From the Grammar Police
You’re not a dog!
We made this point in a 2023 post. We know you love your dogs. We know you feel as if they are your children. But Travis Kelce is not this dog’s dad. The dog’s dad is another dog. (We also have argued that this should say “Travis Kelce’s and Taylor Swift’s dog.” Otherwise it sounds like just one guy along with his wife’s dog. Readers?)
Do you like deviled eggs? This menu misspelled them two different ways.
Not closed in. Just closed. (And if you’re using last year’s notice as a “cut and paste,” make sure you change references to 2025!)
We talked in our Aug. 30, 2026, segment about double qualifiers, a form of cowardly writing, and here come more examples, like late-season hurricanes. There’s a slim possibility 2026 will bust that climatological truth. The FBI director suggested agents will be sent to polls. There are growing concerns the president will demolish the Kennedy Center. Be a brave writer!
Cliché alert! The 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks spurred a profusion of “It’s hard to believe...” We searched newspapers.com for this phrase, appearing in U.S. newspapers any time between that horrific event and the anniversary, Sept. 11, 2026. The grand total: 316,691! As with all profound anniversaries, it is sobering to realize 25 years have passed. But it isn’t hard to believe. Is it?
Is everyone talking about it? No. Is it benign hyperbole? Readers?
And we go to the video archives! Click for Segment 18: Everyone Doesn’t Like Grammar. https://youtu.be/Qog48LhZdKU?si=5RnZrgd_eAl6bqZb
Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we can credit you properly. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com
Haven’t signed up for our newsletter yet? Do it now! And tell your friends!
NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!