Grammar Nerd: Here to Help With Your Grammar Needs!
By: Sydnee Bagovich
My grammar nerdery began, oh, probably around fourth grade, when we learned how to write the phonetic pronunciation of words. From there, I progressed into diagramming sentences and Business English in high school with much enthusiasm. All of this combined to lay the foundation for a little research project that I conducted years ago. I kept a running document on my desktop of poor grammar and language that I had accumulated in business communication and collateral over the years. (Yes, years! I told you that I was a nerd!) I took all of this stuff and put it into sections of the different blunders (I/me, they’re/there/their…) Then, I created little tutorials next to each to explain the correct usage in each scenario. I presented this to my team with the intro that, like it or not, people judge you by how you communicate—especially those of us in the world that have a pretty good command of the crazy grammar rules within the English language.
I have seen websites and business collateral of many great businesses and services whose inappropriate use of words or language misrepresents them and their crafts. These businesses are judged by the quality of their messages. It is my interest to help to correct that and to have those businesses shine for the great services that they provide without that judgment! I decided to start that mission as a contributor of this website, geared to professional women.
Each one of you is an expert in a particular field that relies on a variety of skills and knowledge. Perhaps grammar expertise is in short supply in your personal toolbox and you could benefit from some of my knowledge in the grammar-gene department! My previous articles were about some of the more common blunders (incorrect use of apostrophes, I/me, your/you’re…) This time I wanted to go down a different path and talk about words that people use that aren’t even words!
Are you guilty of using the word “irregardless”? That is one that just makes us grammar nerds cringe! Let’s look at why some people use this non-word word. We negate many words by adding the prefix “ir” to the base, such as irreverent, irrelevant or irregular. Why that rule doesn’t work here is that regardless is already negative! No need to add an “ir” to it! Irregardless very simply is not a word. In fact, just as I typed it there, Microsoft Word put a squiggly green line underneath it, and Spell Check suggested “regardless” as the replacement. Go figure! If only we could run Spell Check when we speak!
Here’s another one. How many times do you hear “asterick” used to mean that little * reference mark? The word is asterisk. It is a little difficult to say, but that is the correct word. Again, a squiggly line showed up underneath it as I typed it.
On the flip side, many grammar blunders are words that exist; however, because they are spelled properly but used improperly, they miss the Spell Check review. Let’s look at effect vs. affect. This one can look confusing, but the explanation is really quite simple. Generally speaking, effect is a noun, and affect is a verb. Period. Special effects affect our review of a movie. Now, as we all know so well, the English language—marvel that it is—gives us many exceptions, and surely they exist with affect and effect! The good thing is that these exceptions occur so infrequently that you probably don’t need to worry about them. I would be providing you a disservice, however, if I didn’t at least mention them.
Effect can be a verb meaning to bring about a change, such as to effect a major shift in their thinking. And, to round out the exceptions, affect can also be used as a noun, but again rarely. Here it is psychological speak describing a feeling or emotion—a person’s flat affect. It is also pronounced differently.
We speak more often about effects than effecting change, and affecting rather than a person’s affect. So, if you stick with the first generalization, you will be right just about all of the time: effect is a noun, and affect is a verb.
As with all of my topics, I hope that you find this helpful. Send me an email at grammar.nerd@yahoo.com, if I can clarify further, or if you have a grammar question for me.
Visit my website at www.thegrammarnerd.com, or friend my The Grammar Nerd Facebook fan page for more tips and tricks! See The Grammar Nerd at The Crafton Public Library on Tuesday, September 13. For details and registration, visit Eventbrite.com: http://tgncraftonpubliclibrary.eventbrite.com/
Sydnee Bagovich provides professional proofreading services for your business: websites, brochures, presentations… You write it. She makes it right. You can reach her at grammar.nerd@yahoo.com.