We had been married only a few months when we entertained my parents for dinner. A downpour had flooded our basement apartment and now a sump pump in one corner of the dining area emitted a constant drone. With a limited number of electrical outlets, a tangle of extension cords fueled our appliances. One ran […]
According to the Chicago of Manual of Style, the apostrophe has three primary uses: to show possession, to indicate missing letters (i.e. in contractions), and, “…rarely, to form the plural of certain expressions.” Perhaps the most egregious apostrophe error is its overuse. An apostrophe is not used in the following situations: to form the plural […]
In all the ink spilled this week over Jeff Bezos’ purchase of the Washington Post, my favorite line comes from Gene Weingarten in an open letter to his new boss. As the editor of the Miami Herald’s Sunday magazine, Weingarten and his colleagues refused to give front page coverage to the winners of the Silver […]
Today let’s tackle another pair of easily confused words: allude and elude. And for good measure, let’s throw in delude. All three come from the Latin root: ludere meaning “to play; to mimic, mock; to deceive.” Ludicrous—meaning ridiculous—is closely related. Other “lude” words (not to be confused with lewd) that evolve from this root include […]
