SAY IT CORRECTLY
While on vacation, Mrs. B noted a few mispronunciations by local and network newscasters she’d like to correct. “Researchers at Johns Hopkin say they’ve ...
Category: Mrs. B
THE DEPARTMENT OF REDUNDANCY DEPARTMENT
Ridding your copy of redundancies is a lot like picking the seeds out of grapes. You want your viewers to enjoy what you feed ...
SOME OBSERVATIONS
Here are some notes Mrs. B made while on an out-of-state trip and watching local news. “He pled guilty to assault charges.” The anchor ...
A GRAMMAR WISH
Mrs. B has heard some “wish clause” mistakes this week. Here’s the easy part. If you begin a sentence with “I wish” or anyone ...
KEEP IT CLEAN
Mrs. B doesn’t allow vulgarity in her class. But let’s look at the differences among the three major no-nos of polite language: >A VULGARITY ...
A GRAMMAR WISH
Mrs. B has heard some “wish clause” mistakes this week. Here’s the easy part. If you begin a sentence with “I wish” or anyone ...
VERBAL COORDINATION
This is kind of tricky, but if you learn it, it will serve you well. When a phrase is the subject of your sentence, ...
COMPARATIVES & SUPERLATIVES
Form the comparative of ONE-syllable adjectives and adverbs by adding “er.” Form the superlative by adding “est.” late/later/latest soon/sooner/soonest Here are some exceptions: good/better/best ...
MALAPROPISMS PART 4
We continue today with our lesson on malapropisms: words we often confuse because they sound alike. “evoke” and “provoke” “Evoke means to bring to mind. ...
MALAPROPISMS PART 3
If you’ve ever used the wrong word, one that sounded like another, you’ve probably used a malapropism. Mrs. B invites you to join the ...
MALAPROPISMS PART 2
When the wrong word tumbles out of your mouth, one that sounds like the one you MEANT to use, you’ve probably used a malapropism. ...
MALAPROPISMS PART ONE
Malapropisms are words that sound kind of like the correct ones but are just wrong enough to sound ludicrous. Here are some common ones. ...
NOBODY’S PERFECT
Usually the American Journalism Review is a touchstone of grammatical writing, but Mrs. B caught this slip-up and builds today’s lesson around it: “He ...
RECURRING ERRORS
A recurring mistake begins today’s lesson, brought to Mrs. B’s attention by a Kansas City reader. The other day I heard a radio announcer ...
SOMEONE HAS TO BE THE JUDGE!
Occasionally Mrs. B dons her grammar police badge and goes after the rule-breakers. An Orlando anchor recently talked about a teacher being extradited “back” ...
NOBODY’S PERFECT
Usually the American Journalism Review is a touchstone of grammatical writing, but Mrs. B caught this slip-up and builds today’s lesson around it: “He ...
APPLYING SOME GAFFE-R’S TAPE
Mrs. B noted a few gaffes on local news she’d like to share with you in today’s lesson. The word “residents” doesn’t work nearly ...
FEWER VS. LESS
An important letter of correction to share with you today on the issue of “fewer” and “less”: “I must take exception… to your example ...
A CACHE OF GOOD ADVICE
Mrs. B thinks it’s time for a review of the words “cache” and “cachet,” pronunciations as well as definitions. A letter from Glendale, Calif., ...
IRONIC, ISN’T IT?
“Irony” and “ironic” are a couple of words we occasionally use in copy. But are we using them correctly? Mrs. B takes the cue ...
ACCEPTING THE USE OF “EXCEPT”
Mrs. B hears “accept” mispronounced so often, she’s thinking maybe it’s time for a lesson on the difference between “accept” and “except.” “Accept” is ...
APROPOS THE USE OF “APPROPRIATE”
A former producer, now a lawyer in Maryland, wrote to Mrs. B about “apropos/appropriate.” It might be helpful to you. One of her firm’s ...
IF YOU’RE FROM MAINE, YOU’RE A…
Mrs. B has noticed in her travels that anchors and reporters are having some trouble with how they talk about people from various states. ...
AN AMIABLE TOPIC
‘Are you “amiable” today? If so, that means you’re friendly and good-natured. >Ellen’s cheerful personality makes her an AMIABLE manager. “Amicable,” though it, too, ...
IMPLICITLY EXPLICIT
The difference between “explicit” and “implicit.” That’s the subject of todays lesson. “Explicit” means expressed directly or clearly stated. >The news director’s EXPLICIT memo ...
IDIOMS FOR…ALL OF US
Idioms are bound to pop out of your mouth on a regular basis, but let’s be sure that what pops out is standard. Here’s ...
IDIOMS FOR….ALL OF US
Idioms are bound to pop out of your mouth on a regular basis, but let’s be sure that what pops out is standard. Here’s ...
ACCEPTING SOME EXCEPTIONS
Mrs. B invites you to go over some commonly confused words today. “Accept” is a verb that means “to receive.” >The producer said she ...
A CONTINUAL REMINDER
It’s time for a refresher on a couple of lessons, namely the difference between “continually” and “continuously” and “its” and “it’s.” “Continually” means something ...
REDUNDANCIES…AGAIN
Mrs. B knows it’s easy to fall into the accidental use of a silly sounding redundancy. So here’s a reminder: Do NOT say “two ...
GET IT?
By itself, there’s nothing wrong with “got.” But put it with “have,” and Mrs. B’s finger starts wagging. She knows you hear it all ...
ON THE RACK
William Branigin was one of the first Washington Post reporters in Afghanistan to begin covering the war against Taliban and al Qaeda forces. He ...
COMPARING DIFFERENCES
Mrs. B’s conversation with a Muslim from the Washington area inspired today’s lesson. A 43-year-old from Saudi Arabia compared the late, unlamented Osama Bin ...
AN AIR OF FOREBODING
They look alike, sound alike, and even have similar meanings, but “forbidding” and “foreboding” are NOT interchangeable. “Forbidding” is an adjective. “Foreboding” is a ...
AN AIR OF FOREBODING
They look alike, sound alike, and even have similar meanings, but “forbidding” and “foreboding” are NOT interchangeable. “Forbidding” is an adjective. “Foreboding” is a ...
IT’S “IN”, NOT “UN”
A plaintive plea from a Grammar Yammer reader influenced Mrs. B to offer this admonition today: please don’t “un” the “in” words. Take the ...
A “MASTERLY” LESSON
Mrs. B confesses she has misused “masterful” many times and is vowing not to again. She has confused it with “masterly” and wants you ...
EMINENTLY IMMINENT
Mrs. B thinks a word that has come up lately is worth discussing in Grammar. Coroner: “imminent.” Notice it has two “m’s.” “Imminent” means ...
WATCH THOSE WORDS
The U.S. military uses two names for the on-base jail. Mrs. B wants you to repeat after her. >The Army and the Air Force ...
NO MORE CLICHÉS
“No one knows” and “everyone thinks” are not only clichés, they’re usually inaccurate. How many times have you heard, “No one knows where the ...
STARTING WITH “A”
You already know “all right” is two words, that “alright” is non-standard. But take a look at these “a”-words that work BOTH ways, as ...
MRS B: GRAMMAR UPDATE
Mrs. B thinks a word that has come up lately is worth discussing in Grammar. Corner: “imminent.” Notice it has two “ms.” “Imminent” means “soon ...
LEGAL TALK
OK, you legal eagles, legal talk is the subject of today’s Grammar Yammer. “Impeachment” is the constitutional process that accuses an elected official of ...
AVOIDING THE NON-STANDARD
You’re not likely to write any of these non-standard expressions into copy. But Mrs. B wants to be sure they don’t pop up in ...
THE MISPRONOUNCED ONES
Mrs. B has been saving up several words for this lesson. They’re words she has heard mispronounced and doesn’t want you to be one ...
DAMAGES(S) CONTROL
Mrs. B wants to be sure you’re using the nouns “damage” and “damages” correctly. A letter from an investigative reporter inspired today’s lesson: I ...
A MYRIAD OF OPTIONS
“Myriad” means a huge number, maybe even too many to count. It can be both an adjective >There are MYRIAD reasons that I’ll probably ...
PREVENTING “PREVENTATIVE”
It’s a word you hear all the time, and Mrs. B certainly doesn’t want you to lose sleep over it, but preventative is not ...
BIAS VS. PREJUDICE
You’re “biased” TOWARD or FOR or IN FAVOR OF something or someone. >She says she’s BIASED TOWARD a newscast with a mix of positive ...
“CLIMATIC” OR “CLIMACTIC?”
“Climatic” and “climactic” sound a lot a like to Mrs. B as I’m supposing they do to you, but the sound is where the ...
A FORM OF TORTURE
“Torturous” and “tortuous” both come from the Latin word “torquere,” which means “to twist.” (Mrs. B’s 8th grade Latin teacher in Tullahoma, Tennessee, would ...
A “COMMA” ERROR
Mrs. B will never forget the superintendent visiting her 7th grade English class. He told us a comma MUST come before the the in ...
DEPARTMENT OF REDUNDANCY DEPT.
Conservation is the theme of today’s lesson. Mrs. B is going to help you use fewer words than you might think you need. We’ll ...
A “COMMA” ERROR
Mrs. B will never forget the superintendent visiting her 7th grade English class. He told us a comma MUST come before the “and” in ...
BEING CENTERED
If you really want to sound as if you have a command of the language, use “center ON,” instead of “center around.” (And Mrs. ...
BONUS MRS. B: BRASS MONKEY EDITION
Today, Mrs. B digresses from grammar to discuss a familiar weather term. She wants to make sure you understand the derivation of the term ...
INJURE VS. WOUND
Today’s lesson comes by way of a tv reporter in Atlanta, where Mrs. B learned how to sing “My Country Tis of Thee” in ...
DOES THIS JIBE?
Mr. B once used a most primordial form of communication to ask Mrs. B for help in word choice: “Yo, Mrs. B,” he hollered ...
A TRIP TO THE MIDDLE EAST
Mrs. B refers to the CIA factbook for her lesson on the country of Qatar. You may have been saying something like KAY-tar or ...
AND NOW…MRS. B
Mrs. B loves her “Mares and Foals” calendar, but one year it had a punctuation error for November 11, the same error Mrs. B ...
JUST DESERTS. REALLY
Mrs. B knows when you’re reading a script about the place Bedouins live in Saudi Arabia, you’re going to SAY “desert.” But when it ...
SEASONING THE SEASONS
Mrs. B has such witty students. This question comes from a newsroom in Springfield. Is the weather seasonal or seasonable? I would like some ...
DEPARTMENT OF REDUNDANCY DEPARTMENT
Redundancy reports are rampant. And Mrs. B is squealing with delight. From Los Angeles comes “the very latest”: “That one makes me crazy (its ...
STYLISTIC INCONSISTENCIES
Oh, the inconsistency of the English language and of those whom we rely on for the right and the wrong of it! Mrs. B ...
TAKE INTO CUSTODY
Mrs. B hopes you’ve used that phrase (or variations of it) for the last time. From now on, make it ARREST or SEIZE. Take ...
NEWSPEAK
We’ve talked about “newspeak” before, but Mrs. B is being nudged to address it again: “The veteran catcher UNDERWENT hip surgery today and is ...
A CONCERNING COLUMN
Mrs. B s has a pen pal who is concerned about “is concerned”: America has an entire generation now dropping the words “is concerned” ...
WHAT’S YOUR SIGN?
Mrs. B’s sign is Libra. Today’s lesson is somewhat related. Read what arrived in her e-mailbox from the West Coast: I heard something on ...
INJURE VS. WOUND
Today’s lesson comes by way of a tv reporter in Atlanta, where Mrs. B learned how to sing “My Country Tis of Thee” in ...
WATCH THOSE WORDS
The U.S. military uses two names for the on-base jail. Mrs. B wants you to repeat after her. >The Army and the Air Force ...
REDUNDANCIES…..AGAIN
Mrs. B knows it’s easy to fall into the accidental use of a silly sounding redundancy. So here’s a reminder: Do NOT say “two ...
THE CASE FOR PUNCTUATION
Mrs. B has noticed that some anchors, even on the network level, run their sentences together. There simply are no periods in their reading. ...
MRS. B’S DRINKING GAME
“Drink, drank, drunk.” Mrs. B is going to set the record straight. “Drink” is an “irregular” verb. That means it forms its past and ...
DON’T STRESS OVER DISTRESS
If you’re in a quandary about when to use “stress” and when to use “distress,” this lesson might help. Here’s the letter from Morristown, ...
DEPARTMENT OF REDUNDANCY DEPARTMENT
Fasten your seat belt. Mrs. B is taking you on a high speed lesson in redundancies today. Ready? absolutely conclusive agricultural crops close proximity ...
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Most of the time Mrs. B prefers short words to long ones. And your viewers do, too. Instead of “approximately,” say ABOUT. Instead of ...
LOSE THE “E” AND OTHER SINGULAR TOPICS
Let’s spend a little time on a word and on a phrase we’re using lately. Our topic is courtesy of a note we once ...
LISTEN UP EVERYONE
Every time Mrs. B thinks of Mrs. Bobo, her senior English teacher in high school (and her mentor), she thinks of the “everyone” lesson. ...
GIVING GRAMMAR ITS DUE
Due to” is an adjective phrase and should not be used as a preposition meaning “because of.” >The shoot was canceled BECAUSE OF a ...
BEHIND BARS WITH MRS. B
Most viewers are confused by incarceration. Mrs. B wants you to be sure your confusion is not adding to theirs. JAIL is a local ...
NOT A FAVORITE
“Proactive” is not one of Mrs. B’s favorite words. In fact, she would like to see it eradicated. (And that’s pretty radical for the ...
THAT WHICH IS CORRECT
“That” is one of those words that can make for a bumpy read and, therefore, a bumpy listen. It’s also a word that, if ...
SOUND-ALIKES
Mrs. B would appreciate your taking a little time this morning to look at some sound-alike words that MEAN nothing alike. FLAK is gunfire, ...
THAT WHICH IS CORRECT
“That” is one of those words that can make for a bumpy read and, therefore, a bumpy listen. It’s also a word that, if ...
COVERING COURTS COHERENTLY
Mrs. B turns your attention today to some more mistakes we’re making in covering the legal system. A former reporter for nearly 20 years ...
AFGHAN VS. AFGHANI
A letter to Mrs. B from Corpus Christi inspires today’s lesson. Can you tell me what the correct “term” is for the people of ...
SPOKESMAN OR SPOKESWOMAN????
Good morning. One of your classmates poses a good question: What about “company spokesman” vs. “spokeswoman” or “spokesperson”?? While the latter two choices seem ...
NO “S”, OK?
Today’s lesson is an easy one, for a change. It’s Friday, and Mrs. B knows you work hard and need a break every now ...
A RECURRING MISTAKE
A recurring mistake begins today’s lesson, brought to Mrs. B’s attention by a Kansas City reader. The other day I heard a radio announcer ...
HOW DO YOU PLEAD?
Into the courtroom we go for today’s lesson. Mrs. B has heard plenty of pleas to run a reminder about the past tense of ...
“WHO” vs. “WHOM”
When to use “who” and “whom” is such a bother, especially if you didn’t have a grandmother like Mrs. B’s, a one room school ...
SAY WHAT YOU MEAN
Mr. B used a software program to rewrite his and Mrs. B’s will. That done, they had to find a NOTARY PUBLIC, not a ...
TOWARD BETTER GRAMMAR
Today’s lesson is an easy one, for a change. Mrs. B knows you work hard and need a break every now and then. We ...
SHE’S A GOOD SPORT, THOUGH
A sports fan Mrs. B is not. Regardless, she tackles a few teams, per the request of a “shame based grammarian,” or so he ...
MURDER, SHE EXPLAINED
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, but Mrs. B turns your attention to a not so neighborly subject: unnatural death and how you, ...
RELIGIOUSLY CORRECT
As Easter looms before us, Mrs. B is intrigued by this letter from a member of the journalism faculty at Emerson College in Boston. ...
DÉJÀ VU – SORT OF
Mrs. B had a sense of deja vu today when she heard a tune from the early 60s, her last years of high school. ...
A RECURRING MISTAKE
A recurring mistake begins today’s lesson, courtesy of a reader of this column. The other day I heard a radio announcer say a word ...
