Mr. Rewrite

Specific reasons to avoid various and some

2008-07-24T00:14:00.009-07:00

A cry for help! More important, a reader! These are the things that make blogging worthwhile ...Hi, Mr. Rewrite. I have a question that seems to be a perfect topic for you. What do you think about the word various in news reports (or anywhere)? It seems to me that, while not exactly redundant, it never adds any information. She had various concerns about usage. She had concerns about usage.A

Yes "I M!"

2008-07-23T08:45:00.006-07:00

"Quotes" From Mr. Rewrite features this classified ad carrying two of his pet peeves: needless quotation marks and text-message language away from a cell phone. I M sick of this. R U?

Please put asunder 'join together'

2008-07-22T05:20:00.009-07:00

Here's one that made Mr. Rewrite cringe:The move toward private fire crews is in some ways a throwback to earlier era, when homeowners in colonial times joined together to form "fire clubs" that protected members' homes. (The Associated Press) As lyrical as it sounds, and as many times as it comes up at weddings ("... what therefore God hath/has joined together ..." Mark 10:9), joined together

Honey, please close the darpes

2008-07-21T01:48:00.003-07:00

The dry cleaner might want to iron out this spelling. Mr. Rewrite decided to spin off a blog to carry misspelled signs, Signs Gone Wrong, starting with the sign below. Some of the content will wind up on the main site, but this provides some flexibility to bring back classic misspelled signs and allows Mr. Rewrite to get all of his misspelled signs in one place. Feel free to share your photos of

A blog should appeal to one's soul, mate

2008-07-19T00:02:00.004-07:00

Memo to Mrs. Rewrite: You'll never be Mr. Rewrite's soulmate. P.S. for Mrs. Rewrite: Please read the rest of this post before burning Mr. Rewrite's underwear. Mr. Rewrite decided to do some research after seeing USMagazine.com's ALEX RODRIGUEZ/MADONNA EXCLUSIVE, which quoted the slugger second-hand as saying, "She's my (expletive) soulmate, dude." Mr. Rewrite always advises against

I don't know ... Isn't ice "expensive?"

2008-07-19T00:01:00.007-07:00

Here's a set of unnecessary quotation marks that Mr. Rewrite posted on his spin-off blog "Quotes" From Mr. Rewrite. Mr. Rewrite was sending a lot of signs to The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks and figured he could just start posting them himself. Hmmm. Do you think this sign is a reminder from Immigration & Customs Enforcement?

This is giving Mr. Rewrite a haddock -- er, headache

2008-07-18T06:18:00.004-07:00

Mr. Rewrite sees mistakes like these almost every day, but he doesn't want his blog to be overwhelmed by every day/everyday errors. Rather than ignore this problem or his crusade to correct it, he's decided to spin off a blog at everydaymistakes.blogspot.com. Feel free to share your examples of everyday/every day errors. For the record, every day is an adverb (e.g. Mr. Rewrite blogs almost

It's time to profit from Mr. Rewrite's experience

2008-07-17T08:55:00.016-07:00

An article tells Mr. Rewrite that a charitable trust is giving a pile of money to non-profit organizations. Here's hoping one of those organizations teaches journalists how to handle prefixes and hyphenation. After featuring panties and Brangelina in his last two posts, Mr. Rewrite feels compelled to deal with a not-so-sexy subject, even at the expense of hits and his subscriber count. This might

Mr. Rewrite will never be the premiere usage blog

2008-07-16T08:33:00.004-07:00

Mr. Rewrite was none too pleased when Rewrite Jr. pointed to this sign at the mall. And while the content is better suited to a gentleman's "club" than a storefront next to KB Toys, it's the glaring usage error that had Mr. Rewrite's blood boiling. Keep this in mind when dealing with premiere vs. premier: You attend a movie premiere to see work by Hollywood's premier talent. As Paul Brians (cue

Let's hope she celebrates with a Caesar salad

2008-07-15T08:42:00.015-07:00

Here's a pop news quiz: What's the name of the operation that allowed the world to welcome Brangelina's twins? a) Cesarian section b) Cesarean section c) Caesarian section d) Caesarean section If you answered A, B, C or D, you are right. Well, sort of. It turns out that variants aplenty apply to the name of this surgical procedure. Mr. Rewrite's various references books embrace some or all of

This literally is Mr. Rewrite's best post ever

2008-07-12T08:55:00.019-07:00

Mr. Rewrite read a piece of professional correspondence today saying someone is "literally hitting the road," as in driving long distances to accomplish a mission. It would be easy for Mr. Rewrite to guffaw and offer a sarcastic graphic making fun of the reference -- wait a minute, he's already done that. To his frustration, however, the use of literally has fallen into a gray area, though Mr.

Whilst upgrading thy vocabulary, ditch 'amongst'

2008-07-10T09:27:00.026-07:00

Here's an excerpt from an interview involving FOX News' Sean Hannity: HANNITY: "First of all, how did the neighbors react to this? And it seemed like Gary just went out there amongst the Code Pinkers and shook their hands and even with a carnation on at 7 a.m.?" This is when Mr. Rewrite outs himself as a language snob. He hates -- HATES -- references to amongst except when they make fun of the

Pardon me while I gargle with earthworms

2008-07-09T08:26:00.002-07:00

A sports Web site says folks at Mr. Rewrite's alma mater are waiting with baited breath to learn whether a top basketball recruit will be academically eligible to play. Uh, unless someone is gargling with sardines instead of Listerine the author meant to say bated breath. Drawing from the previous incarnation of this site, Mr. Rewrite offers this explanation: Bated comes from bate, which means

Mr. Rewrite didn't watch a minute of Wimbeldon

2008-07-06T10:51:00.005-07:00

Mr. Rewrite hates to draw attention away from yesterday's amazing video post on stationery/stationary, but he can't resist pointing out that many of those with editors make unforced errors when spelling Wimbledon. Scores of articles on Google News refer to Wimbeldon. How did Mr. Rewrite confirm the spelling? By looking at the official site, www.wimbledon.org. Back in the day, Mr. Rewrite would

This stationery store isn't going anywhere

2008-07-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

Mr. Rewrite's recent return to NYC gives him a reason to resume video blogging. This vlog returns him to one of his favorite misspelled signs: a store offering stationary. For the record, stationery applies to writing paper, notecards, envelopes -- even pens, according to Dictionary.com. Stationary can refer to several things, but each has to do with standing still or not changing. So unless

Mr. Rewrite won't celebrate the 4th of July

2008-07-04T00:12:00.002-07:00

Mr. Rewrite has the grill primed with propane and the fridge stuffed with hot dogs. He's ready to celebrate. U-S-A! U-S-A!!! But don't expect Mr. Rewrite to celebrate the 4th of July. It isn't that he's unpatriotic. He just has a thing about proper nouns and following Associated Press style. According to AP and the federal government, the holiday is officially the Fourth of July, July Fourth or

Suffice it to say Mr. Rewrite needs a long rest

2008-07-02T21:20:00.007-07:00

That confusing video in Mr. Rewrite's previous post provides a window into his past few weeks. He helped 36 high school teachers learn about the world of journalism, and that video was an attempt to show that anyone can get moving pictures online. Anyway, suffice it to say that Mr. Rewrite needs a rest. But it's tough to take it easy when he keeps reading articles saying suffice to say. He

Dave C. loves the Reynolds Institute

2008-06-25T08:43:00.002-07:00

It's enough to sour Mr. Rewrite's 'mouthfeel'

2008-06-21T14:24:00.012-07:00

Remember when Starbucks outlets closed for 3.5 hours of training, costing the nation billions in productivity from caffeine-withdrawal headaches? Apparently the lessons didn't include basic grammar. Mr. Rewrite always aims for full-bodied, velvety-smooth posts that are the metaphorical equivalent of the roasty sweet (roasty sweet???) coffee pitched on this sign. But this error leaves him with a

A sudden change to Mr. Rewrite's world view

2008-06-19T06:45:00.010-07:00

All of a sudden Mr. Rewrite is going to be a lot more careful with the phrase all of a sudden. That's because it is officially all of a sudden and not all of the sudden. Mr. Rewrite spotted this today while cruising Paul Brians' (cue angelic chorus) Common Errors in English Usage site for ideas. Garner's Modern American Usage backs this up. All of a sudden is an idiom used when something happens

Oh horror: The fall of the haus of spelling

2008-06-16T00:01:00.003-07:00

Has the housing crisis really gotten this bad? Apparently so. Mr. Rewrite usually doesn't go after civilians, but this sign was too close to a school to ignore. Let's suppose there's a German influence here (house = haus in Deutsch). It clearly isn't the case, but work with Mr. Rewrite on this. Even then, "hauses" wouldn't be correct. The plural would be "hauser," with two dots -- whatever that

With few exceptions, just one dad to honor today

2008-06-15T00:01:00.003-07:00

Mr. Rewrite sends Father's Day wishes to dear ol' Rewrite Sr. So why, Mr. Rewrite asks rhetorically, do so many of those paid to know better, each of whom at least in theory has a father, call it Fathers Day or Fathers' Day? Google News is lousy with erroneous references to Fathers/Fathers' Day -- 700-plus at last count. The official name of this day assumes you are honoring just one father:

Mr. Rewrite won't be buying any car's today

2008-06-14T08:03:00.006-07:00

It looks like the green grocer has taken a job at the autoplex. Repeat after Mr. Rewrite, folks: The only time you use an apostrophe to make a plural is when you're dealing with an abbreviation with two or more interior apostrophes (e.g. Ph.D.'s, M.A.'s). If you need more help on this, Mr. Rewrite posted this video to his YouTube channel.

A tactful look at a sign of the Times

2008-06-12T08:54:00.008-07:00

It's tough being The New York Times. Make even a tiny slip and the world is hurling insults. It's like when Mr. Rewrite, in a fit of masochism, spent two years producing a snarky blog with "grammar" in the title. It was death by a thousand nits picked by surly amateur grammarians. Good thing Mr. Rewrite isn't bitter. Putting all that aside, Mr. Rewrite must register his disappointment at seeing

It's never too hot to check the atlas

2008-06-11T00:01:00.003-07:00

Brian Williams' Pre-Broadcast Checklist: 1. Style hair.2. Practice patented smirk.3. Repeat steps 1-2.4. Say "She sells sea shells by the sea shore" 50 times.5. Check atlas. NBC's anchor is covered on Nos. 1-4. After receiving a heads-up from Rewrite Sr., Mr. Rewrite suggests step No. 5. Rewrite Sr. guffawed when Williams, reporting on extreme heat in the Northeast, offered Flagstaff, Ariz., as