Author: Kirk

“She totally condescended to him.”

Verbs

I heard this last night on the TMZ television program.

Problem:
The “totally” adverb reveals that the verb was not used correctly.

Explanation:
The reporter on the TMZ TV program used “totally” to indicate that the woman about whom the reporter was speaking was rude to the man identified by “him” in the statement.

In other words, the reporter essentially was saying that the subject of the sentence — “She” — was rude to the object of the sentence — “him”.

One may condescend “to” someone, but the verb “condescend” when used in this way means to put aside one’s superiority and assume equality with another person normally considered inferior.

In contrast, the reporter clearly indicated that the subject of the sentence did NOT put aside her feeling of superiority, so the subject did NOT condescend to the object of the sentence.

Solution:
“She was totally condescending with him.”

“et al”

Abbreviations, Common English Blunders, Foreign Languages

I saw this yesterday in an online news story.

Problem:
A period is missing.

Explanation:
There are three Latin phrases that mean and others:

  • et alii — spelled E-T followed by A-L-I-I — which is masculine;
  • et aliae — spelled E-T followed by A-L-I-A-E — which is feminine;
  • et alia — spelled E-T followed by A-L-I-A — which is neuter.

The correct abbreviation of any of the three Latin words for “others” requires a period after A-L.

An example of proper use is “the report presented by Jones et al.” (notice the period after A-L).

Solution:
“et al.”

“… which reflects back to our customers.”

Adverbs, Common English Blunders, Self-negation

I saw this in a presentation to customer-support personnel.

Problem:
The word “back” is redundant in this expression.

Explanation:
The expression was part of advice to customer-support personnel:

“Come to work with a smile on your face! That smile then brightens everyone’s day[,] which reflects back to our customers. A smile goes a long way over the phone when providing Best in Class Service.”

The “re” in “reflect” means back. Therefore, one could argue that a “reflects back” action would never reach the intended recipient.

Solution:
“… which reflects to our customers.”
OR, even better, given the full sentence,
“… which is transmitted to our customers.”