I'm Not One to Pick On Typos, But ...

One I came across recently on a Frommers.com message board was just too good:

The place is run by Rasta's, and if you take the time to talk you'll learn they are non-violent and dolt on children.

Regarding yesterday's "the outdoors is"/"the outdoors are" conundrum: Neither "Garner's" nor "Fowler's" says whether "outdoors" takes a singular or a plural verb. Yesterday when I was running on too little sleep, this seemed baffling. Today, running on my full eleven hours (kidding), I'm having trouble remembering what was so perplexing. Seems there are few instances in which "outdoors" would seem to call for a plural verb like "are" and even fewer instances when "the great outdoors" would.

Words I'm Looking Up (One in an occasional cleverly named series on words I'm looking up)

outdoors

A colleague just asked me: Is it "the great outdoors are" or "the great outdoors is"? And I'm none too happy with what then transpired.

Webster's New World and American Heritage online give no instruction on whether the noun takes a singular or plural verb. Dictionary.com and Merriam Webster online do. They both say it takes the singular verb: "The outdoors is a wonderful getaway location."

But I'm not sure I trust them. I'm disappointed that American Heritage online didn't have any further instruction because that's the dictionary that's usually best for this kind of thing. For many such gray areas, the American Heritage includes rulings of a Usage Panel -- experts who give their two cents.

For a moment, I tried to make this a Wonderings and Googlings topic. I tried Googling "the outdoors is"/"the outdoors are," "the great outdoors is"/"the great outdoors are." But it turned up too many wild cards -- stuff like "One person who enjoys the outdoors is" and "Some things you'll find in the outdoors are." Pretty useless.

I'll check my "Garner's" and "Fowler's" when I get home from the freelance gig tonight. Until then ... Oy. Just oy.

New Contender for Most Grammar-savvy TV Show

In the past, I've dubbed "The Simpsons" the most grammatically savvy show on TV. But now it appears it has some competition.

In just a few short seasons, NBC's "30 Rock" has squeezed in at least four great grammar jokes.

1. In last week's episode, Tracy, the seemingly not-too-smart actor who's the star of the fictional sketch comedy show, tells a supposedly more educated character: "Don't end a sentence with a preposition."

2. In a previous season, Tracy humiliated an Ivy League writer by telling him his "who" should have been "whom."

3. Also last week, it was revealed that star Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) wrote a letter of complaint about the grammar in signage in the New York City subway. Her reasoning: Someone needs to defend "whom."

4. My favorite: Earlier this season, Salma Hayek was demonstrating to love interest Alec Baldwin the power of speaking quickly and authoritatively in Spanish. As she tore through several rapid-fire Spanish sentences, Alec's character Jack, overwhelmed with confusion and passion, at one point mumbled, "Was that the subjunctive?"

I never thought I'd hear the word "subjunctive" on prime time. And that's why "The Simpsons" writers should watch their backs.

Words I'm Looking Up (One in an occasional, cleverly named series on words I'm looking up)

(I love it when this happens.)

like

adv. as for example: 'great dramatists like Sophocles and Shakespeare' — Webster's New World College Dictionary's (sixth definition)

prep. such as; for example: 'saved things like old newspapers and pieces of string' — American Heritage Dictionary (fifth definition)

There's a cold war going on between me and another copy editor at my freelance job, although she doesn't realize it. Every time I copy edit a document that contains the this usage of "like," I leave it as is. But if she's the final proofreader, she changes each of these "likes" to "such as."

The reason? Traditionalists say that "like" means "similar to" — not "for example." So if you say that dramatists are like Sophocles, you're not saying he is one. You're saying that, though dramatists and Sophocles are similar, they are not the same animal. And indeed, if you're only reading the first four or five dictionary definitions of "like," you would reasonably conclude as much.

But if you read all the definitions of "like," you'll see that it's also a synonym for "such as." You could make a good case for preferring "such as." But you can't say that one is right and the other wrong.

Period. Done. End of discussion.

But for me, the fun part comes before we even read the definitions. That little "adv." before the Webster's definition and the "prep." before American Heritage delight me to no end. I just love it when dictionaries can't decide what part of speech a word is. It's all the more reason why Joe and Jane Doe should not feel bad about their grammar skills.

NYT's Stumble Is My Certificate of Mental Health

Last month I wrote a blog entry about words that are out to get me. After some fancy footwork to try to deflect observations like, "Yeah, June, that's real sane," I identified the leader of the conspiracy -- the word "lead." I wrote:

Like some kind of evil twin, "lead" likes to stand in for "led," knowing full well that the metal "lead" sounds exactly like the past tense of the verb, which is spelled "led." The dastard.

So today, after nearly a month of scanning the street for men in white coats every time I step outside, today I opened the New York Times and saw this:

While indicating, again, that he is willing to be flexible, Mr. Obama dismissed some Republican criticisms of his program, saying that they "echo the very same failed economic theories that lead us into this crisis in the first place."

Ha!

So now that we've established my sanity, let me tell you about the cabal of SUV drivers conspiring to obstruct my view of traffic ...

At Long Last -- Grammar Snobbery Scientifically Explained

According to a piece on MSNBC.com, there exist people who are snobby about grammar! (Who knew?) And, as if that piece of breaking news weren't enough, the article actually goes so far as to seek out and find a scientific explanation for the phenomenon.

Experts in the article say that grammar snobbery is most definitely probably might could can be explained as follows:

1. Hanging on to some kind of rule might be comforting to people.
2. Stress can affect how forgiving people are of spelling and punctuation errors.
3. An obsession with proper usage may be related to some kind of perfectionist streak.
4. Or it could have to do with childhood patterns of wanting to please adults or teachers by doing things right.
5. Putting somebody down by pointing out their bad spelling also could be a power thing.
6. Or it could simply be part of the brain’s natural function.
7. “Attribution theory comes into this as well. ... My mistakes are caused by external circumstances, but others’ are caused by a lack of skill or a character flaw.”
8. "Character has nothing to do with it."
9. Researchers at Oxford University believe the ability to spell may have more to do with our DNA than the amount of time we spend with our nose in a dictionary.
10. Others believe nutrition and sleep patterns can affect the way our brain manages the arduous task of learning the English language.

That's right, folks. With this kind of scientific insight, I bet we're just months away from developing a pill that will cure grammar snobbery altogether. If only we could develop a cure for grasping-at-straws feature writing ...

Words I'm Looking Up (One in an occasional cleverly named series on words I'm looking up)

harassment

NPR's Day to Day had a story this morning about widespread harassment of women in Cairo. The reporter pronounced it HAR-as-ment, inspiring me to (finally) get around to checking this:

Webster's New World College Dictionary says you can pronounce harass with the stress on the first or second syllable, but its first choice is HAR-as. Interestingly, for the noun form, it offers only one pronounciation: HAR-as-ment.

Merriam-Webster online allows both pronunciations for the verb and both pronunciations for the noun. But for both, M-W's first choice is to put the stress on the second syllable: ha-RAS, ha-RAS-ment.

American Heritage Dictionary takes the time to include a whole usage note about disputes on how to pronounce harass:

Educated usage appears to be evenly divided on the pronunciation of harass. In our 1987 survey 50 percent of the Usage Panel preferred stressing the first syllable, while 50 percent preferred stressing the second. Curiously, the Panelists' comments appear to indicate that each side regards itself as an embattled minority.

Ironically, after all that, it offers only one pronunciation for the noun: ha-RAS-ment.