Fewer vs. Less
The basic rule for precise use of "less" and "fewer" is simple (though we slip often). Use "fewer" with countable, individual things, and "less" with uncountable amounts, volumes, etc. So: "I should...
View ArticleFavorite Grammar Gaffes
No doubt it's dreary for colleagues to hear me carping on the same grammatical mistakes over and over. Drearier still for readers to keep seeing them. And even worse to see a lineup of our most common...
View ArticleThe Latest in Style
My colleague Patrick LaForge described some revisions of The Times's in-house stylebook in recent months: One broad category of changes was the deletion of some aging or outdated technical terms:...
View ArticleBright Passages
Here are a few new entries from my file of deft phrases, sharp images and sparkling sentences. (Feel free to share your own nominations in the comments below.)
View ArticleDashes Everywhere
I've noted before the risks of missteps, confusion or awkwardness in the use of dashes. Even if the dashes are correct and the syntax intact, we should avoid overdoing the device. It can seem like a...
View ArticleWhen Spell-Check Can't Help
"It seems that if you dress up too much, you run the risk of not being taken seriously," said Erica Zidel, a Seattle-based Web entrepreneur who attended Harvard around the same time as Mr. Zuckerberg....
View ArticleWords We Love Too Much
Who flicked on the "kerfuffle" switch? A colleague sensed a recent spike in use of this rather precious word - meaning "uproar, fuss" - and he's right. We've used it 13 times already this year,...
View ArticlePhrases Gone Astray
I've discussed before the problem of misplaced phrases, which can be awkward, confusing or even misleading. In two recent cases, a carelessly placed phrase or clause really was a matter of life and...
View ArticleBright Passages
As a counterpoint to my weekly carping, here's my latest small sampling of sparkling prose from recent editions. (Feel free to use the comments section to point out your own recent favorites.)
View ArticleGetting Names Wrong
Here's a sadly familiar lament. Consider a week's worth of examples from our corrections:
View ArticleTangled Passages
Time for the latest in a series of reminders about long, overstuffed, convoluted, hard-to-read sentences. We don't want to dumb down our prose, but we should keep in mind that readers are rushed and...
View ArticlePhrases We Love Too Much
A 2008 New York Times review of a Charles Gibson interview with Sarah Palin took a poke at pretentiousness in journalism: his attitude was at times supercilious: He asked if a nuclear Iran posed an...
View ArticleMore Words We Love Too Much
A critique of grammar, style and usage in The Times. This week: riffing on a narrative.
View ArticleWhen Spell Check Can't Help
In most cases, we simply chose the wrong one from a pair of words that sound alike but have completely different meanings. The last example may suggest a misunderstanding of the nuances of similar words.
View ArticleBright Passages
Here's another small and subjective sampling of sparkling prose from recent editions. Nominations are always welcome.
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