{"id":583,"date":"2009-04-23T12:00:41","date_gmt":"2009-04-23T18:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kirkmahoney.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/if-we-all-row-in-the-same-directions\/"},"modified":"2011-05-31T08:59:08","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T14:59:08","slug":"if-we-all-row-in-the-same-directions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kirkmahoney.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/04\/if-we-all-row-in-the-same-directions\/","title":{"rendered":"“If we all row in the same directions, …”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I saw this in a corporate announcement.<\/p>\n

Problem:<\/strong>
\nThe noun should be singular, not plural.<\/p>\n

Explanation:<\/strong>
\nThe full sentence was “If we all row in the same directions, we will ultimately climb the mountains and be successful.”<\/p>\n

Beyond this sentence’s mixed metaphor (more on that in tomorrow’s post), there is a problem with the “If” clause.<\/p>\n

First, we must agree that anyone can row in only one direction at any given time.<\/p>\n

Now, suppose that you are rowing in a direction and that I am rowing in a direction.<\/p>\n

Suppose further that these two directions are identical.<\/p>\n

Then there is one and only one direction in which the two of us are rowing.<\/p>\n

We would call this “the same direction”.<\/p>\n

By the way, it is incorrect<\/em> to say that the adjective “same” always<\/em> modifies a singular<\/em> noun.<\/p>\n

An example of the adjective “same” correctly modifying a plural<\/em> noun appears in “Jack and Jill like the same fruits.”<\/p>\n

Solution:<\/strong>
\n“If we all row in the same direction, …”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw this in a corporate announcement. Problem: The noun should be singular, not plural. Explanation: The full sentence was “If we all row in the same directions, we will ultimately climb the mountains and be successful.” Beyond this sentence’s mixed metaphor (more on that in tomorrow’s post), there is a problem with the “If”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,15,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives","category-nouns","category-plurals"],"yoast_head":"\n"If we all row in the same directions, ..." - Kirk Mahoney . com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kirkmahoney.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/04\/if-we-all-row-in-the-same-directions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""If we all row in the same directions, ..." - Kirk Mahoney . com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I saw this in a corporate announcement. 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