often secret collection of things. Carried to extremes, it is called hoarding and people who do it are hoarders. “Horde” is a large group of people.)
- When their borders boarders left, the homeowners had a mess to clean up. (“Borders” are edges. “Boarders” are people who stay with others and often pay for room and “board.”)
- When Mom walked in into Jill’s room, she was surprised at how neat it was! “In” is inside; in this sentence, Mom would already have to be in the room to walk “in” the room. “Into” means from outside in – so Mom walked “into” Jill’s room.)
- It took Max three months to get an appointment with a podiatrist to treat his callouses calluses. (Calluses are hard pieces of skin, often on the bottoms of the feet. “Callous” means insensitive and cruel.)
- The audience rose in mass en masse to applaud the soloist. (AI-generated captions are often written phonetically, so they’re often incorrect. The correct spelling here is “en masse,” meaning all together.
- Be sure to take advantage of the advanced advance ticket pricing. (“Advance” means early. “Advanced” means further along in development or progress. So, you may buy “advance” tickets, brought to you by our “advanced” system of delivery—say, by drone.)
If you got all these correct, you deserve a treat – perhaps a donut?
*By the way, if you’d like to know why a baker’s dozen is 13, find out here: https://www.britannica.com/story/why-is-a-bakers-dozen-13/
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Flo Selfman is a copy editor for award-winning books, both fiction and nonfiction, in several genres. She was president of the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC.org) for a dozen years, stepping down in 2016. Winner of the Honorary Achievement Award from The BookFest (Spring 2023). Flo is working on a collection of stories and can often be found exploring SoCalif, camera in hand.
Flo Selfman
PR Consultant
Copy Editor-Proofreader
"the lady with the red pen"
WordsalaMode.com
Independent Writers of SoCalif., Past President
2003-2016 IWOSC.org (now merged with WPN Writers)
