Turnaround

Turnaround has a variety of meanings, but it’s used most commonly in the phrase “turnaround time,” or the period needed to prepare an organization of some sort (whether a ship, an airplane, a factory, a company, or so forth) to alter or reverse direction, whether literally or figuratively.

A turnaround can also be a path, road, or space made available for vehicles to use to reverse direction, and turnaround is used in music, the film industry, and elsewhere as a specialized term but, as far as I can find, always, again, as a noun or an adjective (“turnaround passage,” “turnaround deal,” etc.).

Thus, in this example, a few paragraphs below the misuse illustrated above, “turnaround” is used correctly as an adjective modifying the word “plans.”

Just FYI, I often see a similar problem with the phrases everyday (an adjective meaning “common,” “unexceptional” or “daily”) versus every day (the adjective “every” + the noun “day” meaning “ocurring daily”). So,”the rising of the sun in the east is an everyday event” (“everyday” modifies “event”), but “the sun rises every day.”

CNN’s usage of “begging the question” in this paragraph is incorrect. “Begging the question” is not a fancy way of saying “raising the question.”

To beg the question is to put forward an argument that uses faulty premises and/or circular reasoning as “support.”

For example, let’s take this argument:

Because about two-thirds of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending, the only way out of the U.S. recession is to encourage consumers to spend more.

I’m sure you’ve heard or read something along these lines, too, right? But this argument contains a faulty premise. It assumes that having an economy that relies on consumer spending is a good thing in the first place and concludes, therefore, that more consumer spending will be an even better thing. That is, the conclusion follows from the logical flaw of the first statement.

The argument begs the question of whether an economy that has been driven in the last decade or two by its citizens spending more than they earn is a good thing*; it also begs the question of how consumers can possibly spend more now without taking on the same kind of bad debt that caused this recession in the first place.

The reason consumers aren’t spending money right now is because they’re struggling to pay off their debts and/or saving for emergencies … something that they should have been doing since Day 1. Our consumerist society encouraged us to get into debt to buy bigger and newer homes or vehicles, regardless of how much money we actually earned (see How to be a Good Consumer); now we’re starting to realize that consumer debt isn’t so great, after all.

Thus, CNN’s paragraph should have read:  “The worst monthly jobs report in 34 years failed to send stocks lower late last week, raising the question of whether the market has finally found that elusive bottom.”

Bad CNN. Bad. No copy editor’s cookie for you!

(Read a technical discussion about the phrase “begging the question” at the Fallacy Files.)

* But, you may be thinking with a trace of scorn, what else could drive an economy? How about investment levels, government spending, or net exports, all which are also part of the gross domestic product calculation? Or perhaps we should calculate our GDP by different means entirely — measures that take into account pollution levels or overall social satisfaction, for example — such as described in this article from the New York Times. I find it an indication of how prevalent consumerism is in the United States that so many people assume that consumer spending is the best measure of economic growth and strength. Just ask yourself who benefits most from that assumption: the consumer or the businesses that make consumer goods?

I haven’t been able to find a clear answer set out by anybody else, so here’s my tentative answer, pieced together from dictionaries and websites:

A resolution is a formal statement of opinion, will, or intent. An ordinance is a municipal regulation.  Both may be voted into existence, but while a ordinance can be enforced by authorities, a resolution cannot.

Therefore, a resolution is adopted, from adoptare, “chose for oneself.” Legislative bodies or organizations voluntarily choose to make some sort of statement and voluntarily choose to be guided by it.

On the other hand, an ordinance is passed. The Latin isn’t as clear here, with passare meaning “to step, walk, pass,” but by 1297, the verb was used to mean “to move forward,” which is presumably what a legislative body does with a proposed ordinance, moving it forward into an enforceable command or law.

Of course, my Associated Press Stylebook simply says, “Amendments, ordinances, resolutions and rules are adopted or approved. Bills are passed. Laws are enacted.” I’d hazard a guess to say that Working with Words is more formal than the AP Stylebook, although the former attempts, when relevant, to be consistent with the latter.

Grammar isn’t for the faint of heart. 

I ran across these two sentences on Time‘s website this morning and was horrified. Michael Duffy, shame on you, and shame on whoever edits and proofs articles that go on the site. As a journalism professor, I can’t bear to see such miserable examples being set for my students by a professional publication.

The correct words and phrases are to try to unify, matter, and a part of.

I can only hope that by the time you read this and check the link,  someone will have corrected these errors.

For example:

That storyline is so clichéd. (The noun plot is being modified by the adjective clichéd).
That storyline is such a cliché. (The noun plot equals the noun cliché).

So, for the love of Grammar, people, please stop saying “That is so cliché!” The proper phrase is, “That is so clichéd!” Or, if you like, “That is such a cliché!”

(* Yes, you can always find dictionaries that sacrifice grammatical correctness on the altar of contemporary usage; the same ones that list alright as an acceptable version of all right. I exhort you to turn your back upon the lite in favor of the light.)

A hyphen does not mean “this-word-goes-with-that-word” any more than an apostrophe mean’s “Oh ‘shit, here come’s an ‘s.”

— Sister Coyote

The past tense of to lead is led, not lead. I know “led” and “lead” (as in pencil lead) sound the same, but they are not spelled the same.

If somebody is asking a question, do not use said or says as your dialog tag. “What are you doing?” she said is incorrect. “What are you doing?” she asked is correct.

If your story is written in the simple past tense and you’re describing events that occur earlier than that, you must use past perfect:

He walked into his room and paused. He had locked the door that morning, hadn’t he?

Please review the previous lesson on simple past versus past perfect and take notes.

And finally, in fiction and in most day-to-day writing, it is not necessary to capitalize common plant or animal names unless they contain a proper noun (e.g., Spanish moss, Russian greyhound). I realize this is a matter of some dispute, but it seems to me that unless scientific clarity is absolutely necessary, vernacular names should be treated as common nouns. So, Pinus virginian and Iguana iguana, but scrub pine and green iguana. It’s less distracting to the reader; capitalized words call attention to themselves and should be reserved for Special Instances.

Grammar Geek will go back to work now.

“Now, wait a minute, Son. You don’t want to fly off the handle like that.”

“Say, Professor, when’s our assignment due?”

“Aw, Dad! Cut it out!”

“Hey, Dru — what’s with the boring grammar articles?”

A noun of direct address is a noun that is used to get someone’s attention or to name/label someone to whom you’re talking. In the examples above, the nouns of direct address are in red. Sometimes they’re actual names (a proper noun like Dru) and sometimes they’re just labels (a common noun like son, professor, or dad). In all cases, nouns of direct address must be capitalized.

Furthermore, nouns of direct address must be set off from the rest of the sentence with correct punctuation. In the examples above, I’ve highlighted the punctuation marks that set off the noun of direct address from the rest of the sentence in boldface orange. Words before the noun of direct address are separated from the noun with a comma, and words after the noun are either separated with a final punctuation mark (period, question mark, exclamation mark, etc.) or another comma or dash that separates the noun from the rest of the sentence.

Not so hard, but it’s surprising how often writers resist using these nouns correctly. Now you’ll know better!

Now, setting aside the question of whether pride is a desirable emotion in any context, I admit to being proud of a few things in my life. I’m proud to have doggedly kept writing and submitting year after year to work my way up to my first novel sale. I’m proud that I haven’t let my family down in any major way. I’m proud that I’ve had the self-discipline to lose weight and save money. I’m proud that I managed to stick to my studies and earn my doctoral degree.

But these are all achievements. They’re things I’ve had to work hard to attain. By comparison, I was born an American. I didn’t have to do anything to earn it and I haven’t had to do anything to keep it. I’m not sure what I’d have to do to have my American citizenship stripped from me, but I imagine it would have to involve a pretty heinous crime.*

So, saying one is “proud to be an American” doesn’t make any sense for those of us who were born into the system. I don’t think one should be proud of anything one didn’t work hard to attain — or, at the very least, one shouldn’t have the reprehensible taste to brag in public about indulging in such superficial sentiment. Naturalized citizens, now, they can slap “proud to be an American” stickers wherever they want. My Italian-born grandfather worked hard and learned a new language to become an American citizen. My Canadian-born stepmother put in time and effort to pass her U.S. citizenship test. Those two can point to their citizenship as something they studied for and earned. Me, I was just born this way.

It would be fairer to say, I think, that I’m relieved to be an American. America is far from perfect, but I’ve traveled to many other countries and even lived a few years in Italy, and I’ve come to appreciate why American citizenship is so sought-after by citizens of other countries. For all this country’s flaws, it still offers more freedom, peace, opportunity, prosperity, and stability than the other nations in the world. “Relieved to be an American,” or maybe “Grateful to be an American,” would more accurately reflect my feelings on the issue.

Now, I admit, the driver of that SUV might have earned the right to that sticker. But I don’t think every vehicle I’ve seen sporting a “Proud to be an American” sticker is being driven by a naturalized citizen. So I encourage U.S.-born drivers to take a moment to consider the difference between gratitude and pride and, perhaps, adjust their bumper stickers accordingly.

***

(*Okay, I just had to look it up: Here’s a list of potentially expatriating acts.)

Now, I know words like “adjective” and “adverb” make you tremble because you were traumatized by your high-school English grammar teacher. Who wasn’t? Those who serve the Gods of Grammar are formidable individuals. But gird your loins and fear not — you can do this.

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun. Nouns are persons, places, concepts, and things.

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb. Verbs are action words. It may be helpful to remember that many, but not all, adverbs end in -ly (e.g., simply, quickly, happily, poorly, effortlessly….).

Healthy is an adjective. It’s correct to say “You should eat healthy foods” or “everyone should follow a healthy diet.” Foods and diet are nouns, and nouns take adjectives.

However, it’s not correct to say “Everyone should eat healthy” or “I try to eat healthy.” Eat is a verb, and verbs take adverbs. The Gods of Grammar scowl upon those who use adjectives to modify verbs.

So what will make the Gods of Grammar smile? “Everyone should eat healthfully” or “I try to live healthily.” Healthfully and healthily are adverbs, and eat and live are verbs.

The title of this essay is “eat healthy; speak bad.” By now you should suspect that bad is an adjective, not an adverb, right? Badly or poorly would be appropriate adverbs for modifying the verb “speak.” So is well, so if you said eat healthfully, you’d be speaking well … and the Gods of Grammar would look benignly upon you.

Want more info? Here’s a useful OWL guide to adjectives vs. adverbs.