Common English Blunders

“NEW YEARS EVE WITH CARSON DALY”

Apostrophes, Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Possessives

I saw this title repeatedly on an NBC television program last evening.

Problem:
An apostrophe is missing.

Explanation:
There it was in all capital letters as we headed into the year 2008: a program title screaming to be scanned for errors. Sure enough, there was one.

The singular noun “YEAR” requires a possessive apostrophe followed by an “S” to indicate the possession of the “EVE” by the year. Another way to write this phrase is “EVE OF THE NEW YEAR …”.

I believe that the absence of a required possessive apostrophe can be attributable to:

  1. A typographical error;
  2. Ignorance about possessive apostrophes.

Given how bold the title was, I dismiss #1 for the program title. Surely someone at NBC would have caught the error, if she understood how to use possessive apostrophes.

That leaves us with #2 for the program title. I believe that this ignorance is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” hypothesis. It’s simpler to write possessive words without apostrophes than to write them with apostrophes.

For help with apostrophes, I highly recommend Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.

Solution:
“NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH CARSON DALY”

“Select Items Storewide”

Adjectives, Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Verbs

I saw this in a “Blue Moon Sale, 20-60% Off” television advertisement for Ikea.

Problem:
There is a verb where an adjective should be.

Explanation:
The word “Select” is a verb, so “Select Items Storewide” implies that one may select items throughout the Ikea store for a 20-60% discount.

Imagine a shopper complaining to the Federal Trade Commission that Ikea is not honoring its “Select Items Storewide” offer. The shopper could reasonably complain that the offer tells television viewers that they may select items throughout the store for the 20-60% discount.

The writer of the television advertisement should have used the “Selected” as an adjective in front of the noun “Items” because “Selected Items Storewide” implies that NOT ALL items throughout the Ikea store qualify for the the 20-60% discount and that Ikea has selected only certain items for the discount.

I believe that the growing tendency in American English to use “select” as an adjective is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” hypothesis: it’s simpler to say “select” (and it sounds “more sophisticated”) than to say “selected”, even though the latter is necessary when one is modifying a noun.

Solution:
“Selected Items Storewide”

“A while” vs. “Awhile”

Adverbs, Common English Blunders, Nouns, Versus

I often see these two used interchangeably.

Problem:
“A while” is not the same as “awhile”.

Explanation:
The noun “while” means period or interval of time.

The noun phrase “a while” means a short time, so one correctly can say “He stayed for a while.”, which means He stayed for a short time., or one correctly can say “He stayed a while.”, which means He stayed a short time..

The adverb “awhile” means for a short time. Notice the “for” in the definition of “awhile”. So the meaning of “He stayed awhile.” would be He stayed for a short time. And it would be INCORRECT to write “He stayed for awhile.” because one would then have two “for”s in the translation: He stayed for for a short time.

Solution:
Use “a while” when you need a noun phrase; use “awhile” when you need an adverb.