Monday, March 10, 2008

My Grammatical Annoyances

Beginning a sentence with, "So"

Some people throw in the word so like it's a punctuation mark. Even on a news program I heard a PhD responding to questions and each response began with "so". Why throw in the extra word anway?

"Stress" versus "Emphasize"

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to consider the words you use. When we feel stress in ackward situations we become uncomfortable. Have I made my point clearly?

"Eager" vesus "Anxious"

I am eager for you to understand the concept and use these points in your own communication. But don't become anxious if you are one of the folks who do these things that I'll get onto you.

Speaking in the second person

If you are telling a story about yourself then please use the words "I" and "my". People who share their personal story and say "you" this or "your" that they may be trying to relate, but why water down your unique story?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So Mike, I can't stress enough how much I love your blog. Believe me, it's difficult to be dedicated to it, especially when you have a family of four and you're up all day and night programming and you don't get a lot of sleep so...
I'm anxious to read your next post. So, keep up the good work

Anonymous said...

WELLLLLL.....You look like your father, but my goodness!!!! You are sooooo much like your mother!!!! There ought to be some kind of market for such vital information!

Mother

Anonymous said...

My Grammatical Annoyances:

Awkward is spelled with a "w", not a "c". Otherwise, I concur!

Mike Ritter said...

Ouch. I should consult my editor on spelling awkward.