IMPASSIBLE/IMPASSABLE

This is a tough one, but careful thinking about the root and the suffixes of each word might help.
Explain the difference in meaning between “impassible” and “impassable”.
What part of speech is each word?
Create sentences using “impassible” and “impassable” correctly.

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “avuncular”.
What part of speech is “avuncular”?
Define “avuncular” and use it in a sentence that demonstrates its meaning.
Try to use “avuncular” in your speech today.

CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS

Corrections and explanations for this week’s entries will be published late Sunday.

THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS!

Identify and correct the errors in the following pieces.

“Cancer patients wait longer here for radiation, data shows”
Beatrice Fantoni, Front Page Headline, The Windsor Star, Thursday, May 17, 2012.

“Replacing equipment and hiring new staff meant Windsor radiation patients faced some of the longest wait times for treatment in the province last year, data collected by the Cancer Quality Council of Ontario suggests.”
Beatrice Fantoni, “Cancer patients wait longer here for radiation, data shows”, The Windsor Star, Thursday, May 17, 2012.

“Data collected by the CQCO between 2009 and 2011 shows that in the last year, 46.3 percent of patients at the Windsor regional Cancer Centre requiring radiation therapy were treated within the target two-week period which starts when the patient has consulted with the oncologist and is fully prepared for treatment.”
Beatrice Fantoni, “Cancer patients wait longer here for radiation, data shows”, The Windsor Star, Thursday, May 17, 2012.

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “bromide”.
What part of speech is “bromide”?
Give both the connotative and denotative meanings of “bromide”.
Create two sentences using “bromide” connotatively and denotatively.

DO SOME PROOFING

Identify and correct the errors in the following pieces.

“The coalition of Family Physicians and Specialists of Ontario warned doctors may want to leave the province, calling the government’s actions are ‘a serious threat to the medical profession and the people we serve.’ ”
The Canadian Press, “Doctors’ group urges physicians to seek work outside Ontario”, The Windsor Star, Wednesday, May 16, 2012.

“ ‘We’ve reversed the brain drain, it’s now a brain gain.’ ”
The Canadian Press, “Doctors’ group urges physicians to seek work outside Ontario”, The Windsor Star, Wednesday, May 16, 2012.

BELIEVE THIS

Identify the author who penned this piece of wisdom.

“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “plaintive”.
What part of speech is “plaintive”?
Define “plaintive” and use it in a sentence.

PROPER PUNCTUATION A MUST

Identify and correct the error in the following piece. Be sure to give a reason.

“But he said getting rid of parkland doesn’t mean getting rid of green space, rather, it can include letting it return to a natural state, like what was allowed for a portion of Memorial Park.”
Doug Schmidt, “ARE CITY PARKS A MOVING BUDGET TARGET?” The Windsor Star, Tuesday, May 15, 2012.

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “cajolery”.
What part of speech is “cajolery”?
Define “cajolery” and use it in a sentence that shows its use.
Try to use “cajolery” in your speech today.

JERRY-BUILT/JURY-RIGGED

Here are a couple of expressions that are commonly used but sometimes misused.
Explain the meaning of “jerry-built”.
Explain the meaning of “jury-rigged.”
Create sentences for “jerry-built” and “jury-rigged” that demonstrate the meanings of each term.
BONUS: Earn TWO GOLD STARS if you can identify the origin of each expression.

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “humbug”.
What parts of speech can “humbug” be?
Give definitions for the different parts of speech of “humbug”.
Create sentences for all parts of speech of “humbug”.

Here are the corrections and explanations for last week’s entries.

MONDAY

Identify and correct all the errors in the following pieces.

“But talks have broke off at another supplier, Oakley Sub-Assembly, though union officials on Sunday said workers aren’t yet going to strike.”
“Have broke” is an unacceptable and incorrect construction.
“But talks have broken off at another supplier, Oakley Sub-Assembly, though union officials on Sunday said workers aren’t yet going to strike.”

“More to the point, Diefenbaker was no incrementalist: He dreamed big, spoke big, mesmerized voters with the power of his vision. Whereas Harper is proving to be, at the end of the day, what the Japanese were to the internal combustion engine: An improver of someone else’s invention.”
“Whereas” is a subordinate conjunction, so what follows it becomes a subordinate clause which cannot stand by itself. The period must be changed to a comma to make it work properly.
Capitalizing “An” after the colon is incorrect because what follows is not a clause.
“More to the point, Diefenbaker was no incrementalist: He dreamed big, spoke big, mesmerized voters with the power of his vision, whereas Harper is proving to be, at the end of the day, what the Japanese were to the internal combustion engine: an improver of someone else’s invention.”

“Because Harper is busy being That Guy.”
“Because” is a subordinate conjunction, so what follows it is a subordinate clause which cannot stand by itself. It is very easy to fix.
“Harper is busy being That Guy.”

TUESDAY

Find and correct the errors.
If you think there are no errors in some examples, defend your choice.

“The 80-bed West Lincoln Memorial Hospital that Hudak referred to is run by the Hamilton Health Sciences, and it will be rebuilt. Just not as soon as expected.”
The last group of words has no verb, so is an incomplete thought and must be connected to the principal clause to make correct sense.
“The 80-bed West Lincoln Memorial Hospital that Hudak referred to is run by the Hamilton Health Sciences, and it will be rebuilt, just not as soon as expected.”

“Why?” Because it makes sense.”
“Because” is a subordinate conjunction, so what follows it is a subordinate clause which cannot stand by itself. It is very easy to fix. Didn’t I just correct this?
“Why?” It makes sense.”

“So much fun that Delmore will do it again next winter.”
This is not a complete thought.
“It was so much fun that Delmore will do it again next winter.”

“ ‘Myself and Greg Day (of St. Clair Beach), we’re actually signed back in Austria with Graz,’ Delmore said excitedly.”
This is a complete misuse of the reflexive pronoun “myself”.
The other person should always be mentioned first.
“ ‘Greg Day (of St. Clair Beach) and I, we’re actually signed back in Austria with Graz,’ Delmore said excitedly.”

WEDNESDAY

DEMURE/DEMUR

“Demure” is an adjective meaning quiet and reserved. It is pronounced “de-myure.”
“Her shy and demure countenance belied the heart of passion that beat in her breast.”

“Demur” is a verb used to describe the action of someone who resists acting as requested or refusing to answer a question; it is a mild, not loud, but vehement refusal. It is pronounced  “duh-murr.”
“If you ask me to sit next to her again, I will demur and leave the party.”

THURSDAY

Does the following sentence make sense? If it does, please let me know because I do not understand what is being said. If it doesn’t, please fix it.

“We need accomplished people holding public office, not unemployable, fast-talking flim-flammers with a jones for getting close to the money.”
What does “with a jones” mean? I confess, I have never heard to expression. I apologize for being so ignorant.
“We need accomplished people holding public office, not unemployable, fast-talking flim-flammers with a penchant for getting close to the money.”

“Maghnieh’s agenda, clearly, is advancing Al Maghnieh’s career. Which is fine.”
“Which” is a subordinate conjunction, so what follows it cannot stand by itself. A simple punctuation change would fix the problem.
“Maghnieh’s agenda, clearly, is advancing Al Maghnieh’s career, which is fine.”

FRIDAY

HANGAR/HANGER

“Hangar” is a noun which refers to the place where you can park your plane.
“The huge, new hangar at Windsor Airport will be used for sophisticated repairs of many large intercontinental jets.”

“Hanger” is a noun referring to a device used to hold clothes or coats or pants.
“I prefer to use a wire hanger to hang my pants because it allows them to be removed smoothly.”

WORTH TAKING TO HEART

“The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.”
Elbert Hubbard, an American author who lived from 1856 to 1915, wrote this.

LAST WEEK’S WORDS

“Turgid” (adj.) means ostentatiously lofty in style, bombastic or large.
“The orator was like so many turgid preachers, full of hot air and empty of substance.”

“Irascible” (adj.) means quickly aroused to anger, hot-headed, contentious or argumentative.
The lawyer often got himself into trouble with judges because of his irascible and mean-spirited behaviour to witnesses who did not share his point of view.”

“Intuitive” (adj.) means innate, natural, nonrational or born of a natural tendency.
“The mother’s pro-active and innate sense of her child’s well-being protected him from harm in an extremely violent world.”

“Diacritical” (adj.) means being capable of distinguishing, discerning or discriminating.
“The scout’s diacritical skills afforded him the ability to distinguish superior talent in young players who had the potential to reach the majors and he was seldom wrong.”

“Sublimate” (v.) means to direct energy to useful activities, to purify, to transform into a higher or more acceptable form, to divert or to modify to a higher level.
“Sublimation” is the noun form.
“Sublime”, meaning lofty in thought, is the root.
“The goal of much therapy is to sublimate baser instincts into loftier, more acceptable and more civilized patterns.”

HANGAR/HANGER

This should not be much of a challenge and ends the week on an easy note.

Define and explain the difference in meaning and use of the words “hangar” and “hanger”.
What part of speech is each word?
Create sentences using “hangar” and “hanger” that show the meanings of the words.

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “sublimate”.
What part of speech is “sublimate”?
What other parts of speech can be made from “sublimate”?
Define “sublimate” and use it in a sentence.

CORRECTIONS & EXPLANATIONS

Corrections and explanations for this week’s entries will be posted Sunday.

AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE?

Does the following sentence make sense? If it does, please let me know because I do not understand what is being said. If it doesn’t, please fix it.

“We need accomplished people holding public office, not unemployable, fast-talking flim-flammers with a jones for getting close to the money.”
Chris Vander Doelen, “Al tops Al’s agenda”, The Windsor Star, Thursday, May 10, 2012.

ARE THESE ALL SENTENCES?

Read the following example and tell me whether or not it contains an incorrectly structured sentence. Prove your point, whichever it is. If there is an error, cite it, give a reason why and correct it.

“Maghnieh’s agenda, clearly, is advancing Al Maghnieh’s career. Which is fine.”
Chris Vander Doelen, “Al tops Al’s agenda”, The Windsor Star, Thursday, May 10, 2012.

WORTH TAKING TO HEART

Identify the author of the following.

“The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.”

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “diacritical”.
What part of speech is “diacritical”?
Define “diacritical” and use it in a sentence that shows its meaning.

DEMURE/DEMUR

“Demure” and “demur” are basically related words in that they have a common motif but they really are different when used.
What part of speech is “demure”?
What part of speech is “demur”?
Define and explain the correct pronunciation of “demure” and “demur”.
Create sentences using “demure” and “demur” being sure that the sentences convey the correct meanings of the words.

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “intuitive”.
What part of speech is “intuitive”?
Define “intuitive” and use it in a sentence that demonstrates its meaning.

A MIX OF WRITING ERRORS

You may disagree with my choices for today, but there are writing errors in each of the following examples which are unacceptable. One is not done by a professional writer, but it is really bad and must be included.
Find and correct the errors.
If you think there are no errors in some examples, defend your choice.

“The 80-bed West Lincoln Memorial Hospital that Hudak referred to is run by the Hamilton Health Sciences, and it will be rebuilt. Just not as soon as expected.”
Lead Editorial Opinion, “Tim Hudak, Bending the truth”, The Windsor Star, Monday, May 8, 2012.

“Why?” Because it makes sense.”
Lead Editorial Opinion, “Tim Hudak, Bending the truth”, The Windsor Star, Monday, May 8, 2012.

“So much fun that Delmore will do it again next winter.”
Bob Duff, “Delmore enjoys life in Italy”, The Windsor Star, Monday, May 8, 2012.

“ ‘Myself and Greg Day (of St. Clair Beach), we’re actually signed back in Austria with Graz,’ Delmore said excitedly.”
Andy Delmore, in a story by Bob Duff, “Delmore enjoys life in Italy”, The Windsor Star, Monday, May 8, 2012.

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “irascible”.
What part of speech is “irascible”?
Define “irascible” and use it in a sentence that demonstrates its meaning.